A settlement of Neanderthal man is found in the Khatak cave in the Surkhandarya region

In the Bogli gorge area of the Khatak section of the Surkhandarya State Reserve in the Sherabad district of the Surkhandarya region, the settlement of Neanderthals has been found, dating to 100-40 thousand BC.  This is reported by the Agency for Tourism and Cultural Heritage.

It was noted that the Khatak cave was discovered in 2021 by the doctoral student of the National Archaeological Center under the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan Kholiyor Oynazarov during the search for petroglyphs.

Research and preliminary excavations of the monument were carried out in June 2022.  During the excavation, it was found that this cave, which was formed at a height of 15-20 meters on the surface of vertical rock and was very difficult to access, was filled with stone tools, broken bones of wild animals, perfect and untouched scenes (gray, the round oven remains) of Neanderthal lifestyle who lived 100-60 thousand years ago land.

“This unique archaeological site must be preserved for the future.  To do this, it is necessary to create an archaeological museum in the cave of Khatak under Surkhandarya State Reserve.  In turn, it is necessary to block the entrance to the cave with glass windows or iron grilles, study the cultural layer of the cave with modern methods to study paleontology, paleogeography, and possibly the preserved genetic heritage of the ancient people living here, build a high wooden or metal platform in front of the cave, surrounded by barriers and equipped with a staircase, for tourists coming to get acquainted with the primitive life of man and visitors of the Khatak Archaeological Museum.