Teshik-Tash cave – pearl of Surkhandarya
Teshik-Tash archaeological reserve in Surkhandarya region is located in Baysun district.
Teshik-Tash archaeological reserve in Surkhandarya region is located in Baysun district, its history goes back to 100-40 thousand years BC. This place was first discovered by a local historian G. V. Parfenov in the 30s of the last century.
Teshik-Tash cave is located on the southern slope of Baysuntau, in Zovtalashsay gorge, at an altitude of 1500 meters above the sea level. It is located in the North-East direction and has a width of 20 meters, a depth of 21 meters and a height of 9 meters.
2859 stone tools were found in the cultural layers, of which 2520 are broken scrapers, 134 fragments of plates, 94 stone blades, 101 nucleus of various shapes and 10 stone fragments. Stone tools were used in the cave as scrapers and knives for skinning and butchering animals.
In the upper cultural layer, skeletal remains (a skull and several bones) of a Neanderthal girl under the age of 8-9 were found and studied.
In addition, archaeologists found mountain goat horns placed around the skeleton, in strict order, in a circle.
They also found bones belonging to various animals: mountain goats, deer, wild horses, rabbits, rodents and various birds.