About the 1905 Petition by the Taurian mufti A. Karashaysky*

The article reveals the reasons and prerequisites of 1905 Additional Petition by the Taurian mufti A. Karashaysky on behalf of Muslims of the Crimean Peninsula that was addressed to the Chairman of the Minsters’ Committee and where he wrote about the expansion of the Taurian Mohammedan Spiritual Board’s competence and about the necessity of increasing the status of Islamic institutes. Providing comparative analysis between the Additional Petition and the Public Petition from Crimean Tatars the author allocates the general and specifi c matters of their contents. Thus, the research paper concludes that the Public Petition, via the values of liberal social movement, mostly declared the social, religious and spiritual needs of Crimean Tatars, while the petition prepared by the group of Muslims and clergy under the leadership of the Taurian mufti A. Karashaysky had strictly corporate, confessional orientation.

Ayu-Dag and other evidence of the Wrath of the Lord

An unusual shape of a laccolith in the southern coastal part of the Crimea, which, when seen from a distance, resembles a huge beast bending its muzzle to the water, could well determine its name, i. e. Ayu-Dag (Crimean Tatar — Ayuv Dağ, i. e. the Bear Mount). The legend about this toponym allegorically tells about a catastrophic earthquake, which the Crimean peninsula was exposed to in the Middle Ages. This natural phenomenon was reflected in three other local legends about the Castel Mount, Yalta and Sunen-Kaya. Most likely, this calamity took place during the first war between Kaffa and Theodoro, in October-November of 1423. In many ways, it can be compared with the notorious Yalta earthquake of 1927. The archaeological works on a number of medieval sites in the region can give a good idea of the consequences of the 15th-century seismic event, which embodied the wrath of the Lord: a monastery on the south-eastern slope of the Ayu-Dag, Funa’s fort, Kalamita and Cembalo, and Basilica in Eski-Kermen.

MEDIEVAL COINS ON THE TERRITORY OF UKRAINE. “BRUSH STROKES” TO THE MONETARY CIRCULATION (I)

During the past two decades, with the development of private search using a special equipment, the number of known coins has increased dramatically, opening up the new opportunities for researchers. The aim of the study. Some of these finds, mainly treasures, have been the subject of the specialized research or have been the part of various numismatic publications, which cannot be said of isolated finds that have only been partially covered in the scientific literature. At the same time, the individual finds are not inferior to informative treasures, allowing a reconstructing the monetary circulation of a single settlement or city, its economic potential, interregional trade relations and many other aspects that contribute together to the restoration of the historical past. Over the last 10-15 years, the authors of this article have been systematically collecting information about the medieval coins found in Ukraine, some of which have an exact location. Thus, the purpose of this article is the gradual introduction into scientific circulation of the numismatic material originating from the territory of modern Ukraine with its full description, illustrations and outlines, references to current works and catalogues. It opens a series of articles on issues of the XV and XVII centuries, namely the Moldavian coins of Alexander I the Good, Stephen III the Great and one piece of the crown solidus of Sigismund III, found with them. Within the 22 coins described in the article, about 10 were found: 6 coins originate from Chernivtsi region, 1 piece of Moldovan coins were founded in Vinnytsia, Poltava, Volyn and Lviv regions. Other coins were also found on the territory of modern Ukraine, the authors do not know the exact places of their discovery. The Conclusions. The topographic distribution of the finds indicates that the main zone of concentration of Moldavian coins falls on the Chernivtsi region, which is quite natural, given that these lands, mentioned in written sources under the name of Shipinska land (terra Sepenicensis), were was included the part of the Moldavian principality since the end of XIV century. The distribution of Moldovan coin finds in Ukraine corresponds to the same international trade routes that connected Central Europe with the Crimean Peninsula, passing through the territory of modern Ukraine and Moldova, known as «Tatar» and «Moldovan» trade routes; and the mediating the role played by the lands of the Principality of Moldavia in this trade.

METHODOLOGY FOR STUDYING FOULING IN THE COASTAL WATERS OF THE BLACK SEA AND EXPEDITION RESEARCH IN THE ATLANTIC AND INDIAN OCEANS

The monograph is devoted to methodological approaches in the study of fouling of various anthropogenic surfaces in the coastal waters of the southwestern shelf of the Crimean Peninsula. Attention is paid to the study of the effectiveness of various antifouling compositions with the complex use of physical, chemical and microbiological methods. The processes of biodegradation in seawater of organic components of various paint and varnish materials as a result of the vital activity of a community of peripheral microorganisms are considered. The possibilities of studying the fouling of various shipbuilding materials and structures in oceanic expedition conditions.

On limits of the distribution range of the Crimean rock lizard Darevskia lindholmi (Sauria: Lacertidae)

New data on the boundaries of the distribution range of the Lindholm rock lizard (Darevskia lindholmi), an endemic of the Crimean Peninsula, are presented. This petrophilous lizard inhabit a wide range of biotopes in various landscape levels of the Mountainous Crimea. The upper boundary of D. lindholmi distribution in the southwest of the Main Range of the Crimean Mountains reaches an elevation of 1,520 m a.s.l. (Ai-Petrinskaya Yayla, KemalEgerek Mountain), while on the other high uplands with altitudes above 1.5 km and colder climate (Babugan and Chatyrdag), the species was traced only up to 1,250–1,320 m a.s.l. The northern border of D. lindholmi range in the western part of the Crimean Mountains runs along the Outer Foothill Range (the right bank of the Alma River), while in the eastern part it corresponds the northernmost rocky massifs of the Inner Foothill Range to the north of 45º N latitude. Isolated marginal populations found in the forest-steppe or phrygana-steppe landscapes of the Foothills and arid Southeastern Coast differs significantly in their distance from the main habitat of the species, lizards’ abundance and density. A hypothetical history of the formation of the current range of the Lindholm lizard is discussed.

Rural-urban migration on the Crimean Peninsula

Despite the wide popularity of the Crimean region, its scientific descriptions are full of gaps. In the Soviet period, the research was limited by the unspoken prohibitions on the study of social processes and by the absence of a strong scientific school. After the collapse of the USSR, the Crimean region was considered only in the works on social aspects of migration and on artificial transformations of the ethnic-confessional composition of the population. The change in the status of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014 made this region interesting for the Russian science: there are many recent articles on the features of the social-economic development of the peninsula, but a number of issues in the life of Crimea are still poorly understood. One of them is the migration on the peninsula: the historical ethnic migrations are sufficiently described but not the contemporary population movements. Historically, migration processes have played an important role in the social-economic development of Crimea. However, until recently, external migrations were the driver of this development, while since the beginning of the 21st century, migration movements within the peninsula have played this role, and their features should be taken into account in planning and financing the rural development. Rural areas of Crimea remain agrarian-overpopulated; therefore, it is necessary to identify areas promising for capital investment and areas that soon will be depopulated due to the lack of opportunities for human and social capital. The author considers the population exchange between urban and rural areas as an important factor for the demographic situation, and focuses on the reasons and features of the spatial mobility and migration of the Crimean population based on the analysis of statistical data and transport links between the city and the countryside.

Dynamics of air temperature in the main types of mountain Crimea regional ecosystems

Climate change in Crimea is characterized by spatial heterogeneity in the displacement of air temperature fields, due to the influence of regional and local factors. There are currently no works devoted to the study of the reaction of regional ecosystems to changes in air temperature in Crimea. Based on open databases of reanalysis, geoinformation modeling the results of studies of the dynamics of air temperature in the main types of ecosystems of the Mountain Crimea under conditions of climate change are presented. For each circulation epoch and period of the Northern Hemisphere, maps of average annual temperatures were obtained along the landscape contours of the Crimean Peninsula. A map of the standard deviation of temperature within the landscape contours was made. For key areas, the mean annual air temperature, standard deviation, and factorial entropy were calculated. The main regularities of air temperature dynamics in the main types of Mountain Crimea ecosystems with the change of circulation epochs and periods of the Northern Hemisphere are revealed. Based on the analysis of the dynamics of the standard deviation and factor entropy, the role of changes in air temperature in the formation of strategies for the development or stabilization of the main types of regional ecosystems in Mountain Crimea is shown.

Triangulopteris lacunata gen. et sp. nov. (Centroplasthelida), a New Centrohelid Heliozoan from Soil †

A new genus and species of centrohelid heliozoans, Triangulopteris lacunata gen. et sp. nov. (Pterocystidae Cavalier-Smith and Heyden, 2007), from four geographically remote locations (the Crimean Peninsula, the Dnieper Lowland (the East European Plain), Franz Josef Land, and the Kolyma Lowland (North–Eastern Siberia) was examined using light and electron microscopy. The novel centrohelid is characterized by round shape, 4.3–16.3 μm in diameter, covered with two types of scales: 1.06–4.54 μm long triangular spine scales and 1.22–2.05 μm oval plate scales. Studied centrohelid heliozoan possesses a unique spine scale morphology. The base of scales is represented by a horse hoof-shaped basal plate. The inner surface and lateral wings of spine scales have numerous radial ribs with two ‘pockets’ that are located on both sides of the spine shaft. These pockets are formed by the lateral wings and ends of the basal plate. The cyst formation and transition to a spicules-bearing stage were noted. Additionally, phylogenetic tree was constructed based on SSU rRNA sequences including the strain HF-25 from the permafrost of Kolyma Lowland. The resulting phylogeny recovered it within the clade Pterista, while forming a separate sister lineage to H2 clade, which only had included freshwater environmental sequences.

The History of Excavations in the Crimea in 1920-1930's in the Letters to Mykola Ernst

The Scientific Archive of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine (NA NMIU) contains three letters dated by 07/15/1930, 09/15/1930 and 11/30/1935, addressed to the famous archaelogist of the Crimea Nikolai Ernst (1889—1956), the authors of which are famous archaeologists Boris Zhukov, Lavrenty Moiseev and Petr Efimenko. These letters contain information about excavations, which in 1920’s — 1930’s were carried out in different regions of the Crimean peninsula and are important sources for studying the history of the Crimean archaeological study. Today N. Ernst’s documents, stored in the archives of Simferopol, Kyiv, St. Petersburg and Moscow, are used by researchers who study the archaeological heritage and life of N. Ernst. However, three letters from the NA NMIU have not become the subject of a separate study yet and have not been introduced into scientific circulation. The addressee of these letters, N. Ernst, in 1920’s, worked in the Crimean department for museums and protection of monuments of art and antiquity, was the secretary of the Taurida Society of History, Archaeology and Ethnography, and in April 1930 he headed this Society. These letters contain information about archaeological research in the Crimea, which is not mentioned in the published article by N. Ernst ‘Chronicle of archaeological excavations and exploration in the Crimea for 10 years (1921—1930)’. The letters of B. Zhukov (1930) and L. Moiseev (1930) are probably the answers to the request of N. Ernst, as the head of the Taurida Society of History, Archaeology and Ethnography, send information about the work of local archaeological expeditions for the preparation of a general report. These letters contain information about excavations of archaeological monuments from different historical eras, which are located in different regions of the Crimea and are an important source on the history of the Crimean archaeology of 1920’s — 1930’s. In the third letter, the author of which is P. Efimenko (1935), talks about the participation of N. Ernst in the meeting of the Commission for the Study of Fossil Man, which took place in Leningrad on 20—25th December 1935. The purpose of this meeting was to prepare the Soviet section of INQUA to participate in September 1936 in the III International Conference of the Association for the Study of the Quaternary. Efimenko recommended N. Ernst to prepare a report on the results of the exploration of the Chokurcha Cave.