NOTES ON THE HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE BALTA-CHOKRAK VILLAGE IN SOUTHWEST CRIMEA AT THE END OF THE 18TH – THE FIRST HALF OF THE 20TH CENTURY

This article presents a study of the surviving elements of the cultural landscape and the reconstruction of the disappeared elements of this landscape using the example of the abolished village of Balta-Chokrak in the Crimean Mountains, as well as a demonstration of the possibilities of such an approach to other rural cultural landscapes of Crimea. The authors developed a classification of the degree of preservation of the historical rural cultural landscapes of Crimea, according to which the cultural landscape of the village of Balta-Chokrak is characterized by a low degree of preservation (due to the destruction of the previous planning of residential development as a result of modern economic activity). Despite the above fact, single elements of the relict rural landscape have been preserved on the territory of the former village. Thanks to documentary evidence and a survey of the territory, the researchers were able to determine the location of various elements of the cultural landscape of the village, such as: a water supply source, colonists’ houses, an agricultural district with arable and pasture lands, small wood forest and areas for stone mining, transport infrastructure, religious buildings and necropolis. It is also important that since the necropolis of the village of Balta-Chokrak is one of the few surviving elements of the cultural landscape. Therefore, a complete catalog of his tombstones and their fragments is also presented.