As you know, there is still no final and reliable conclusion about the purpose for which these megaliths were created, but some scientists agree on one thing: dolmens are variants of tombs. It is also not clear why, for burial, megalith builders had to spend so much effort and energy on the construction of dolmens, when for this it was possible to build more suitable and less laborious structures.
In some megaliths, scientists have found the remains (not necessarily entirely) of about 16 people. There were cases of cremation. Different methods of burial indicate the characteristics of the cultures of the peoples.
In the Caucasus, as a rule, in river valleys, in small areas, almost all types of burials are found. This is due to the fact that reburials often took place at different times. By the way, this was allowed not only in the Caucasus, but also in European countries.
There are dolmens in which there are simply no traces of burial. Individual megaliths were filled with various foods. And in one of them, located on the Ashe River, in the valley, scientists found a bunch of dog paws.
However, with all the existing differences, the parameters of the structures practically do not change. The fact that there are practically no drawings or decorations on the dolmens indicates that the buildings were unlikely to be tombs. And the presence of convex signs on some, for the image of which the megalith builders had to remove a layer of stone from the entire surface of the slab, suggests that letters and drawings are absent on the dolmens, not because they could not make them. It just wasn't necessary.
Next, you need to pay attention to the labor costs associated with the construction of megaliths.
Researchers attribute the construction of dolmens to the Bronze Age (3-6 thousand years ago). At that time, there were tribal communities and nomadic tribes. It should be noted that the climatic conditions of the Caucasus make this place not as favorable as, for example, Egypt or Greece. Dolmens, as a rule, were built in mountainous areas where snow sometimes falls, and in some areas it does not melt during the whole winter. Naturally, food is not so easy to get here, because tasty juicy fruits, which can be picked from the tree at any time, are out of the question.
During the construction of dolmens, the life of people inhabiting the territory of the modern Caucasus was hardly easier than it is now. Rather the opposite.
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However, the locals, instead of earning their own food, spent a huge amount of time and effort building stone structures of unknown purpose. And this cannot be called an isolated case of dolmens, a lot of them were built, and now they are found more and more.
One can, of course, assume that large groups of people were engaged in the construction of megaliths, but in this case, a legitimate question immediately arises: where, then, are the traces of large settlements, cities, fortresses, etc.?
It turns out that a people capable of creating megaliths, the construction of which requires considerable knowledge, skills and experience, at the same time did not have large stone houses and temples.
In the area of the village of Dakhovskaya on the Belaya River, scientists have discovered a settlement that, in many ways, belongs to the culture of megalith builders. In addition, in the valley of the Farsa River during excavations, many monuments from different eras were found.
Until now, researchers have not been able to identify the principle by which the dolmens are located. Many structures are oriented approximately along the water flow line. However, there are dolmens, directed towards the slope, and megaliths, the direction of which is completely beyond any definition - they "look" in an unknown direction.
Today, scientific work is underway to measure dolmens in relation to their orientation to different phases of the solstice. Mikhail Kudin and Nikita Kondryakov have already published the results of their research on individual dolmens located in the upper reaches of the Neozhidanny stream. The works of T. V. Fedunova on the measurement of megalith in Guzeripl are interesting.
The meaning of the theory being developed is that on a certain day (for example, the day of the equinox or solstice), the first ray of the sun rushes directly into the hole of the dolmen. The structure in Guzeripl has a special stone inside, on which the rays of the rising sun fall. The orientation of the dolmens is entirely subordinated to the location of the ridges surrounding the valleys.
However, research in this area is relatively recent, there are still few results, so it is impossible to assert with complete certainty something definite about the direction of the megaliths.
The scientific work of researchers in this area is greatly hampered by natural factors: these are densely forested slopes and a rather harsh climate. To make things even more complicated, any measurements can only be made if the clouds allow. Considering that the equinox and solstice do not happen so often, it can be assumed that scientists will not come to final conclusions soon.
It should also be noted that various natural influences, such as earthquakes, tree growth, etc., as well as the not always beneficial human influence, have changed the initial orientation of many dolmens. Some archaeologists are still inclined to think that this pattern, that is, the factor of orientation of the megaliths, is most likely secondary. The probability that people built dolmens only for the sake of solar observations or as solar observatories is rather small, since the direction could be fixed simply by placing two stones as it is done in menhirs. It is also very unlikely that people spent so much time and energy building megaliths that would make it easier to determine the orientation.
The very method of constructing dolmens also remains unclear. Of course, it is difficult to put two large boulders on top of each other, but this is not at all the case. Two Americans have already proved that this operation can be carried out without the help of modern instruments and in no more than two hours. The main question is how people delivered huge boulders and rocks for many kilometers, because often they had to cover a distance of more than fifteen kilometers. Moreover, it should be noted that this happened in a mountainous, densely populated area, where even with a much lighter load it is not at all easy to move.
The quality of the fit of the building material is also amazing. How did the ancient people, not possessing even a hundredth share of modern tools, flawlessly fit multi-ton slabs to each other, while observing almost absolutely exact proportions, despite the fact that the processing of internal invisible surfaces was rather rough, and all the work was done with stone tools?
In the middle of the 20th century, a group of researchers wanted to deliver one of the dolmens from Esheri for the Sukhum Museum. We decided to choose a small megalith. A crane was connected to it, but no matter how much the steel cable was attached to the cover plate, it was not possible to move the multi-ton structure. I had to resort to the help of a second crane. With the joint efforts of both cranes, they managed to lift the dolmen off the ground, but very soon they realized that it was impossible to hoist it onto a truck. Some time later, when a more powerful car arrived, the dolmen was transported in parts to Sukhumi.
In the city, scientists faced a much more difficult task: reassembling the structure. All the efforts of people were not crowned with success, this was only partially accomplished. When the cover plate was lowered onto four walls, it was not possible to unfold it in such a way that their edges entered the grooves located on the inner surface of the roof. There was a large gap between the walls and the roof, although initially the slabs were fitted so tightly to each other that it was impossible to place even a knife blade between them.
Some researchers consider megaliths to be ultrasound emitters. But this interpretation of dolmens can be attributed only to sandstone buildings. And then what about dolmens built of limestone (but not in the Caucasus) or of granite (in the area of the Cutted Kurgan summit), and finally, megaliths under the mounds?
This means that the following conclusion can be drawn: it is not yet possible to classify dolmens by their orientation or construction method - there is too little information for this, people are just beginning to lift the veil hiding the secrets of dolmens from us.
Therefore, while scientists divide megaliths in the most primitive way - by their appearance.
Tiled dolmens are more common than others. These megaliths can be located anywhere in the Caucasus, where there are dolmens at all.
The structure consists of a stone table, on which two side wall slabs were usually installed, and two more slabs were inserted into the grooves between them - the front and rear; the whole structure was covered with a roof, which sometimes could have different types of grooves.
Sometimes the side walls and roofs of some megaliths protruded forward, forming a portal. Often, in order to press the walls more tightly, untreated slabs or just stones were placed on the sides of the dolmens. For the same purpose, the back of the dolmens often burst into the slope. Sometimes the front wall of the megaliths was given a convex lenticular shape, as, for example, a dolmen looks like under Gelendzhik in the Shirokaya Shchel.
The megaliths of the Pshada river basin near Gelendzhik, according to scientists, are built from a construction point of view of the highest quality and reliability. In this megalith, the side walls form a slope, giving the false impression of a vault.
An opening was made on the facade of the building, which was closed with a stone plug. Usually it had a rounded shape, but dolmens with semi-ellipses, triangular with rounded edges and square holes are often found. Some megaliths were built without holes at all. Such structures can be considered dolmens only conditionally, and even then only in those cases when they are located among other dolmens (for example, a group of megaliths on the Nikhetkh ridge).
There are constructions with portal-galleries made of separate slabs. Such dolmens were found in Solokh-aul, in the Tri Oak tract.
If in Europe such galleries are rather long, then in the Caucasus they are short variations, consisting of one section, unfortunately, all of them are already dilapidated.
The next type of buildings is megaliths, consisting of separate blocks-bricks of a sufficiently large size, covered with a slab on top, just like ordinary slab dolmens. This option is called composite. These structures are most often rounded, the blocks of such megaliths have a slightly rounded shape (for example, a group of dolmens in the valley of the Janet River, the Psynako-2 group and some others).
There are also rectangular compound dolmens built of carefully selected L-shaped blocks, such as the dolmen on Mount Nexis.
Researchers have also found many megaliths of transitional types, which have features of both slab and composite structures. In such dolmens, only the front wall is integral, and all the rest are built of blocks (one of these structures was found in Sochi). Other dolmens (for example, in Guzeripl in the upper reaches of the Belaya River) are folded up to half as tiled - the front part, and the other half of such structures are built of blocks of different sizes, which are also poorly processed.
In rocky areas, dolmens were carved right into the rocks. Scientists have discovered many similar buildings south of Pshada. Naturally, this is both a beautiful and not too difficult option for building megaliths. On Pshad, three dolmens were found, built in this way, and in the vicinity of the city of Sochi, in the valleys of the Tsushvaj, Shakhe rivers, such structures make up the majority. However, further south, in Abkhazia, there are none at all.
How was the construction of such megaliths carried out? First, a camera was carved into the top of the rock, which could have any shape, often it was a false vault. From above, the entire structure was covered with a roof. A hole was made in the front of the rock, which was subsequently plugged with a stone plug. Dolmens built in this way are called trough-shaped dolmens.
The face of the megalith could be processed in a variety of ways. Sometimes it was an imitation of the front part of an ordinary tiled dolmen. The similarity can be found in the characteristic protrusions of the front wall, which are similar to the side walls of a tiled dolmen projecting forward. This suggests that trough dolmens appeared much later than tiled ones. But it should be noted that there are also such trough-shaped dolmens in which there is absolutely nothing in common with tiled ones (for example, a megalith on the Vinogradnoye stream in the valley of the Tsuskhvaj River, as well as a pyramidal dolmen in Mamedova Gap). It often happens that the portal element of the megalith is much larger than the size of the inner chamber.
Archaeologists have discovered a large group of structures that were later considered false portal specialists. On the front wall of these structures, in place of the hole plugged with a stone plug, a bulge was carved to imitate such a hole. The obverse of such dolmens was often excellently worked, and the trough-like structures had portal protrusions. Holes in these megaliths were cut at the back.
False portal megaliths, which were created according to the classic schemes of slab dolmens, were found in the upper reaches of the Neozhidnyi stream near Lazorevskoye. As a rule, false-portal megaliths were built according to the same scheme as trough-shaped dolmens. However, there are exceptions. For example, a dolmen located near the village of Maryino in the Psezuapse river valley has a hole in the side wall.
Individual trough-shaped dolmens were processed from all sides to give the structure a rectangular shape. This, as it were, imitated tiled structures (like, for example, the megalith in the village of Kamenny Karyer near Tuapse).
It happened that the dolmens were given a rounded shape (aul Shkhafit on the Ashe River, the village of Pshada, Volch'i Vorota). However, in many megaliths, only the front part was turned, while most of the rock remained intact.
Researchers have found two megaliths in the Caucasus, which are characterized as trough-like, on the contrary. This means that in the rocky ledge, a chamber was first drilled, a hole was cut, and only after the operations were performed, the structure was turned over and placed on the stone floor. But it should be clarified that there is only one reliable example of such a megalith. This is a dolmen located in the valley of the Ashe River. Regarding another inverted dolmen discovered on the Pshenakho River (Psynakho-3), it must be said that, according to local residents, it originally had a roof, like all ordinary megaliths, but some bulldozer turned it over and threw it down.
There is one more type of dolmen, which is represented in the Caucasus, however, in a single copy. It is a real monolith. For the construction of such a megalith in one rock, the entire chamber was carved through the hole, after which it was plugged with a stone plug. Until recently, there were three such buildings, but, unfortunately, two of them were destroyed for economic needs. Now there is only one magnificent example of a monolithic dolmen, it is located in the Caucasus, on the Godlik River near the village of Volkonka.
Scientists have not yet succeeded in developing a clear classification, since there are numerous deviations and transitional variations of megalithic structures.
There is evidence (unfortunately, not yet verified) that in the valley of the Tsushvaj River there is a two-chamber megalith built on the principle of a trough-shaped dolmen and having two holes.
In addition, two holes were found on a structure located in the same valley on the Vinogradnoye stream, one of the holes being hollowed out in the slab, which is the roof. By the way, on Pshad there are ruins of a tiled dolmen also with a hole made in the roof.
Near the village of Novosvobodnaya, researchers discovered a multifaceted trough-shaped megalith. In the same area, but in another large group of megaliths, there are two dolmens connected by an underground passage (Bogatyr road on the Fars river). However, it should be noted that, to the great regret of scientists, these dolmens, like many other megaliths, were torn apart by a tractor.
Another type of dolmens is under the kurgan. This is the Psynako-1 complex, found on the Pshenakho river near the village of Anastasievka - a dolmen with a dromos (narrow underground passage).
The megalith was created in the following way: the tiled dolmen was very neatly overlaid with small stones, and covered with clay on top, an underground gallery was led to the entrance, the walls and ceiling of which were made of small stone slabs that have an irregular shape (most likely it was originally different). Psynako-1 reaches five meters in height and is lined with cromlech - a stone fence.
This mound was found by the archaeologist of the Tuapse Museum of Local Lore, M. K. Teshev. The long work of the bulldozer drivers was rewarded as they deserved: there was a dolmen inside the mound. According to the results of studies of this megalithic structure, the complex on the Pshenakho River can rightly be put on the same level with the most significant Western European structures of this kind.
The first to study the orientation of dolmens relative to the position of the Sun was M. K. Teshev. An archaeologist from Tuapse traced the relationship between the position of the Sun in the sky over the valley and the stone rays found around the mound.
But the scientist did not have time to complete the research. Now the megalithic complex on the Pshenakho River is a torn up pile of stones, by which it is impossible to determine anything.
In the Arkhipo-Osipovka area, another sub-mound complex with an underground passage in the form of a gallery was discovered. This megalith is not tiled. Its walls are lined with small flat stones. Only the front part of the dolmen with a hole made in it consists of a solid slab. Archaeologist from Moscow B. V. Meleshko is currently excavating this structure.
There are dolmens located inside stone towers, they were found in the Vasilyevka area (Ozereyka valley near Novorossiysk). Perhaps these complexes were originally simply covered with earth. Although this version has not yet been confirmed, since in many cases the structure of the surrounding area excludes such a possibility.
Some dolmens were built on special embankments. Most often, such megaliths are found in the upper reaches of the Neozhidanny stream near Lazorevsky and the Ashe valley and in the group above the villages of Bzych on the Shak river.
Often, megalith builders surrounded the dolmens with stone fences called cromlechs. Interesting cromlechs in the form of mounds of stones around dolmens and having a rounded shape (complex Psynako-2).
Diverging rays are clearly visible here, which were lined with small stones. The fact that the cromlechs are very well preserved suggests that they were made later than the dolmens themselves.
There are also classic cromlechs, made up of poorly processed or untreated vertically placed stones (for example, a megalith in the area of the Neozhidanny stream or in Guzeripl, etc.).
There are also dolmens with small courtyards, as if continuing the structure. Well crafted bricks and stone blocks were used to create these courtyards.
An example of such a structure is the tiled megalith in Dzhubga. The courtyard of this dolmen is paved with two rows of huge blocks. The entrance to it is dug into the ground and goes through the front row. Apparently, this courtyard was originally elliptical in shape.