These amazing natural phenomena can be found everywhere. On the banks of African rivers, among the dense jungles of South America, in the Egyptian desert and the mountains of Afghanistan, in the impenetrable thickets of Karelia and in the California Cordillera. Singing stones are a unique natural phenomenon that scientists have been unsuccessfully trying to explain to this day. They have been known to people for thousands of years. They have become a cult site for many ancient peoples. To this day, they "speak" to us in their amazing language.
In scientific circles "singing stones" were given a special name - lithophones. Mentions of such amazing geological formations are found in a variety of sources, ranging from clay tablets of the peoples of Mesopotamia, and ending with the notes of modern hunters and tourists. Some of them were looking for entire expeditions. Others are so great that they have won worldwide fame.
An amazing stone was found in the mountains by the engineer Afanasy Pekturin in the 60s of the last century. While on vacation, he decided to go hiking in Altai. Taking a backpack and a gun with him, he wandered through the woods for several days. In the morning, as he was closing his small camp, he dropped the spirit lamp, which shattered to smithereens. The annoyed man exclaimed: "Damn!", And a second later someone barked from the wilderness of the forest "Trech tov!"
The voice was rough and deaf. Afanasy got scared, grabbed a rifle and hid in the nearby bushes. A few minutes of silence seemed like an eternity to him. Then he shouted: "Who is there!" A second later, the answer was "It's open!" Exactly one hour the man shouted into the forest, and listened to the echo repeating his words in reverse. Finally making sure that no one is mocking him, he decided to find out the nature of the phenomenon.
Soon, a hundred meters from the resting place, he discovered a rock, 15 meters high. The engineer examined it with curiosity, but found nothing interesting. Suddenly, he hit his finger on the ledge. Exclaiming in surprise: "Fool!" he got an echo the other way around. In addition, the stone seemed to bend under the influence of sound. An adult man climbed the surface of the rock for several hours, shouting out whatever came to his mind, in order to determine the places where the stone sagged. And he did not bend everywhere. Returning home, Pekturin turned to familiar geologists who could not explain the nature of such a phenomenon. Although they admitted that such a case is not the first in their practice.
Karelian archaeologists equipped an entire expedition to find a unique stone among the forests and swamps, which was legendary among the indigenous peoples. Local residents called it a “ringing” stone. For several weeks the expedition searched for him until they came across a unique boulder that matched the description given by the old-timers. If you hit the top of it with a cobblestone, a melodic sound will be heard in response.
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The top was flattened and worn out. It bore numerous impact marks. The stone was used by ancient shamans trying to plunge into a trance. It was investigated in detail by geologists and specialists from the Petrozavodsk Conservatory, who discovered a crack in it, forming a resonating cavity. She also created a special acoustic effect.
This stone is not the only one of its kind. Even in ancient China, stones were cut in a special way, so that from a small collision they emitted a sound of a certain tonality. Gongs made of similar stones were known in Africa. They were used by sorcerers who performed their mystical rites.
The colossus of Memnon in Egyptian Thebes became world famous. This man-made structure is 4 thousand years old. The colossus is a statue of Amenhotep, who sits with his hands folded in his lap and looks at the sun. The statue was erected from quartz sandstone quarried near the Nile. During an earthquake in the 1st century BC, the statue split and began to "sing". Her song is like a light moan, whistle and rumble. Sound arises from the evaporation of moisture from the surface of a porous stone.
Sometimes even a mountain can make sounds. A striking example of such a phenomenon is Jebel Nakug (Bell Mountain), which is located on the shores of the Red Sea. A person climbing to its top can hear the sand groaning underfoot. Sometimes a booming rumble is heard from the depths of the mountain. Locals believe that an ancient monastery stands deep in the rocks. And the sound of the bell still gathers the monks for prayer.
There is a similar mountain not far from Kabul. It is called Reg-Ravan. When travelers go down it, the stones make a sound similar to the beat of drums. There are the same mountains in Chile and California.
Sometimes even small grains of sand can create an amazing melody. Bedouins often talk about whispering dunes in the night. Singing sands can be found on the shores of Lake Baikal, on the Lena River, on the Riga seaside. Suffice it to recall a quote from the legendary novel by Jack London “Hearts of Three”: “Every step on the sand caused a whole cacophony of sounds. People froze in place - and everything froze around. But as soon as one took a step, and the sand began to sing again."
There is another unique place. It is located in Pennsylvania. This is a whole rock garden called the Ringing Rocks. The boulders there ring like a bell. You can even tap a simple melody on them with a wooden stick. They are of various shapes and sizes and consist of a rare rock - diabase. These rocks are practically devoid of angularity. Their lines are smooth and soft. Many of them have small bowl-shaped depressions, and their surface is dotted with channels.
Even the Egyptians knew that basalt can make sounds. But why diabase rings - scientists cannot answer. There are many theories. Truth is one. But so far it is not available to us.
