Jump to navigation Jump to search “Taurida” redirects here. Satellite image of ukrainian international dating Black Sea, with the lighter-colored Sea of Azov and the Crimean peninsula in the center of the picture.

5th century BC when several Greek colonies were established along its coast. In 1783, the Ottoman Empire was defeated by Catherine the Great. Crimea was traded to Russia by the Ottoman Empire as part of the Treaty provision. After two centuries of conflict, the Russian fleet had destroyed the Ottoman navy and the Russian army had inflicted heavy defeats on the Ottoman land forces. In 1921 the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was created. Archaeological evidence of human settlement in Crimea dates back to the Middle Paleolithic.

Neanderthal remains found at Kiyik-Koba Cave have been dated to about 80,000 BP. Proponents of the Black Sea deluge hypothesis believe Crimea did not become a peninsula until relatively recently, with the rising of the Black Sea level in the 6th millennium BC. The beginning of the Neolithic in Crimea is not associated with agriculture, but instead with the beginning of pottery production, changes in flint tool-making technologies, and local domestication of pigs. By the 3rd millennium BC, Crimea had been reached by the Yamna or “pit grave” culture, assumed to correspond to a late phase of Proto-Indo-European culture in the Kurgan hypothesis. The Scythian treasure of Kul-Oba, in eastern Crimea. Crimea, and the East Iranian-speaking Scythians north of the Crimean Mountains. Taurians intermixed with the Scythians starting from the end of 3rd century BC were mentioned as  Tauroscythians and Scythotaurians in the works of ancient Greek writers.

The origins of the Tauri, from which the classical name of Crimea as Taurica arose, are unclear. They are possibly a remnant of the Cimmerians displaced by the Scythians. The Greeks, who eventually established colonies in Crimea during the Archaic Period, regarded the Tauri as a savage, warlike people. The Crimean Peninsula north of the Crimean Mountains was occupied by Scythian tribes. Their center was the city of Scythian Neapolis on the outskirts of present-day Simferopol. The ancient Greeks were the first to name the region Taurica after the Tauri.