Chalmny-Varre is a non-residential settlement in the middle reaches of the Ponoy River (Murmansk region). The name translated from the Sami language means "visible forest" or "eyes of the forest".
In 1973, near the Chalmny-Varre tract, archaeologist V. Ya. Shumkin discovered six stones, on the flat surface of which various images - petroglyphs - were carved. They are carved into the surface of six boulders, the largest of which has an area of almost 7 m². The number of images on them ranges from 2-3 to 60. They depict scenes of hunting for deer and elk, the shaman's ritual, the birth of a deer. The height of the figures is 10-15 cm, and the embossing depth is up to 3 mm.
The Chalmny-Varre petroglyphs are a kind of art gallery that has been created over two millennia. Moreover, later images are more perfect and more diverse. On one of the stones found with a surface of about 4 sq. m, more than 60 drawings dating back to the early metal era are embossed. Experts note not only the historical, but also the artistic value of the drawings, which are original and often talented.
Researchers attribute the time of the creation of the drawings to the II-I millennium BC. e. According to scientists, both in content and in form, there are certain points of contact with the petroglyphs of Karelia.
Now in Chalmny-Varre, five stones with petroglyphs are available for inspection, the sixth in March 1988 was taken to the museum of history, culture and life of the Kola Sami in the village of Lovozero.
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Until 1917, this place was a cemetery for the Kamensk Sámi who roamed along the Ponoi River. In the 1970s, an expedition was organized in Chalmny-Varre and Iokangu to study the Sami funeral rite; excavations of the Kamensk Sámi cemetery were carried out, where 52 burials were examined.
GPS coordinates: 67.16787, 37.59475.