INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATIONS: CRIMEAN STRAIGHT LINES (STATEMENT OF A PROBLEM)
The paper suggests a hypothesis on special communicative technique of prehistoric cultures in the Crimea. It existed in the form of landscape ‘direct lines’ (fire communication). They had been practiced in all European cultures for both ritual and pragmatic purposes. Their relics can be traced in the Crimean folklore, toponyms and material monuments. Places with special symbolism are: 1) mountainous - peaks, rocks, canyons, passes; 2) riverine - waterfalls, curves, heads and outfalls of springs, rivers, streams; 3) sea - capes, bays, estuaries. Chufut-Kale could be one of the major crossroads on such «sacred map», because from that place news could be successfully transferred to mountainous, coastal and steppe Crimea.