Hartashen Megalithic Avenue
| Coordinates | 41°0′47″N 43°56′1″E / 41.01306°N 43.93361°E |
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Hartashen Megalithic Avenue is a prehistoric megalithic mounument in Armenia. There are two rows of megalithic rocks which do not intersect and there is no road connection to this site.[1] The rows are composed of basalt stones which are placed at an angle, and in each row menhirs are arranged in three rows.[2] There is no clarity about the purpose of these two rows of menhirs and further research is under progress.[3] There is no firm dating of the monument. It has been attributed in recent years to anti tank defences constructed in the Second World War, but recent research favours an interpretation that the site dates to the neolithic or bronze age and perhaps shares a context with the Carnac stones of France.[4]
Context
[edit]The monument comprises 760 preserved steles. Some steles have been disturbed, and it is estimated there may originally have been up to 1200 originally. The flat surface between the monuments comprises an unexcavated funerary monument. No connection has been discovered between the avenue and the funerary monuments. The rows of stele begin at a rocky outcrop and follow the valley topography for 500 metres. The monument is not astronomically aligned, nor aligned with any features within the topography.[4]
The arrangement of the stone rows were integrated into a modern anti tank military barrier. As there is no firm dating, it is unknown to what extent and in what form the avenues predate this modern use.[5]
See also
[edit]- Carahunge
- Desert kite
- Funzie Girt, an ancient dividing wall that runs for over 4 km (2.5 mi) across the island of Fetlar in Scotland.
References
[edit]- ^ Allen 2023, p. 264.
- ^ "Expedition to Hartashen". Carahunge. 25 June 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
- ^ "Walk along a slice of prehistory at Hartashen's Megalithic Avenues". 20 August 2024. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
- ^ a b Cassen 2016, p. 6.
- ^ Schunke, Yeganyan & Khachatryan 2011, p. 73.
Bibliography
[edit]- Allen, T (8 September 2023). Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh (2023 ed.). Buckinghamshire: Bradt Guides Ltd. p. 264. ISBN 9781784779436. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
- Cassen, S (2016). "Sites de passage (2). Le modèle carnacois des pierres dressées à l'épreuve des steppes et des légendes." (PDF). Fonctions, utilisations et représentations de l'espace dans les sépultures monumentales du Néolithique européen/Functions, uses and representations of space in the monumental graves of Neolithic Europe. Préhistoires Méditerranéennes (in French). pp. 343–362. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
- Schunke, T; Yeganyan, L; Khachatryan, H (2011). "Ein steiniges Tal – rätselhafte Steinstrukturen im Ashotsk-Tal bei Hartashen, Provinz Schirak,". In Meller, H; Avetisya, P (eds.). Archäologie Armenien: Ergebnisse der Kooperationsprojekte 2010: ein Vorbericht. Halle: Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt - Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte. pp. 73–105. Retrieved 3 October 2024.