One of the most famous ancient monuments - English Stonehenge - is a horseshoe-shaped structure made of huge stones weighing up to 50 tons. At the same time, few people know that there is a similar structure in Altai, in the Chuya steppe. Opened in Soviet times, this ancient monument is as mysterious as its British counterpart.
The mysterious land - Belovodye, which the Russian people have been looking for for centuries, - according to one version, was in Altai. It is no coincidence that this land is called the Russian Shambhala. That is why thousands of Old Believers rushed here during the period of their persecution by the tsarist power. And the famous Russian philosopher Nicholas Roerich believed in the connection since the time of Atlantis between Altai, Tibet and India.
Mysterious tribes
In 1962, one of the residents of the Altai village of Turochak, in an interview with the director of the Biysk Museum of Local Lore, said that he saw an image of a large bull on a rock in the upper reaches of the Biya River. The director of the museum became interested in the news and informed the Altai scientists, but it was only in 1975 that the bull was found. True, it turned out that this was not a bull, but an elk. Scientists were amazed at the size of the image - the animal was depicted in full size. The manner of execution was similar to similar petroglyphs of the Stone Age, but there were also differences.
Under the peak of the cliff, archaeologists have found six more ancient drawings of moose. Right on the spot, there was an understanding that in front of them was a rare archaeological monument - a writings, or, as they are also called, petroglyphs. Later it turned out that the Turochak scribble is a unique object that is very different from the petroglyphs previously found here. According to scientists, the petroglyphs were created in the Bronze Age, and their authors are attributed to the Karakol culture.
Despite the remoteness from Europe, the ancient Greeks considered Altai a place where fantastic bird-people live, guarding the gold of the gods. Even the ancient Greek historian Herodotus mentioned "arimaspev - one-eyed people, and behind them - guarding gold, vultures". According to modern researchers, the heirs of the Karakol culture - the Pazyryk people - could have been mythological "vultures" for the Hellenes. This is a large group of tribes that lived in Altai in the VI-II centuries BC.
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This carpet is supposedly 2500 years old.
Archaeologists know about their way of life from burial mounds, where many objects were found in burial chambers. The main occupation of the Pazyryk people was cattle breeding. Noble people, both men and women, wore silk shirts. Another common wardrobe item was felt stockings, which were comfortable for riding horses. An indispensable attribute of the clothing of the Pazyryk people was fur coats, sewn with fur both inside and out, with felt appliqués-decorations.
Historians believe that the thousands-strong Hun tribes moving from Central Asia to the north at the end of the 3rd century BC forced the Pazyryk people to flee from Gorny Altai to the north. However, they left behind unique monuments, the purpose of which raises questions. And the most mysterious of them, perhaps, is the Tarkhatinsky megalithic complex, otherwise called the Altai Stonehenge.
Stone cradle
The intermontane basin in the southeast of Altai, in the upper reaches of the Chuya River, is an endless steppe. Due to the fact that this area is located at an altitude of about 1800 meters above sea level, during the day it is unbearably hot, and at night, even in summer, the ground is covered with hoarfrost. Scorched by the daytime sun and hardened by frost and winds, the basin is practically unsuitable for the growth of grasses and trees. As a result, the Chuya steppe has a strong resemblance to the lunar landscapes.
An intermountain basin in the upper reaches of the Chuya River. Photo - Galina Khvostenko.
It is here, 25 kilometers from the village of Kosh-Agach and 2.5 kilometers from the Tarkhata River, that the unique Tarkhata megalithic complex is located. It is a group of huge megalithic stones located on the northwestern arc of a circle with a diameter of about 60 meters. On the southeastern arc, there are smaller stones and calculations. The shapes of the stones and their combinations are different. Unlike Stonehenge, local megaliths have not been processed. It was this fact that allowed the structure not to attract people's attention for a long time. In other words, no one asked the question: "Where did these giants come from among the flat and endless steppe ?!"
Tarkhatinsky megalithic complex.
Among all the stones, the largest are four large megaliths, exceeding 2 meters in height. They are installed so that during sunset and sunrise, the Sun is between them. That is, it is the stone gate of the luminary. Two of them, called "Stone with a gap" and "Bogatyr", work as the northwest gate, and the other two - "Stone with a nose" and "Sphinx" - as the east. Smaller stones are scattered around both gates. There is a version that these are the marks of the summer and winter solstices.
Also in the group of megaliths one can distinguish the stone "Sartakpay's Cradle", which occupies the extreme eastern position and is located a few meters outside the main circle. In Altai, Sartakpai is a popular hero of myths, who laid the channels of the largest rivers. This stone is 6x5x4 meters in size. In shape, this megalith resembles an armchair or a cradle with one side back. That is why the locals believe that the stone has miraculous properties, heals diseases and helps to get pregnant. Back in Soviet times, many couples came here and left coins, beads, jewelry on the megalith, and the branches of a nearby bush were tied with white ribbons.
Shaman graves?
Almost 30 years ago, Altai researchers drew attention to the fact that the outcropping of stone rocks to the surface from the Tarkhatinsky megalithic complex is 12 kilometers away. That is, people dragged multi-ton objects to this place. But how could the Pazyryk people do this with their primitive weapons ?! Or not the Pazyryk people ?!
Pazyryk burial mounds.
The local peoples believed that the Tarkhatin megaliths were brought and installed by the mythical hero Irbizek. However, this folklore myth is much younger than the stone structure. Also, the version was not excluded that the megaliths were brought by a glacier and were already placed on the spot by people in a certain sequence. However, it turned out that the nearby glacial moraines have a different character than the megaliths of the Chuya steppe. That is, after all, huge blocks were brought here by man? Scientists believe that this could have happened about three and a half thousand years ago.
Not finding an answer to the question "how?", The researchers tried to answer the question "why?" Among the probable versions is the assumption that an ancient observatory was located in the Chuya steppe. After all, the megaliths of Altai Stonehenge are installed strictly in accordance with the cardinal points. At the same time, as studies have shown, individual megaliths have a magnetization that is different from the magnetization of the rest of the structure. Perhaps, Stonehenge in Altai is a powerful electromagnetic generator, in the center of which there is a concentration of electromagnetic waves. It is possible that the priests considered this place a gateway to another reality.
Unique drawing of a Pazyryk warrior.
According to another version, Altai Stonehenge is a cemetery of Pazyryk priests, ancient shamans. Even in antiquity, such a tradition arose - to bring stones of different rocks for the burial of shamans from remote places. But why was this particular place chosen, while the stones themselves weigh tens of tons ?! Perhaps this was done so that no one disturbed the peace of the dead, and the mass of stones indicates the importance of the dead in the society where they lived. Also on the megaliths there are petroglyphs, in the manner of drawing similar to those found on the rocks along the Biya River.
However, these are all only versions. Despite the fact that several decades have passed since the study of Altai Stonehenge, a definite answer has not been found.
© Alexey Martov