The correspondent of "DS", without expecting it, made a sensational historical discovery: on a mountain near the village of Ivakhnovtsy (Chemerovets district of Khmelnytsky region) he discovered a dolmen unknown to historians. For mainland Ukraine, such megalithic monuments are a huge rarity.
Dolmens are the oldest stone structures on the planet. The simplest of them are an ordinary horizontal stone, perched on two adjacent ones. The resulting arch was considered a passage connecting the world of the living and the dead. A classic dolmen is a large stone box made of monoliths. Its name comes from the Breton taol maen - stone table. Top slabs - "countertops" are often several tens of tons in weight and up to ten meters in length.
Dolmens appeared during the Copper Stone Age. Approximately 1.5 thousand years BC e. the dolmen culture has died out. Over time, people forgot who built them and why.
In Holland, for example, it was believed that "tables" were the work of giants, which is clearly evidenced by the popular name of dolmens - hunebed (from huynen - giants). But in the Caucasus, they are sure that the dolmens erected structures of a completely opposite kind. Adyghe people, for example, call these structures "ispun" - a house of isps (dwarfs).
It is believed that dolmens are not only burial structures for the burial of important persons (leaders and priests), but also at the same time - sanctuaries, places for sacrifices, and often - ancient observatories. They are characterized by orientation to the cardinal points and / or to specific astronomically significant points on the horizon - the position of the sun on the day of the solstices, the brightest stars and constellations.
Dolmens are found on all continents except Antarctica. Most of them are in Korea (about 30 thousand), India, North Africa, Western, Northern and Southern Europe. There are many of them in Ireland and England. English dolmens, by the way, appear in the famous "Dog of the Baskervilles" by Arthur Conan Doyle.
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Dolmens did not work out in Eastern and Central Europe. In Ukraine, they are found mainly in the Crimea. In addition, the overwhelming majority of what is traditionally called "Crimean dolmens" are not dolmens at all.
On the mainland of our country, dolmens are generally a huge rarity and are found mainly in Podillia. They can be counted on the fingers of one hand. The most famous are the "stone table" in front of the "Cave of the Gentiles", which is on the outskirts of the village of Monastyrok, Borshchevsky district, Ternopil region, and a dolmen near the sanctuary on Mount Bogit - the same one where the famous Zbruchansky idol of the four-faced Svitovid once stood. Less known are the dolmens near the Hermit Cave on the neighboring Zvenigorod and on the Govda Mountain located here. All of them (except for the Monastyrk) were part of the Zbruchansk cult center.
A little help is needed here. Equal to the Apostles Prince Vladimir the Great, as a good Christian, of course, believed in the power of the Word, but in theological discussions he relied solely on the sharpness of his sword. The servants of the ancient gods were well aware of Vladimir Svyatoslavovich's cool temper, so after a radical change in the "party line" they preferred to quickly get out.
Magi, as you know, "… are not afraid of mighty rulers …" ©, but the gods cherish the cherished one. The exiles settled on the banks of the Zbruch, where the center of ancient Russian paganism soon moved. A unique pagan religious and political formation known as the Zbruchansk cult center (also known as the "Republic of the Magi" or "Pagan Vatican") existed here until the middle of the 13th century.
The land of the Magi did not start from scratch. These places have been revered as sacred since ancient times, as evidenced by the above-mentioned dolmens and other megalithic structures that were in no way peculiar to either the Slavs or the Middle Ages, but in earlier eras, yes.
Note that both Zvenigorod, Bogit and Govda are part of the Tovtr Ridge - the only mountain range in the world that has not tectonic, but biological origin. This is a large barrier reef of the ancient Sarmatian Sea, formed by bryozoans, corals, lithotamnias and other marine life.
Ancient people automatically considered any place that stood out from the usual relief as sacred. The most eloquent example is the famous "Stone Grave" in the Melitopol region of the Zapolzhskaya region. This small plateau, towering over the steppe, arose from the petrified sandy masses of the former shoal of the same Sarmatian Sea.
Tovtry-Medobory also stands out quite strongly on the terrain. Hilly steppe, then suddenly a narrow, sometimes several hundred meters mountain range, and again the steppe … Echoes of the former sacralization of these mountains have survived to this day: in almost every second village you will be shown a stone where the Mother of God left her mark when she traveled to Pochaev … Fortunately, there are more than enough stones with bizarre weathering here, and it will not be difficult to find something similar.
If in Korea the discovery of another dolmen is not news even for the local large circulation, then in Britain, despite the presence of hundreds of stone boxes with Stonehenge in addition, this event is worthy of the attention of the national media. In Ukraine, the discovery of a dolmen unknown to science is not just news, but a sensation, because such monuments, as mentioned above, are not at all typical for the territory of our country.
The discovered dolmen is the closest neighbor of the Bogita / Govda / Zvenigorod megaliths and is located ten kilometers from them. Based on this fact, it can be assumed that they were built at the same time by the same tribes.
Tovtrina "High stones" (352 m above sea level) is crowned with a picturesque rocky ridge, in fact, that gave it its name. This is one of the most beautiful mountains in Medobory. Here, by the way, there is also a structure very similar to a dolmen. True, without archaeological research, it is worth talking about this exclusively by adding the word "possibly", since its natural origin cannot be ruled out. Nevertheless, as it should be for every self-respecting dolmen, these “gates” are strictly oriented and on the day of the winter solstice the sun sets exactly in their center.
The fact that our ancestors considered these places sacred is also indicated by the mountain "Yan" similar to a hill. It rises immediately opposite the High Stones. The mountain got its name thanks to the chapel with the figure of St. Ivan (Jan) the Baptist, which once stood on its top. The latter, by the way, gave the name to the whole village - Ivakhnovtsy. No traces of either the chapel or the statue have survived (it was destroyed by the communists), but there is a decent-sized man-made round platform. at the very top of "Yana".
Chapels were usually set up near roads, wells, or just busy places so that a passerby could pray. Why it was necessary to erect a chapel on the top of a fairly decent mountain (not Goverla, but while you climb, you are out of breath) is at first glance incomprehensible. But if we recall the well-known adage “a holy place is never empty”, everything falls into place. The chapel was most likely built on the site of a pre-Christian sanctuary. Considering the round shape of the site, one would like to write that Podolsky Stonehenge previously stood here, but let's refrain.
In addition, a group of burial mounds excavated back in 1902 previously stood near Ivakhnovets. They had a rather complex underground structure, including those with stone boxes and rich grave goods, which testified to the high status of the deceased. The burial mounds, we recall, were also created for a reason, but in a revered area.
The dolmen was discovered absolutely by accident during an excursion around the Dolgaya (Dovga) shopping mall. The purpose of the hike is to photograph almost the largest area of feather grass steppe in Podillya.
A dolmen about 2 m high rose on the western slope of Dolgaya almost at its very top. This section of the mountain is densely covered with rocks and boulders of all possible sizes and shapes, therefore, an ancient structure “disguised” among them can be found only if you bury your nose in it. Unlike its counterpart on the neighboring "High Stones", this structure did not raise any doubts about its man-made origin: by chance, the stones could not lie like that.
If dolmens of the Caucasus are mainly made of processed and carefully fitted blocks (often decorated), then this dolmen, like most European ones, turned out to be composed of unworked monoliths.
Today the stone box has two "entrances" - from the north and west. Most likely, earlier the dolmen had only one passage - the western one. From the northern side, the remains of dryly destroyed masonry are clearly visible. In this case, the orientation is named approximately - there was no compass with you.
It is possible that this is not the only dolmen on this mountain, but one person cannot comb a rather large territory with a difficult relief. But another very curious find was made. At the base of a massive rock ridge, a hundred meters north of the dolmen, a small cave was discovered. More precisely, a large gap. By the way, in the aforementioned "Hermit's Forest" on the basis of the same gap, a semi-made Hermit Cave was created.
The found cave is a corridor about 5 m long. The specifically smoothed walls of the cave - this happens if you regularly rub your clothes over the limestone - vividly testified that at one time they were quite actively used. The ceiling covered with a thick layer of soot also hinted at this.
An important touch. During the trip by Tovtrina "Dolgaya", we regularly encountered specific "burrows" left by the "detectors". One has to come across these traces of the activities of "black archaeologists" during every excursion, even if the route passes in the most remote and remote places. But if on the entire territory of the mountain the pits of robbers from archeology were rare, then in the vicinity of the dolmen there were a dozen of them, which once again confirms: this is a difficult place.
Sergey Mayarchak, Candidate of Historical Sciences, notes: “The discovery of a dolmen is undoubtedly an outstanding event that deserves close attention of specialists. Verification of this interesting information and thorough scientific research at the site of the find are very promising."
The well-known Podolsk historian and archaeologist Pavel Nechitailo agrees with him: “The find is truly unique, both for Podillya and for Ukraine as a whole. True, without conducting archaeological research, it is difficult even to put forward any hypotheses regarding who and when erected this structure. In general, according to Nechitailo, very few people have researched the topic of megaliths, primarily due to the fact that such monuments are extremely rare in Ukraine.
Nikolay Ilkiv, candidate of historical sciences and specialist in archeology of the Bronze Age and the ancient history of Ukraine, having familiarized himself with the photographs of the find, said: “I have heard about dolmens and cromlechs on the Middle Dniester, in particular, on the left bank. However, I do not know that anyone has thoroughly dealt with this issue. It is difficult and premature to say something confidently based on photographs, but the first association that arises is a possible connection with the Early Bronze Age, the culture of globular amphorae …"
The Ivakhnovets Tovtry is already a very interesting tourist attraction in itself. There are picturesque cliffs and amazing mountain-steppe vegetation with many Red Book and endemic plants. The discovered dolmen makes them attractive also for fans of historical tourism. After all, now it is the oldest building at least in the Khmelnytsky region.
In addition, according to the supporters of all mystical and esoteric teachings, meditation on the dolmen lid gives you not only the opportunity to mentally go out into other worlds and dimensions, but also significantly improve your health.
Dmitro POLYUKHOVICH
