More than 500 labyrinths made of stones thousands of years ago have been discovered in various parts of the North. It is not known what their purpose was. Such structures have been found, for example, in Finland, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Estonia, England, North America. About 50 such labyrinths have been found in the northern regions of Russia - on the Solovetsky Islands, in Karelia, in the Murmansk region, at the mouth of the Ponoy River, in the White Sea region.
What mysterious objects look like
The mazes are lined with rough stones no bigger than a soccer ball.
There are 3 types of structures: spirals, babylon and surads.
A stone labyrinth in the form of a spiral, Bolshoi Zayatsky Island, Solovki.
Labyrinths-spirals are masonry with a diameter of 5 to 30 meters. The entrance is in the northern part. The spiral itself is made of separate boulders, and on some sections and at the ends there are “thickenings” of stones piled in heaps (therefore, a version appeared that these were primitive calendars with certain cycles marked). There are both single spirals, unwinding from a single center, and double spirals - inscribed one into the other and forming a complex pattern with two centers. In the middle of the spirals there are hills of stones. Also discovered are horseshoe-shaped labyrinths, concentric circles.
Stone labyrinth "Babylon", Bolshoi Zayatsky Island, Solovki.
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Babylon is a complex structure. They appear as concentric ellipses, forming a continuous tangling path with dead ends and numerous bends. In the center of Babylon is a pile of stones (sometimes slightly broken in the form of slabs), stacked in a square. It is assumed that the name comes from the Celtic "Avalon" (the name of the mythical island - the legendary "land of bliss").
Stone labyrinth "Surad", Kandalaksha.
Surads. They are laid out in an intricate double spiral pattern leading to a round center of piled stones. Some researchers have noticed that surads resemble a cross-section of the human brain, with the "pineal gland" located in the center. Based on this, it was suggested that such labyrinths served as a place for the implementation of some kind of ritual associated with the knowledge of the laws of the universe.
Georgy Sidorov, historian.
The historian G. Sidorov suggested that they were built by the inhabitants of Hyperborea, who moved to the nearest northern territories 13 thousand years ago after a global natural disaster. In the next millennia, population migration continued, people settled around the world. This is probably why the image of the labyrinth and the spiral, as symbols of the universe, can be found everywhere in the form of ornaments, magical drawings and ritual buildings.
Legends of different nations about labyrinths of stones
The inhabitants of the North attribute their creation to mythical heroes.
So, in Norway, they believe that they were laid out by Jotuns (ice giants).
Swedish myths say that labyrinths were built by the Dvergs (dwarfs living in the dungeons) to guard their treasures.
In the text of the Karelian-Finnish epic "Kalevala", such stone structures are called entrances to the kingdom of the dead.
Sami stone labyrinths, Karelia.
Why were the labyrinths built?
1. For fishing (in ancient times the sea level was higher) or some kind of animals.
2. For fun: there were round dances (this version is put forward, pointing to the name of the Finnish labyrinth "Girl's Dances"). Probably, there was a speed competition.
3. Dancing and moving around the labyrinth could not be entertaining, but ritual.
4. Labyrinths were created as traps for evil spirits.
5. Structures made of stones are analogs of the so-called "church labyrinths" (spiral drawings on the floor of churches, which are supposed to symbolize the path to God). In 1904, the Russian archaeologist A. A. Spitsyn expressed the opinion that the labyrinths were symbols of a pagan culture common to all ancient Northern peoples, places of worship of the Sun.
Murmansk labyrinth.
6. There is an assumption that the labyrinths were used to study the movement of celestial objects (as an ancient observatory).
