"Armenian Stonehenge" or "Karahunj" (singing stones) gained world fame after astrophysicist Paris Heruni called it an observatory and calculated its age by the stars, saying that Armenians studied the starry sky here 7000 years ago.
Archaeologists do not agree with this interpretation, just as they do not agree with the name of the monument. Karahunj is a village near Goris, but it is quite far from here. Officially, this monument has the name "Zorats Karer" (stones of warriors, stone army), and this is an ancient burial, though several thousand years older than the "observatory of Paris Heruni". That, however, does not diminish the significance of this monument either on the scale of Armenia or on a global scale, says Ashot Piliposyan, head of the Zorats Karer archaeological expedition, scientific secretary of the Historical Environment Protection Service of the Armenian Ministry of Culture.
The expedition led by Ashot Piliposyan this year is carrying out excavations on the territory of the megalithic monument "Zorats Karer" within the framework of the program of the State Science Committee of the Ministry of Education and Science of Armenia.
Archaeologists have already opened the central mound, and found here everything that is inherent in the burial of the Bronze and Iron Age - beads, earthenware, a jug with the bones of a sacrificial animal, arrowheads, etc.
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The layers in the mound are strongly mixed, says Ashot Piliposyan. Apparently, burials were carried out here more than once from the 18th to the 5th century BC. Moreover, the mound was plundered, perhaps a thousand years ago or even earlier.
As for the holes on the stones, which prompted Paris Heruni to think about an observatory in their time, then, according to Ashot Piliposyan's interpretation, they had a much more mundane purpose.
The stones were brought here from the quarry, which is located a kilometer from here: they were laid on logs, a rope was passed through the holes and dragged. According to the archaeologist, this technique of delivering stones has been used for a very long time, and there are khachkars in the area with the same holes at the base.
The wall of stones, according to the scientist, was built later, later than 7-6 centuries BC, and was, in all likelihood, a protective value. “There was a need to build a fence and a barrier very quickly. For this, slabs with holes that were easier to drag were removed from the graves, and a wall was built with them.
In all likelihood, the distance between the slabs was covered with small stones. Perhaps at this stage, part of the territory was used as a settlement. I can't say for sure yet, because no excavations have been carried out on this site yet. But there are traces of some round structures, which are definitely not burials,”he said.
According to Ashot Piliposyan, excavations will be continued here to clarify once and for all the purpose of this monument, overgrown with all sorts of legends.
