Caucasian dolmens. Dolmens of the Caucasus

Dolmens of the Western Caucasus- megalithic tombs left by representatives of the dolmen culture of the Middle Bronze Age. Distributed from the Taman Peninsula (Cape Tuzla) and further in the mountainous regions of the Krasnodar Territory and Adygea. In the southern part they reach the city of Ochamchire in Abkhazia, and in the north - to the valley of the Laba River. But earlier there were in the area of ​​the city of Zheleznovodsk in the Stavropol Territory and, possibly, in other places. A separate closed region of distribution of original dolmens or "dolmen-like crypts" of late construction is the Upper Kuban region (the basin of the Kyafar River in Karachay-Cherkessia).

Only a small part of the dolmens has been studied. Almost all of them are not protected, suffer from vandals, and are also destroyed for natural reasons. The West Caucasian dolmens were built at the end of the 3rd - second floor. 2 thousand BC e. To date, about 3,000 West Caucasian megaliths have survived, including partially destroyed ones. Often dolmens are also called megalithic under-kurgan tombs of the Novosvobodnenskaya culture. The status of the tombs in Karachay-Cherkessia is still rather uncertain. It is now believed that they were built by people of the late period of the dolmen culture, and the medieval Alans simply inserted their stone boxes into them.

In addition to classical dolmens, small structures assembled from random stones are also common on the southern slope of the Main Caucasian Range. There are also small underground well-shaped compound tombs. They are covered by an incomplete false vault and a covering slab. Even an above-ground tomb with a real dome filled with small tiles is known. If the well-shaped tombs unequivocally belong to the dolmen culture, then with the chronology of others, there is still no complete clarity.

Origin

Regardless of their origin, dolmens in the Western Caucasus did not appear from scratch. More ancient stone tombs are known in the burial mounds of the Maikop and Novosvobodnenskaya cultures (or in other words, in the early and late periods of the Maikop-Novosvobodnaya community). But still, the closest analogues to the Caucasian dolmens, in terms of architecture and, to some extent, in terms of the inventory contained in them, are in the Mediterranean basin. There is also a temporal correspondence. The path of the bearers of the dolmen tradition can be traced in reverse order approximately like this. The Western Caucasus and the Western Black Sea coast - the coast of Asia Minor - Sicily and North Africa - Sardinia - Portugal. This is, of course, only a preliminary sketch.

Simultaneously with the dolmens, their neighbors in the west and northwest - representatives of the Kemi-Oba culture - built stone boxes, sometimes with grooves in the slabs, and even painted them. In general, throughout the Caucasus (including in the steppe regions), graves were lined with stone slabs, and in some places huge megaliths were built (Armenia, Georgia). The only question is whether there are mutual cultural influences in each of these cases.

Location of dolmens

There are some patterns in the location of dolmens: they are usually located on flat areas on the peaks or on the sunny slopes of the ridges (mostly at altitudes of 250-400 m above sea level, the maximum height is more than 1000 m) or on river terraces. The vast majority of dolmens are oriented down the sunny slope, which implies a fairly large spread of directions. If this was not possible, then the dolmen was oriented at least to a sunlit area on the opposite ridge. In addition, the orientation to specific astronomically significant points on the horizon was noted.

The purpose of the dolmens

As a type of tombs, the dolmens of the Western Caucasus are on a par with many similar structures of all times and peoples. Of course, they also had to fulfill the function of a sanctuary, most likely a family or tribal one: this, for example, is evidenced by the discovery of a stone altar during the reconstruction of the dolmen complex on Zhana (located in the Gelendzhik Museum of Local Lore). The newly reconstructed complex on the Zhane River, as well as many dolmens with "courtyards", allow us to imagine the ceremonies that once took place there.

Some dolmen complexes were clearly designed to be visited by a significant number of people. These are, first of all, the megalithic mound Psynako I near the village of Anastasievka in the Tuapse district, the Silver Mound in the Klady tract near the village of Novosvobodnaya and the same complex on the Zhana River. They could well fulfill the role of tribal objects of worship. Unfortunately, the museumification of the first has not been carried out, and the second has been practically destroyed.

Construction of dolmens

For the construction of dolmens, stone from the closest deposits was used, if possible. If there were suitable plates of natural origin nearby, then they were also collected. But if there was no choice, then the cut slabs could be transported for several kilometers.

Various types of sandstones and limestones were used for buildings. Different rocks could be combined in one building, for example, limestone, yellow sandstone and reddish iron sandstone, or yellow sandstone and the same, but with layers of shell rock, etc. In the quarry, the power of wooden wedges swelling from water was used to break the stone.

Fresh quarry stone is softer and can even be worked with stone tools. But the builders of the dolmen culture also had bronze chisels in their arsenal, whose clear traces are constantly found when studying buildings. It is assumed that the processed plates could be aged for some time before use in order to gain sufficient hardness. Grinding of surfaces and grooves was carried out by stone grinders, which are found in construction sites. The cover slab was dragged along the sloping embankment behind the dolmen.

Dolmen architecture

Design

Rarely, but it happens that horizontal grooves are found inside the chamber - grooves for a wooden shelf. And there is one case of having a round recess above such a shelf, directly opposite the inlet.

Composite dolmens may differ from tiled ones only in that not all of their slabs are solid. But they can be assembled from separate blocks to a large extent or even completely. Trough-shaped dolmens, hollowed out in a rock or a separate large stone, usually have an imitation of a tiled dolmen portal on the facade. And they can also be false portal. The rarest type - monolithic dolmens differ only in that they do not have a removable roof, as they were hollowed out through the inlet. For dolmens of the latter type, only weakly cemented sandstone in its thickness was used. To date, one relatively intact (Volkonsky dolmen) and one unfinished monoliths have been preserved.

The dolmen is often located on a slope, and its portal can form a terrace. One case is known when several extended terraces form a kind of ziggurat. But more often the territory in front of the dolmen facade is designed in the form patio. These are various kinds of paved areas, sometimes even surrounded by walls of large slabs. The height of such a wall can even reach the level of the roof of the dolmen itself. Sometimes a dolmen surrounds a circle of stones dug into the ground - cromlech, which can also play the role of a crepe (kerb) for the floor of the mound. Rare for Caucasian dolmens is dromos- covered corridor, with parallel or converging walls, leading to the dolmen hole. It used to be that the corridor was formed by an alley of menhirs. Naturally, in these options, the courtyard was away from the dolmen. Unfortunately, not all architectural delights have survived to this day.

Not all dolmens are open. Many were covered with stones up to the roof or even ended up inside a high mound. Sometimes only the facade of the dolmen remained open. Sometimes a dromos led to him. One case is known when the dolmen was not in a blockage of stones - a cairn, but in an empty space, that is, in a tholos (Psynako I). Although in some places there are also possible traces of such structures.

After the termination of burials, dolmens in mounds, but with an open facade or with a dromos, still ended up in the thickness of the mound. They were deliberately filled up or just over time, the earth and stones began to flow. It is not at all necessary that mounds over dolmens were always built by people of the dolmen culture. This could be done by those who came later and reused the tombs.

The tombs in Karachay-Cherkessia are distinguished by the fact that they are rectangular in plan and built from well-worked even slabs. The long sides are each made of stone long slabs or bars. End plates can be rectangular, with grooves for connecting to the sidewalls, and consist of one or two parts or have the shape of a stepped triangle. The ceilings are flat from two long slabs or in the form of a house. In the second version, the roof is built with long bars and starts from the very bottom. Everything is connected with the help of corresponding grooves. Sometimes a dowel connection is also used. There is a round inlet, closed with a stopper. Inside this structure is a smaller one - a stone box roughly assembled from limestone.

ornamentation

Pattern "flowing water" on the wall of a composite dolmen from Mount Neksis

Ornamented dolmen, Zhane river valley

Compared to the total number, quite a few dolmens are decorated with engraved and even relief ornaments. But, probably, many of them simply did not reach our time due to the erosion of the stone. Ornaments are located throughout the portal and inside the chamber. There is an image on the front plate with a cross in a circle and a labyrinth-like pattern similar to a comb with a zigzag extending from it and the inlet. Sometimes there are just rows of vertical zigzags. On the front slab, an image of another dolmen portal is sometimes placed, as well as one or two pairs of large bulges. Rows of vertical and horizontal zigzags may have ends of side plates. And attached portal plates on the inner plane are sometimes decorated with a landscape consisting of a series of triangles (mountains) and vertical rows of zigzags (rivers). Above the mountains is placed the sun in the form of an oval with a cross. Sometimes the entire portal slab is covered with horizontal stripes, each of which is formed by a herringbone pattern of chisel cuts. The side plates can also be decorated in this way. Recently, a dolmen was found, whose facade is decorated with embossed diagonal stripes, forming a large "Christmas tree", enclosed in a certain frame or image of the portal. Inside the dolmen chamber is sometimes surrounded by a horizontal zigzag of a wide strip and a straight line above the horizontal zigzag. In the second case, a series of hanging triangles or scallops is obtained. In another version, the zigzag, on the contrary, is above a straight line, whose role is played by the seam in horizontal masonry. This design can be further complemented by sections with vertical zigzags. Stone plugs can also have embossed concentric circles on the cap, like a nipple in the center, four bulges around the circumference and one in the center, or a embossed cross.

Sometimes on the roof of a dolmen there are numerous small bowl-shaped depressions or holes scattered over the surface randomly or forming short rows and circles with crosses inside. Similar signs are also found on the side and front plates of dolmens. And also on individual stones near the dolmens, where they can also have a circle around them.

Several simple engraved petroglyphic drawings on dolmens are also known. Their meaning is not yet clear, as well as the time of their application is unknown.

Recently discovered two plot engraved images. These are scenes of a deer hunt and a fight (or dance?) of two people. The second plot from the dolmen in the village of Dzhubga fully corresponds to the well-known images on the anthropomorphic steles of the Kemi-Oba culture. Which, of course, is extremely important.

Crypts with medieval Alanian burials in Karachay-Cherkessia, almost completely covered with wavy furrows and various symbols, stand apart. It is believed that it was the Alans who decorated the more ancient buildings. The so-called “royal mausoleum”, in which Christian motifs are already found, is especially distinguished by its plot images.

There are almost no dolmens in which there are traces of colorful painting in the chamber and on the facade. The poorly preserved coloring in the dolmen of the Silver Mound is now completely disfigured by vandals. And the color drawings in the two two-chamber Novosvobodnaya tombs are not directly related to the dolmens themselves. Although, nevertheless, some parallels can be found in the megalithic art of Europe.

List of some notable dolmens

Gallery

see also

Notes

Literature

• Voronov Yu. N. Antiquities of Sochi and its environs. - Krasnodar: Prince. publishing house, 1979. - S. 45-57.
• Kondryakov N.V. Dromoses and cromlechs of dolmens of the Western Caucasus // Sochi local historian. - Sochi, 1999. - Issue. 5. The same in doc. Separately illustrated: 1 sheet, 2 sheet, 3 sheet.
• Kondryakov N.V. New data on the dolmens of the Northern Black Sea region // Archeology, architecture and ethnographic processes of the North-Western Caucasus. - Yekaterinburg, 1997.
• Kondryakov N.V. Secrets of Sochi dolmens. - 2002. - 67 p. 2nd ed. - Maykop: Quality, 2010. -132 p. - ISBN 978 5 9703 0219 4
• Kudin M.I. Archaeoastronomy and dolmens // Sochi local historian. - 2000. - No. 7. The same in doc.
• Kudin M.I. Dolmens and ritual // Sochi local historian. - Sochi, 1999. - Issue. 4. The same in doc. Continued in doc: 2000. - Vol. 6. Both parts.
• Kuznetsov V. A. In the upper reaches of the Big Zelenchuk. - M.: Art, 1977. - (Roads to the beautiful). - S. 88-106.
• Lavrov L.I. Dolmens of the North-Western Caucasus // Proceedings of Abiyali. - Sukhumi, 1960. - T. 31.
• Markovin V.I. Dolmennye monuments of the Kuban and the Black Sea. - 1997.
• Markovin V.I. Dolmen buildings in the Kyafar river basin // SA, 1983. - No. 2. - P. 90-109.
• Markovin V.I. Dolmens of the Western Caucasus. - M.: Nauka, 1978. - 328 p. 1
• Markovin V.I. Dolmens of the Western Caucasus // Bronze Age of the Caucasus and Central Asia. Early and Middle Bronze Age of the Caucasus. - M.: Nauka, 1994. - Archeology from ancient times to the Middle Ages, in 20 volumes - S. 226-253. - ISBN 5 02 009723 3
• Markovin V.I. Ispun - houses of dwarfs: Notes on dolmens of the Western Caucasus. - Krasnodar: Prince. publishing house, 1985. - 112 p.
• Rezepkin A. D. To the question of the classification of dolmens and the funeral rite of "dolmen culture" // Man and antiquity: in memory of Alexander Alexandrovich Formozov (1928-2009). - Tula: Grif and K, 2010.
• Rezepkin A. D. Typology of megalithic tombs of the Western Caucasus // VAA. - Maykop, 1988. - S. 156-163.
• Rysin M. B. Dating of complexes from Asheri // SA, 1990. - No. 2 (with the same name and text, see also: KSIA, 1990. - Issue 199).
• Semyonov V. A. Primitive Art: Stone Age. Bronze Age. - St. Petersburg: Azbuka-klassika, 2008. - S. 370-378. - ISBN 978 5 91181 903 3
• Teshev M.K. Megalithic architectural complex Psynako I in the Tuapse region // VAA. - Maykop, 1988. - S. 164-169.
• Trifonov V. A. What do we know about the dolmens of the Western Caucasus and what does the history of their study teach // Dolmens - witnesses of ancient civilizations. - Krasnodar, 2001.
• Felitsyn E. D. West Caucasian dolmens // Materials on the archeology of the Caucasus. M., 1904.

List of abbreviations

• Abiyali - Abkhaz Institute of Language, Literature and History named after A. D. I. Gulia. Sukhumi
• VAA - Questions of archeology of Adygea
• KSIA - Brief reports on reports and field studies of the Institute of Archeology of the USSR Academy of Sciences
• SA - Soviet archeology
• USU - Ural State University

Links

• Gavrilov M.V. Megalithic monuments of the Republic of Adygea as objects of world cultural heritage and some possibilities of their use in the field of tourism
• "Koliho. The secret of the dolmens of the Caucasus. Popular science film
• Markovin V.I. Controversial problems in the study of dolmens in the Western Caucasus

If you ask local residents about dolmens, they will certainly tell a legend about the dwarfs who once settled in these places. The people were so tiny that they used hares for riding. Next to them, as usual in fairy tales, lived giants. It was they who built stone dwellings for their weak neighbors so that they could take refuge during bad weather.

People who are prone to an esoteric explanation of the unknown believe that dolmens established by the inhabitants of extraterrestrial civilizations and endowed them with magical powers that can awaken unusual abilities in a person, give him love or restore health.

Scientists put forward only hypotheses. To date, there are two versions. They could be both religious buildings of a tribe or a separated family, and funerary ones. During excavations, many of them found burials of people who lived in different historical eras, and next to them, various items that could be useful to the deceased in another world: from stone scrapers and shards of gray clay dishes to medieval weapons. Although later burials, of course, were secondary.

2300 dolmens discovered and described in the Western Caucasus, most of them are located in the region of Gelendzhik, Novorossiysk and Shapsugskaya. There are about 150 completely intact and not very destroyed among them. But even such a number of artifacts does not shed light on the history of their creation. Only the time of their construction is precisely known, which was determined on the basis of radiocarbon analysis of organic remains extracted from the chambers of dolmens. It was found that the West Caucasian dolmens were built from 3500 to 1400 BC. e.

Ancient builders built dolmens from blocks of quartz sandstone. On average, the weight of the structure is from 15 to 30 tons. This means that there should have been quarries on the territory of the Western Caucasus, but even the slightest traces of their existence have not been found to this day. If they were not nearby, then how were the huge blocks of stone delivered to the construction site in the absence of roads suitable for transporting heavy loads? And the main question: how did the ancient architects calculate the parameters of the plates, the junctions of which do not have a straight surface, and all the plates clearly adjoin each other due to specially arranged grooves? The joints are so dense that it is impossible to insert a knife blade between the plates. It also seems surprising that even the earliest buildings are not primitive, but complex structures. The dolmens on Mount Neksis and on the Zhane River near Gelendzhik can serve as an example of the ideal work of engineering thought.

Such a precise adjustment of structural details was beyond the power of a modern person. During the reconstruction of dolmens, it has not yet been possible to compile multi-ton slabs without errors. And in 2007, in the Safari Park of Gelendzhik, they decided to assemble a dolmen from slabs of destroyed buildings, the processing and fitting of which was decided to be carried out using ultra-precise power tools. However, this time the builders of the Bronze Age turned out to be a head taller - there were gaps of several centimeters between the plates of the newly assembled dolmen.

So who were these people who owned such a perfect technology of the construction business? According to the assumption of the archaeologist Vladimir Markovin, who devoted most of his life to the study of the Caucasian dolmens, they lived in adobe shacks, did not know iron, the potter's wheel, and worked the earth with hoes. And yet, it was they who created the structures that still amaze the imagination with the perfection of designs.

What are dolmens

• Tiled dolmens usually include four walls, a roof and a floor consisting of one large or several smaller (heel) slabs. The chamber is rectangular or trapezoidal. There are grooves in the plates, due to which all the plates are tightly connected. The front plate, framed by side protrusions and an overhanging visor, forms a portal.
• Composite dolmens are partially or completely assembled from separate small blocks. They have a complex geometric connection. The shape of the chamber is diverse: rectangular, trapezoidal, horseshoe-shaped, round and multifaceted.
• Trough-shaped dolmens were carved into the thickness of the stone, and then covered with a slab from above.
• Dolmens-monoliths are entirely carved from one block of stone or in the rock. They are very rare.

Dolmen group Ust-Sakhray

Before the founding of the village of Ust-Sakhray in 1862, a dolmen field was located on its territory. At present, the construction of houses has destroyed its main central part. The first mention of the Ust-Sakhray dolmens was left by Yevgeny Felitsyn. Vladimir Markovin, relying on Felitsyn's notes, also mentions Ust-Sakhrai, but he did not have to explore the local megaliths.

The study of the Ust-Sakhrai dolmen group was carried out by the joint archaeological expedition of ARIGI and ASPI (DSU) in 1991-1994 under the leadership of Nurbiy Gazizovich Lovpache.

From a large dolmen field of a kilometer length between the rivers Dakh and Sakhrai, two groups of the western and eastern edges of the village remained. On Bukreeva Polyana, in front of the western outskirts of Ust-Sakhray, there are about fifty mounds. Under ten of them, portal and non-portal dolmens, two-chamber tombs, a stone box, burial grounds with a cromlech and a menhir were examined and investigated. Beyond the eastern edge of the village, between the outskirts and the modern cemetery, there are 5 visible megalithic structures, three of which have been partially explored.

A characteristic feature of the Ust-Sakhray dolmens is their chronological multi-layeredness and constructive-typological diversity. The megaliths of Ust-Sakhray date back to the second half of the 4th millennium BC. - the first half of the III millennium BC. e.

Deguak glade is located in the Belaya (Shkhaguashche) river basin. It got its name from the Deguak stream, which flows in the northern part of the meadow. It is a vast basin bounded on the north and east by the riverbed, the distant ridge and the forested slopes of Mount Gut. From the south, the glade wedges into the gorge of Pisana Mountain, and from the west it gradually merges with the slopes of the Sibir and Skala mountains. Deguak glade is known for a rather large group of dolmens. There are more than 200 of them here. They occupy ridge-like and kurgan uplifts made of gravel and river pebbles. The megaliths of the Deguaksko-Dakhovskaya glade date back to IV-II millennia BC. Local dolmens are carved from sandstone slabs and sandy limestones and shell rocks.

During the study by Markovin of a group of dolmens in the Deguaksko-Dakhovskaya glade, fragments of black-clay and gray-clay vessels with ornaments, bone products, carnelian beads, and bronze objects were found.

The menhirs of the Deguaksko-Dakhovsky dolmen necropolis are simple and squat. The largest menhir, 2.5 m high, ends with an anthropomorphic mask.

Kozhzhokh dolmen group

The Kozhzhokh dolmen group was discovered by Felitsyn and described in 1904. It is located on the right terrace of the right bank of the Belaya (Shkhaguashche) River, between the tributaries of the Maly and Sredny Khadzhokh, on the northern outskirts of the village of Kamennomostsky.

There are 27 mounds in the Kozhzhokh dolmen group, 16 of them with the ruins of dolmens. The megaliths of this group date back to the 4th-3rd millennium BC. During the study, gray-clay and black-clay vessels, fragments of molded pots and flat-bottomed bowls, bronze arrowheads, a bronze pin, flint flakes, and animal bones were found.

In the journal of excavations of the dolmens of the Kozhzhok group, Felitsyn described dolmen No. 20, located on a high mound. Dolmens of this type are rare in the Western Caucasus and have not been preserved in Adygea at present.

The Khadzhokh-1 dolmen is located on the first right high terrace of the Belaya River (Shkhaguashche), not far from the Maykop-Kamennomostsky highway, on the southern edge of the modern orchard. The megalith dates back to the 4th-3rd millennium BC. Dolmen "Khadzhokh-1" is well preserved, but the front portal slabs are destroyed, and a hole is punched in the back slab. The dolmen belongs to the tiled type. The hole in the front plate is slightly oval, cone-shaped, the floor is not traced, inside the chamber there is a layer of earth.

The lid of the dolmen is a single slab of slightly trapezoidal shape.

In front of the dolmen lies a mushroom-shaped stone bushing made of reddish-brown sandstone, which does not match the opening in the front slab in size. According to local residents, this bushing was brought to the dolmen from the territory of the famous Kozhzhokh dolmen group, located 600-700 m east of the dolmen. Probably, Khadzhokh-1 also belonged to the Kozhzhokhskaya dolmen group.

Dolmen "Azishsky-1"

Dolmen "Azishsky-1" was discovered in 1966. It is located on the 12th kilometer of the Hadzhokh-Lagonaki highway in the Maykop region. The megalith dates back to III-II millennia BC. Dolmen belongs to the tiled type of the portal version with a two-stage roof. In front of the portal platform, slabs are still visible, continuing it to the east. The side plates are broken into two parts. From the outside, the remains of buttresses are visible. On the upper side of the fragments of the portal roof there is a mass of cup depressions. A hole 30 cm in diameter was punched at the base of the front plate. Neat grooves for the end walls are carved into the side plates.

Under all four walls, heel plates are placed, in which grooves for the base of the walls are knocked out. Currently, the Azishsky-1 dolmen is destroyed and requires restoration.

Dolmen "Dudugush-1"

Dolmen "Dudugush-1" is located at an altitude of 1020 m above sea level, on a gentle spur of the western slope of the ridge surrounding the Khamyshinsky hollow. The building is quite clearly oriented from north to south. The portal is on the south side. The dolmen is built of yellow sandstone slabs. By design, it is composite, the chamber is ellipsoidal in shape.

The dolmen is partially destroyed. Dated to the middle of the II millennium BC.

On one of the slabs of the dolmen, a sign was found, which is a circle carved in sandstone, which is truncated in the western part by a straight line. The sign continues with two parallel straight lines that converge to the point of connection with the line truncating the circle. A hole is hollowed out between these lines. Inside the circle, along its diameter, two straight lines are cut, forming a cross. In the eastern part of the sign, parallel to the line truncating the circle, 7 more identical holes are hollowed out, arranged in 2 rows.

Solar symbols, found throughout the Caucasus on ancient monuments from the Stone Age to the Middle Ages, are associated with the cult of the sun.

Dolmen in the village of Khamyshki

There are about 9,000 dolmens in the world. These unique ancient structures are scattered all over the world: Spain, France, England, they are in Portugal, India, Malta, Corsica, Sicily, Sardinia, North Korea, Bulgaria and other places. It is believed that the famous Stonehenge also belongs to the dolmens. Magical power is attributed to these stone structures - it is believed that when communicating with them, a person receives sacred knowledge and discovers unusual abilities in himself.

Dolmens are stone structures, megaliths. The name "dolmen" comes from the combination of two Breton words, "toal" - "table" and "men" - "stone", which literally translates as "stone table". There is also another interpretation of the word "dolmen", - "changing share". The age of the Caucasian dolmens is approximately 4-6 millennia. Presumably in 4-2 millennia BC. there was an unknown civilization from which these megalithic structures have come down to us.

Dolmens of the Caucasus are located on the coastal strip, which stretches from Novorossiysk to Abkhazia for 400 km. In width, this strip goes into the mountains for 75 km, almost to Maikop. Dolmens usually stand in groups and occupy comfortable and fairly flat areas along the watershed elevations, on the flat tops of the spurs of the mountains. They stand along the river basins, turned by a portal into open space - mainly to the south, east, or in an intermediate direction - between south and east.

In the middle of the twentieth century, a special group of archaeologists was created to study dolmens under the leadership of L.I. Lavrov (under the auspices of the Institute of Anthropology and Ethnography of the Russian Academy of Sciences). By 1960 he had compiled a catalog of 1139 dolmens in the North Caucasus. In the second half of the 20th century, a group of scientists led by V.I. Morkovin, student and follower of L.I. Lavrov. In his monograph "Dolmens of the Western Caucasus", V.I. Markovin determined the distribution of dolmens in the Caucasus region, studied them in detail and described them based on the study of archival materials and the results of expeditions of 2308 dolmens.

Sochi scientist V.M. Kondryakov devoted many years to the study and systematization of dolmens. He superimposed the layout of the dolmens on the geological map of the area, and it turned out that all the dolmens are located above the fault line of the earth's crust. It is on these lines that a colossal force of tension arises and accumulates. These are, in fact, anomalous zones with different flows of energy emissions.

L.I. Lavrov proposed a classification of dolmens, which is still used today.

1. Tiled - was built from 6 multi-ton slabs - one foundation or heel stone, two side slabs, a portal slab, a rear slab and a floor slab (according to V.I. Markovin, 92% of all dolmens are tiled.).
2. Composite - made up of several large blocks.
3. A semi-monolithic or trough-shaped dolmen - hollowed out entirely in a rock block and covered with a slab on top.
4. Monolithic - completely carved into the rock through a hole.

The holes of the dolmens were closed with stone plugs - phallic-shaped bushings weighing up to 150 kg. Now such plugs are stored in the museums of the Krasnodar Territory.

Regarding dolmens, there are many theories, both scientific and alternative. Often they contradict each other and do not reveal the mysterious origin of these ancient structures. There are opinions that dolmens are space portals, burial places of ancient nobility, weather stations, ancient observatories, teleportation points and even weapons.

The hypothesis put forward by archaeologists that the stone structures are the burial places of the local nobility was refuted by the archaeologists themselves. Burials were indeed found in some of them, but it turned out that they are all much older than the dolmens themselves.

Numerous studies have shown that the Dolmens, as well as the pyramids of Egypt and Stonehenge and other megaliths of England, generate high-frequency vibrations and electromagnetic waves. Their activity increases at sunrise and sunset, and also intensifies on the turning points of the year - the spring and autumn equinoxes. What is the reason for these phenomena in megaliths? The fact is that dolmens were built from quartz sandstone. Quartz crystals have the property of direct and inverse piezoelectric effect. Quartz works in a huge range of frequencies, creating acoustic and electrical waves.

Self-excitation of quartz crystals in megaliths occurs due to the constant propagation of acoustic waves and electrical discharges on the Earth. They are formed from the deformation of the earth's crust caused by tectonic activity, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tidal influences of the Sun, Moon and other planets. It should be borne in mind that dolmens were built on faults in the earth's crust, and strong energy flows are observed in these places. Quartz crystals are excited throughout the volume of the massive dolmen slab, generating very high frequencies.

The dolmen chamber itself is a resonator. Thanks to the parallel plates, a standing wave is created in the dolmen, as in a tuning fork. If a tuning fork is brought near a source of chaotic noise, it begins to sound, generating a certain frequency. So the dolmen chamber amplifies underground vibrations. Inside such a chamber, oscillations are created that are emitted through the hole, or a plasmoid body is formed.

It is quite possible that dolmens, connected by oscillations, form a single system and affect nature, weather and vital biological processes.

A very interesting and one-of-a-kind dolmen was found in a mound on the banks of the Psynako River in the Tuapse region, near the village of Anastasievka. The place where he stands was used for ritual actions as early as the third millennium BC and was a sanctuary. A stone corridor approaches the dolmen, blocked in several places by large slabs. Scientists suggest that it contains an imitation of the vault of heaven. Here the regularities of the solstice were studied and observations of the moon were made. This is a kind of ancient observatory. There are four other similar megalithic structures in the world. One in Ireland, another in Denmark, a third in Portugal and a fourth in Spain. All dolmen buildings have one thing in common: they face the sunny or bright side. This indicates that the dolmen builders worshiped the Sun.

Often megalithic structures are located in the center of circles and spirals, made, as a rule, from menhirs or laid out stones correctly spaced around the circumference. There are complexes with both one and several rings around the megalith. Some experts see in this annular environment some landmarks located along the circumference, with the help of which it is convenient to engage in astronomical observations, being in the center of the megalith. Some researchers see in the circles some kind of wave generators that amplify and transmit energy from the megalith. Some researchers give this fact a certain mystical and ritual coloring.

On Mount Neksis near Gelendzhik, there are two dolmens, famous for their unique designs and well accessible to tourists. The open surface of the mountain slope with rare low trees and alpine-looking meadows gives a special flavor. Thanks to this, not only the dolmens themselves look picturesque, not obscured by thickets of trees, but also excellent conditions are created for observing unforgettable views of the surrounding area. One of the dolmens has a slab construction with a unique joining of massive slabs and unusual, complex and rarely seen structures of the slab joining zones. The people called this dolmen "Sunny". Indeed, the surface of the front plate is covered with a yellowish coating of some kind of microvegetation. Therefore, under the rays of the sun, especially in summer, the photographs of the dolmen turn yellowish. There is a belief that this dolmen is a carrier of solar energy and is able to restore a person's vitality. The power of the Solnechny dolmen activates spiritual energy and releases creative inner potential, promotes rejuvenation of the body, slows down the aging process, fills the human soul with youthful energy.

No matter how many conflicting legends go around dolmens, the fact that they have great energy is noted by many who have been near them. They say that many who were close to them experienced dizziness, weakness, or, conversely, energy and lightness suddenly appeared. Now many seminars and excursions to the Dolmens of the Caucasus are being organized. People are promised an extraordinary mystical experience and the fulfillment of their most secret desires. Many tourists go to the Dolmens on their own, they set up tents in the mountains, some of them even sleep inside the stone giants.

Many travelers who have visited the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus have probably seen dolmens - ancient structures made of giant multi-ton stone slabs - and have certainly heard about them. In the Western Caucasus, dolmens (from the Lower Breton tol - "table" and men - "stone") are found from the Taman Peninsula in the north to the Colchis lowland in the south - for about 500 km.

Now about 2300 dolmens are known in the Western Caucasus, and, unfortunately, most of them are partially destroyed. According to the most conservative estimates, in the era of dolmen construction there were at least 30 thousand of them, but later many of them were dismantled into separate slabs, which were used as building material. The age of the dolmens of the Western Caucasus is 4-6 thousand years. Their appearance coincides in time with the construction in many parts of the world of other megalithic structures (from the Greek megas - "huge" and lithos - "stone"). First of all, these are the Egyptian pyramids built from huge stone blocks, Stonehenge in England, rows of stone pillars-menhirs in the west of France.

Basically, dolmens are located in small groups on relatively flat areas along the banks of rivers, on the gentle slopes of mountains, on the flat tops of mountain spurs at an altitude of up to 500 - 700 m above sea level. Occasionally, dolmens are found at higher altitudes - the Mezepu ridge (1029 m), Mount Razrublenny Kurgan (1300 m). As a rule, dolmens are oriented to the south, east or southeast with their portal. The classification of dolmens is based on construction technology and includes four main types: tiled, composite, semi-monolithic (trough-shaped) and monolithic. According to the Russian researcher V. I. Markovin, 92% of all dolmens are tiled. The composite dolmen is built from several large blocks. The shape of the inner chamber in plan can be rectangular, trapezoidal, horseshoe-shaped, round or multifaceted. A semi-monolithic dolmen is a huge stone block in which a trough-shaped depression is hollowed out. From above it was covered with a slab. Additionally, portal protrusions and a hole were made. A monolithic dolmen is completely carved out of a block of stone or rock through a small round hole in the portal wall. This is the rarest type of dolmens. A monolithic dolmen was discovered in the area of ​​the village of Erivan in the Abinsk region relatively recently, in 2007. It was completely carved into the rock. It has a huge portal (2 x 3 m), in the lower part of which there is a round inlet with a diameter of 35 cm. The hole leads to a small chamber. According to one of the assumptions, this dolmen was covered to the ground as a result of a landslide during construction. In the lower part of the front wall of the dolmens there is a through, most often round hole leading to the inner chamber. In dolmens preserved in their original form, the openings in the facade wall are closed with stone plugs - phallic-shaped bushings weighing up to 150 kg. In some cases, along the edges of the passage leading to the portal wall, a dromos, a corridor passage, was laid out of stones. Sometimes a cromlech was built around the dolmens - a ring of separate stones. The average weight of a composite dolmen is estimated at 15–30 tons. For especially large structures, the cover slab alone reaches 20 tons. According to calculations, the weight of the slab dolmen Kapibg, located in the Ashe River valley, is 70 tons.

It is amazing that plates weighing several tons are connected by grooves with an accuracy of millimeters. On the walls of the most ancient dolmens there are the same type of thematic drawings. Among the images dominated by an ornament of vertical and horizontal zigzag lines, as well as triangles. The real sensation was the discovery in 2006 of dolmens in the village of Dzhuga. On one of them, petroglyphs depicting animals and humans were found. The question of the appointment of dolmens still remains open. Nevertheless, most researchers believe that they performed a sacred role associated with the cult of the dead. This idea is suggested by some design features of dolmens, rare surviving burials and various ritual objects. Archaeological excavations have revealed the similarity of burials in dolmens and ground burials dating back to the Bronze Age. The discovered skeletons are in the classic "crouched" position, when all the bones are pressed unnaturally close to each other. This position is also called the fetal position. It had an important meaning for ancient people who believed that in what position a person is born, in the same position he must leave this world. Next to the skeletons, the remains of household items, stone and bronze tools, and clay dishes were found.

The main difficulty in restoring the rituals that took place in the Caucasian dolmens is related to the long duration of their use by different peoples. More recently, in the 19th century, the indigenous population brought sacrificial food to the dolmens. Even burials have a very wide range: from single to numerous.

Of particular importance for the restoration of rituals are the structures surrounding the dolmens: dromoses, cromlechs, mounds. Dromos symbolizes the passage by a person of the path to the bosom of the goddess, where the dead or being born rests. Numerous rituals associated with dromos are known among many peoples of the Caucasus. So, among the Circassians and Shapsugs, in case of drought, stone digs and tunnels were arranged to cause rain. The same tunnels were built during epidemics. Among the Avars and Dargins, childless women and sick children crawled through holes in the ground dug in the cemetery in order to join the fertilizing power of the earth and ancestors. The holes were made very narrow, they put coals (purification by fire), eggs (a symbol of rebirth), bread (purification from demons) in them. The dromoses of the Caucasian dolmens are just as narrow, and many embers are also found in them. The cromlechs surrounding the dolmens mark the boundary that separates the sacred space from the ordinary. They are associated with the cult of the sun and its movement across the sky. A person buried in a dolmen was considered an intermediary between the world of people and gods. A thousand years before our era, the construction of dolmens in the Caucasus fades and moves to the Western Black Sea region and the coast of the Sea of ​​Marmara, to ancient Thrace. The religious stone structures built here already belong to the written era, which helps to better understand the true purpose of dolmens.

It is known that the dolmen was a sacred place for local peoples, where rituals were performed in honor of the great Mother Goddess and her son, the dying and resurrecting god, by joining which the person buried in the dolmen had to be reborn. In Russia, Academician P.S. Pallas was the first to study dolmens at the end of the 18th century. Since then, despite numerous studies carried out in this area, science has not yet been able to answer the main questions: how did the culture of dolmen builders arise, why and where did it disappear. Until now, it remains a mystery to scientists where and how the ancient builders mined such huge blocks of sandstone; how they were transported and lifted up the slopes of the mountains; what tools the ancient builders used to process stone blocks - this archaeological site impresses with its ultra-precise fitting of multi-ton blocks along curvilinear joints. But the main question remains why, having such a high technological level of construction, this culture did not leave behind other buildings.

Dolmens are amazing ancient structures built of multi-ton sandstone stone slabs. They look either like small houses, or like huge boxes, containers or giant birdhouses (each has its own associations). Local peoples - Adygs, Shapsugs - revered dolmens as sacred structures and called them houses of dwarfs ("ispun"). The tiled dolmen consists of six multi-ton slabs: the bottom (foundation, or heel stone), portal (facade), back, two side and top floor slabs. The chamber formed by the plates has the shape of a rectangle or a trapezoid. The side plates are slotted into which the precisely matched rear and front plates fit. The front plate, framed by the protrusions of the side plates and an overhanging visor, forms a portal. Usually, dolmens were located under barrow mounds, and, probably, these protrusions prevented the mound from sliding onto the front slab of the dolmen. A prerequisite for the construction of dolmens is the presence of a nearby source of water: a river, a stream, a spring, and this is also characteristic of Western European stone buildings. In the mythology of most peoples of the world, water is the environment where life originates.

The location of dolmens near the springs indicates the important role of water in the rituals of dolmen builders. The monolithic dolmen Volkonsky is located in the vicinity of the village of Lazarevsky, on the banks of the small river Godlik. According to research, the age of the dolmen is about 4 thousand years. This is the rarest dolmen-monolith in the entire North-Western Caucasus, made of a giant boulder. It is approximately 15 m long and 8 m wide. The vertical façade wall is perfectly polished, with a round hole cut into it, which leads to the main horseshoe-shaped chamber with a spherical ceiling. At a height of 4 m from the ground in front of the front part of the dolmen, a flat area was arranged. On the roof of the building there is a round depression about 60 cm in diameter and depth, probably intended for performing rituals. A single stepwise approach leads to it. Among the dolmens of the Western Caucasus, a special place is occupied by the Kudepstinsky sacrificial stone, known among the local population as the "Circassian stone" and located on the territory of the Kudepstinsky forest park. This is a huge block of sandstone, in plan having the shape of a triangle with a length of each side of about 5 m. On the northeast side, two recesses in the form of seats are carved into the stone, separated by a stone “armrest”. Behind the “seats”, on the upper plane of the stone, two parallel trough-shaped depressions 1 by 2 m in size were made. Four pits and a bowl-shaped depression up to 20 cm in diameter were carved here. Judging by the nature of processing and individual details, the Kudepsta stone belongs to the dolmen period, probably in those days it played the role of a sanctuary. The legend about the origin of dolmens. Long ago, in times known and remembered by Almighty Allah alone, in this rich land, then covered with impenetrable forests, there lived only two tribes, one - large as an oak, terrible-looking giants, the other - small dwarfs. The giants lived in the river valleys and hunted, and the dwarfs lived high in the mountains, near the snows, in dark, cold caves, and practiced witchcraft. Dwarfs rode on harnessed hares. The giants, although they possessed terrible strength, were still stupid, like a herd of rams, while the dwarfs, having no strength at all, were very cunning. For a long time two tribes lived without knowing anything about each other. But one day the dwarfs descended into the valley and saw the giants. For fun, they uprooted trees and threw rocks. Little dwarfs by cunning and sorcery managed to subdue the stupid giants and forced them to serve themselves. They ordered them to build comfortable little dwellings. The giants got down to business, and soon many stone huts appeared in the mountains and valleys with small round holes through which only dwarfs could get inside. Many years have passed since then, there are no dwarfs and giants for a long time, and strong stone huts still stand today.

The article is devoted to the dolmens of the Western Caucasus, which are considered not only as monuments of ancient material culture, but also as significant tourist sites that have become a real brand of the Olympic Sochi. The author provides interesting information about the mystical power of dolmens, draws comparative parallels with famous megaliths abroad and reveals the reason for people's interest in monuments of dolmen culture.

Dolmen culture of the Western Caucasus: geography and heritage

According to the ancient legends of the highlanders, along with the Narts - the ancient giants - tiny people lived in the Caucasus, weak and helpless, riding hares ... Out of pity for this small people, the Narts erected impregnable fortresses-houses from huge stone slabs, where in the front had small openings that only very small people could enter. Therefore, the Circassians called the dolmens "ispun", that is, houses for dwarfs.

Ancient dolmens in the life and epic of the highlanders

Dolmens are the oldest religious buildings, the name of which comes from the Breton words "taol" and "taep", which means "stone table". Indeed, the design of dolmens outwardly resembles a table, since a powerful flat stone slab rests on several supports standing on the earthen surface. Dolmens are classified as megalithic structures or simply megaliths - structures made of large hewn stones, used mainly for tombs. Ancient megaliths have long been of interest to researchers and ordinary people, but if the former deeply and systematically study megalithic culture, the latter consider dolmens as a picturesque part of the landscape, giving them special mystical properties, using them mainly as objects of tourist display.

At the same time, it is very interesting and useful to trace the attitude of people to dolmens and to the entire dolmen culture within the framework of any one territory.

As you know, dolmens are found in various parts of the world: in North Africa, Europe, South Korea and others, but we will try to explore some aspects of the manifestation of dolmen culture in the Western Caucasus and in particular Greater Sochi.

The culture of dolmens developed on the territory of the modern city of Sochi in the Middle Bronze Age. It mainly includes dolmens - monumental tombs, corresponding deposits in the Great Vorontsovskaya cave and individual objects scattered throughout different regions of Greater Sochi. The territory that

At the entrance to the Great Vorontsovskaya Cave in the Khostinsky District of Sochi (photo by the author)

now it occupies the famous Russian resort, it has always differed from other areas of the Black Sea region by its difficult terrain due to the strong dissection of the relief. Most likely, for this reason, the Sochi dolmens became known to the scientific community later than similar structures in other regions.

One of the first to describe and sketch the Sochi dolmens in detail was Alexander Miller, a well-known Russian explorer of the Caucasus, ethnographer and archaeologist. In 1907, he described and sketched several dolmens in the valley of the Ashe River and a trough-shaped monolith in the Mamedov Gorge on the territory of the current Lazarevsky district of Sochi. Although the

Composite dolmen in the courtyard of the Museum of the History of the city of Sochi (photo by the author)

Trough-shaped monolith "Healer"

Most likely, he was not the first to discover this monument, since even now one can clearly distinguish the image of the Maltese cross carved in stone with the date next to it - 1906.

Today, this dolmen is especially famous and revered in these parts, it is called the "Healer", attributing a special energy that can endow people and animals with a rare vitality. People living nearby claim that on May 19, 1986, they were awakened at night by a loud roar, although the weather was clear and calm. In the morning it turned out that three powerful trees, pulled out of the ground like light blades of grass, lay near the dolmen, and the fourth, half-burned, was still smoking and had a bizarre shape. These trees still lie near the dolmen today, reinforcing the extraordinary impression made by this mysterious megalith, shaped like an Egyptian pyramid.

Locals even notice an increase in the number of wild animals in this place and their quite peaceful attitude towards people. They say that hares, who like to take sunbaths on it, especially fell in love with the dolmen. Or maybe it's not about sunbathing at all, but about mysterious dwarfs who, according to legend, lived in dolmens and rode hares...? Then it is quite possible to assume that the hares continue to patiently wait for "their owners."

In general, the talent and resort ingenuity of the local residents of the Sochi coast cannot be denied. Any interesting object or phenomenon quickly forms the basis of a new excursion route. So, for example, an esoteric route has been formed on the “Healer” dolmen, where everyone is offered to feel the special rejuvenating energy of the dolmen. Of course, promises of rejuvenation are nothing more than spa advertising, but the power of Caucasian nature is truly amazing!

In this regard, one should pay tribute to the numerous researchers of the dolmen culture of the Western Caucasus, who have been observing these mysterious monuments of ancient material culture for two centuries now. The work of several dozen scientists was summarized and systematized in 1960 by the researcher L.I. Lavrov, who created a complete catalog of dolmens. There were 1139 dolmens in it, and a scientific classification of dolmens in the Western Caucasus was proposed, which remains relevant at the present time.

All the variety of existing dolmens Lavrov divided into four groups:

• 1. A group of ordinary tiled dolmens. This is the most common type of megaliths, structurally representing a quadrangular box, each side of which, as well as the bottom and roof, is a separate monolithic slab.
• 2. A group of composite dolmens. These are structures with one or more walls made of smaller slabs.
• 3. A group of trough-shaped dolmens.
• 4. Group of dolmen-monoliths.

In 1978, researcher V.I. Markovin updated the catalog of dolmens, adding to it up to 2308 objects. Thanks to painstaking research work, the era of dolmen culture, which flourished in the first half of the 2nd millennium BC, has become more understandable and close to us - modern people.

Carefully studying the features of the development of dolmen culture, scientists pay attention to the fact that at the peak of its development, trapezoid-shaped tiled structures with profiles of clear proportions are widely used. This design gave the dolmens greater stability, facilitated the assembly of walls and the laying of ceilings. During this period, dolmen openings take on various forms (round, in the form of an arch, etc.). Under the tiled dolmens, carefully crafted heel stones appear - a kind of dolmen foundation. Many buildings are leaning against the slopes and even slightly let into them. In addition to tiled dolmens, trough-shaped ones were also created during this period - they are carved into the rocks, giving them the appearance of a dolmen only from the facade. By the end of the heyday of the dolmen culture, monolithic dolmens appeared. Such changes in the design of these religious buildings, according to scientists, occur in connection with changes in funeral rites. In the late periods of dolmen culture (the middle of the 2nd millennium BC), trough-shaped dolmens are supplemented by round-shaped chambers and jug-shaped outlines, and false portal structures are also noted.

In general, the dolmen culture of different regions of the world has much in common. In particular, researchers of the megaliths of the Western Caucasus note their close resemblance to the tiled dolmens of the Mediterranean, as well as the megalithic monuments of Catalonia, France and North Africa. However, the archaeological heritage of the dolmen culture in Sochi and the Tuapse region is so large and diverse that it undoubtedly indicates its temporal duration, and the dolmens found and described represent the full range of all known structures of these samples of the megalithic era.

In general, the territory of the Sochi resort can be safely called the "World capital of dolmens", since there are three most important signs of its superiority over other regions rich in monuments of megalithic culture:

Firstly, all known types of monuments of dolmen culture are present on the territory of B. Sochi.

Secondly, some of the dolmens are architecturally completely unique and have no analogues in other regions: a monolith dolmen, dolmen-shaped well-shaped tombs (tholos), dolmen complexes (Psynako-I).

Thirdly, such design features as the surrounding of dolmens with a ring of stones (cromlech), the presence of corridors - dromos, tiled false portal structures, "reverse" dolmens and dolmens with two facades are found in the Sochi region in much greater numbers than in other areas with a developed dolmen culture.

As already mentioned, the region of the current city of Sochi in its poorly developed areas is difficult to pass. The dense Colchis forest protects many secluded corners of the resort from modern barbarism, but civilization is steadily advancing and crowding out protected natural areas, represented in particular by monuments of dolmen culture. Unfortunately, many magnificent examples of megalithic complexes have been irretrievably lost. In particular, they are broken into crushed stone and building stone, ruined by summer residents and private entrepreneurs, who exhibit huge monolithic stones in the form of decorations and alpine slides in cafes or private house gardens. Such "aesthetics" are not embarrassed by the fact that these stones are part of the burial structures. Of course, this is due to ignorance and some kind of pagan craving for worshiping the forces of nature, concluded, according to their ideas, in huge megaliths.

However, one way or another, over the past few decades, the following have been destroyed: the dolmens of the “Glinishche I” group, the dolmens of the “Soloniki II” group were broken, while laying a logging road, the end of the side slab of the dolmen of the “Nihekh I” group was almost destroyed, on which a rare zigzag ornament, and in 1997, during the construction of a gas pipeline in the Chernomorka tract, a unique tiled dolmen was covered with a dump, and this sad list, unfortunately, can be continued.

At the same time, about two hundred dolmens (189) are currently known on the territory of Sochi. Of these, 141 were examined, 48 were not examined.

If we talk about the departmental ownership of the lands on which the monuments of dolmen culture are located, which is also important for ensuring their safety, then a quarter of them are located on the lands of the administration of the city of Sochi, and the rest on the territory of the Sochi National Park. Geographically, Sochi dolmens are located both on mountain slopes and at the mouths of mountain rivers. The greatest proximity of dolmens to the sea is noted in the basin of the Ashe and Psezupse rivers, as well as the Godlik stream in the Lazarevsky district, where the largest and most famous Volkonsky dolmen-monolith on the coast is located, which has become a real archaeological brand of the Olympic resort of Sochi.

Volkonsky dolmen-monolith - tourist brand of Sochi-2014

In general, the Lazarevsky district of Sochi is the most saturated with monuments of dolmen culture. A large number of dolmens are found on the way from Tuapse towards the village. Golovinka to the Shakha river. Across the Shakhe River towards the center of Sochi, few dolmens have been noted and, as a rule, they are located in mountainous and hard-to-reach places. There are no dolmens in Sochi itself, except for the dolmen brought from Lazarevsky to the territory of the museum of the history of the resort city of Sochi.

In the Khostinsky district of the city, only one composite dolmen was found, the so-called "cult stone with seats" near the village. Kudepsta. In the Adler region, dolmens are located mainly in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe village. Krasnaya Polyana and Medoveevka. There is another interesting pattern in the location of the dolmens of the city of Sochi - they are all located in close proximity to springs or streams, since most of them were made of sandstone, the layers of which were formed in the immediate vicinity of water bodies.

• Narts are the heroes of ancient epic tales of many Caucasian peoples.