In the arid steppe of Crimea, Crimean Tatars made round hollows in the upper part of tombstones where rainwater collected. This water quenched the thirst of animals and birds. These unique reservoirs were called «qush hayratı» – «the birds’ endowment,» wrote ethnographer and researcher Usein Bodaninsky. Information about them was collected during an ethnographic expedition in 1925-26.
Based on materials from Volume III of the «Collected Works of Usein Bodaninsky,» published by the Scientific Center of the Sh. Marjani Institute of History.
