V. N. Aliyassova, K. K. Akhmetov, I. R. Aspanova
492
- The protection of this heritage should not be based on the
application of only one method, such as excavations. This can lead to the
destruction of cultural and natural heritage.
Current trends in the field of cultural heritage conservation are for
preservation, restoration, reconstruction and museification (also written as
museumification).
Museification allows the preservation and use of heritage for
cognitive tourism, and is a typical model in many countries. With sites
situated far enough from areas with high technogenic load, conservation
and museification can be designed in such a way that the site or monument
is preserved in its natural environment. Designs for the preservation of sites
and monuments within the boundaries of industrial centres require a careful
selection of appropriate solutions for conservation and use.
In this article, the authors propose a strategy for the conservation of
natural heritage using the example of a palaeontological site of national
importance known as “Gussinyi Perelet” (the “Goose Passage”). This site is
located in the city of Pavlodar, a large industrial centre in Kazakhstan.
Urban construction has already encroached upon the boundaries of the site,
and progresses without consultation of academic experts. Due to shoreline
development on the banks of the Irtysh River, anthropogenic influences
have greatly affected its condition.
2
Gussinyi Perelet is one of the largest and best-known localities in
Eurasia for the assemblage of fossils known as the hipparion fauna. The site
was discovered in 1928 by Y. A. Orlov, a novice academic researcher who
went on to become director of the Palaeontological Institute of the USSR
Academy of Sciences. The location, in the riverside district of Pavlodar city,
is a cliff spanning 800 meters of the right bank of the Irtysh River, upstream
of the railway bridge.
The most typical representative of this collection of fossilised fauna is
the animal after which it was named, the three-toed horse Hipparion.
However, the range of large mammal remains found in this fauna is very
diverse and includes predators, rhinoceroses, hipparions, antelopes, gazelles
and deer. Among the small mammals, numerous endemic forms of gerbils
dominate. Remains of ancient birds are also found amongst the Gussinyi
Perelet fauna; thus far nine species from six different genera have been
identified and presented. All these types of birds were ground-dwelling and
lived in open landscapes. The collection of fossils indicates a significant
drying climate due to desertification and a diversity of landscapes
2
Aliyassova et al. 2005, p. 85-86.
www.cclbsebes.ro/muzeul-municipal-ioan-raica.html / www.cimec.ro
Preservation for the Musefication of the Natural Heritage Site “Gussinyi Perelet”
493
characterised by open spaces, wetland thickets and small woodland areas.
These natural conditions were similar to the modern African savannah.
3
To date more than 70 species of animals have been found on the site,
and still more are being discovered. The Hipparion fauna comprises giraffes
(Palaeotragus sp. and Samotherium sp.), rhinoceroses (Chilotherium orlovi), sabre-
toothed cats (Machairodus Irtyschensis), hyenas (Crocuta), ancient mastodons
(Proboscidea), ancient deer (Gazella deperdita), antelope (Tragocerus), ostriches
(Struthio asiaticus), turtles (Trionychidae) and many other animal species.
4
Hipparions - three-toed horses of the family Equidae - are not thought to
be the direct ancestors of the later monodactylus horses, which include
domestic horse (Equus caballus L.) but a distinct line. During the second half
of the Neogene Period, several types of hipparion were spread across
Kazakhstan. This gregarious species was separate from the smaller Central
Asian donkey. It is believed that unlike modern horses Hipparion were
longer-eared and may have had zebra-like colouration. Some Hipparion,
according to the bone structure of their limbs, mainly kept to damp marshy
meadows, but easily moved to other spaces with more solid ground, as
shown by the patterning on the surface of their teeth which suggests they
ate tough prairie grasses from drier plains. It is assumed that Hipparion, like
many modern ungulates, as well as associated large mammals and some
birds (ostriches), migrated seasonally from south to north and back again,
according to dry seasons and the growth of vegetation. It is likely that in
summer the northern part of Kazakhstan provided ideal conditions for the
growth of mast and pastures, while grazing land to the south was scorched
by drought.
The giraffes discovered amongst the hipparion fauna were did not
have such long necks and legs as those now living in Africa: most were
more similar to the okapi still found in the Congo Basin. Their favoured
habitat was mixed woodland and savannah.
The antelopes were generally little different from modern
representatives of this group of artiodactyls today, and were mainly found in
the steppe zone. They included both large species - Tragocerus - and
smaller gazelles.
One of the most impressive representatives of predators amongst the
Hipparion fauna was the sabre-toothed cat, Machairodus, more commonly
known as the sabre-toothed tiger, which likely hunted all the ungulates of
that period, including mastodons. Another predator was the hyena: a strong
and active animal, to which sabre-toothed cats were indispensible
3
Shpanskiy 2005, p. 314-317.
4
Ibid.
www.cclbsebes.ro/muzeul-municipal-ioan-raica.html / www.cimec.ro