"Mergeleva Ridge" or "Lugansk Stonehenge" is a complex geological and archaeological site. Actually, the name "Mergelev Ridge" refers to its geological, natural component, namely a vast rocky plateau. In addition, in the high watershed part there is a chain of archaeological objects - burial mounds of the Bronze Age.
According to preliminary data, the monument belongs to the late Neolithic period - the Bronze Age. The minimum age of the mounds is about 5 thousand years, the preliminary dating of the geological platform is more than 10 million years. The area of the object is 10 hectares. The basis of the "Margel Ridge" is a rocky ridge that stretches from the southwest to the northeast. The highest point of this area is located on the ridge - 242 m above sea level. The landscape of the monument has not undergone man-made changes.
The complex includes:
- Sanctuary. Outwardly, it looks like a hill, covered with stone slabs and blocks throughout the entire area. The object is limited in the northwest by a chain of stone slabs, which are in an upright position, with a length of just over 300 m;
- Four burial mounds from 1.3 m to 2 m. Burials of the Donetsk Catacomb and Timber Culture. One of the mounds has a well-preserved cromlech. In the process of clearing one of the mounds, it was found that it was built on slabs that cover the entire area of the complex. Among them, 4 "face-like" steles were found, which are located almost on the same line.
According to the researchers, the buildings of the complex functioned for different tribes of this region for several thousand years as sanctuaries and burial structures. It was opened in 2004 by the historical and geographical expedition of the Alchevsk city club of archeology amateurs. Fundamental study began in 2005 under the guidance of Doctor of Historical Sciences V. I. Klochko. The total area of the cultural and archaeological monument is 100 thousand square meters. m.
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The archaeologists also managed to trace the technology of laying the slabs: this is a kind of "masonry on clay concrete" - a thick clay solution with pieces of stone. The slabs were first adjusted to size, and then the gaps were filled with "clay concrete". The second and third rows were laid with bandaging gaps like modern brickwork.
Thus, the "Mergeleva Ridge" is an integral complex of stone and earth structures (mounds, various "roads" and "rays" laid out of stone slabs), on an area of 1.3 square meters. km. While the researchers have excavated a small section of the ridge. On this site there are circles of the correct shape, laid out of stone. Here archaeologists have already discovered altars and burial places. "Prey" researchers - over a dozen different types of vessels and the same number of human remains. That is, in 3 thousand BC. it already existed, and when it was built is still unknown. In any case, according to experts, this monument is at least 300 years older than the most ancient Egyptian pyramid and 500 years older than the first building horizon - Stonehenge.
“According to experts and archaeologists who have been here, this is a discovery of a European scale,” said Professor Viktor Klochko, Deputy Director for Science of the Research Institute of Monument Protection Research of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Ukraine. “This is the first solar cult sanctuary in Eastern Europe.”