Megaliths - these mysterious stone structures created thousands of years ago - are found almost all over the world. Researchers divide them into dolmens and menhirs. Dolmens are houses made of huge boulders - with a roof and four walls, tightly fitted to each other. Menhirs are huge stones in the form of rough pillars, located singly or in groups, or in the form of circular fences called cromlechs.
There are such structures on the Black Sea coast, forming, according to the definition of the researcher of megalithic culture, Assoc. Lyubomir Tsoneva, Black Sea megalithic arc. It passes through the eastern part of the Rhodope Mountains, Sakar, the eastern part of Stara Planina, the Shumen region, Cape Kaliakra, the Crimean Peninsula, the Caucasus and the Armenian Highlands. Scientists are convinced of the sacred purpose of the megaliths. When, however, were they created? Are there connections and analogies between different objects on the Black Sea coast? With these questions, we turned to Assoc. Lyubomir Tsonev. “When we talk about megaliths, there are more questions than answers. And there are very few answers that can be supported by rigorous evidence, the researcher admits. "The paradox is that different megalithic finds are somewhat similar, but no two are alike."
“About 400 dolmens and the same number of menhirs have been found in the Balkans. There are about 2000 dolmens in the Caucasus, but there are no menhirs. On the territory of the Armenian Highlands there is an exceptionally beautiful object with several hundred menhirs and a small dolmen in the middle. Local scholars claim that it is dated to the 5th-4th centuries. BC e. Newer than Armenian should be Caucasian from XXV to XV centuries. BC e. (ІІІ – ІІ millennium BC). IV-V centuries after such structures ceased to be erected there, the youngest - the Balkan complex, dated from the 12th to the 6th centuries, arose. BC e. I would like to know if this huge time difference is real or if it is about inaccurate dating. It seems to me that it is impossible for the existence of such close complexes to be absolutely isolated with such a difference in time,”Assoc. Tsonev.
The main problem is the accurate dating of the megaliths. If it is solved, then the mystery around them will begin to unfold little by little. The complexes in different countries have been investigated at different times and using methods of different reliability. According to Lyubomir Tsonev, the most accurate dating of the Caucasian dolmens is based on radioactive carbon-14 and the method of stimulated infrared luminescence. In Bulgaria, dating is carried out on the basis of ceramic finds, which may also belong to later eras.
Where in our country can you see well-preserved megalithic objects?
“Dolmens are located in the Bulgarian part of the Strandzha, Sakar and the eastern part of the Rhodope Mountains. The largest, relatively preserved specimens are in Strandzha, near the border with Turkey. They have survived due to the fact that earlier, due to the border regime, this territory was absolutely inaccessible to treasure hunters. More accessible for tourists is the Sakar mountain region, where most of the dolmens are located near the Harmanli - Topolovgrad highway,”says Assoc. Tsonev.
Promotional video:
As for cromlechs, five of these have been found in Bulgaria. One is located in the village of Dolni-Glavanak in the Eastern Rhodopes - about 20 stone blocks, about 1-1.50 m high, in the form of a circle. The second cromlech was at Starosel, near the village of Staro-Zhelezare. It represented 24 menhirs in the form of a circle; however, it was destroyed. The third is located at Cape Emine. Menhirs standing in a row and simply in groups can be seen near Pliska. They are called devtashlari (spirit stones). Some scholars believe that they are the work of the ancient Bulgarians. Associate Professor Tsonev, however, is skeptical about this theory.
“It sounds absurd to me that people at a certain civilized level, who had their own state, who arrived here, conquered territory and created a new state with a capital, simply drove huge stones into the ground. This is unheard of primitive, - Assoc. Tsonev. “Besides, nowhere in the information about the ancient Bulgarians is it explained what kind of stones they were. And one more thing: subsequently, the Bulgarians expanded the borders of the state, reaching the Aegean Sea. But such a monument has not appeared anywhere. Therefore, I prefer to think that this is a different historical layer."
These disputes can be resolved unambiguously by dating objects using luminescence. This is how the famous drawings on the Nazca plateau in Peru are dated, which attract many tourists from all over the world. “We could do this too, using the services of our southern neighbors - the Greeks, who have been using this method for a long time,” said Assoc. Tsonev.