Mostishchensky labyrinth
Mostishchenskoye settlement And labyrinth "sanctuary" located in the Lukodonye valley, Ostrogozhsky district, Voronezh region, on the right bank of the Potudan River.
In 1957, the Archaeological Expedition of the Institute of Archeology of the USSR Academy of Sciences under the leadership of P.D. Liberova discovered the Mostishchenskoye settlement for science. The Mostishchensky labyrinth is located on the territory of the Mostishchensky settlement. Such stone structures are well known throughout the world, most often called cromlechs (ancient observatories-luminaries).
Maze design It consists of a central platform made of stone pavement and six concentric elliptical rings surrounding it, between which in some cases lintels are fixed. The labyrinth had the shape of an oval, built of chalk stones. The stones are laid on turf, on a level place, without any binding solution or adjustment. The structure itself consists of six ring-shaped masonry. They are badly damaged, but in general the approximate size can be determined.
The maximum height of stones in ancient times did not exceed half a meter; the larger diameter of the outer ring along the west-east line reaches 40 meters. There are several granite boulders in the western section of the outer chalk. Another one is north of the center of the labyrinth. Granite is a rare rock for this area.
Let us once again make a reservation that the ruins of a structure have survived to us, which in its original form was architecturally more complex and systematic. But what has survived to this day leaves no doubt: these are the remains of a “megalithic” structure for religious purposes. It can be called a sanctuary, a labyrinth.
Since local residents had been quietly stealing the local stones for their own needs for a long time, archaeologists had to preserve the find by burying it.
There is a version of the astronomical purpose of the Mostishchensky labyrinth. It is associated with astronomical data on the location of stones. Granite stone No. 1, when observed from the center of the labyrinth, has an azimuth of 0, i.e. it indicates the direction to the north. The other two granite stones quite accurately indicate the direction of the sunrise points on the winter and summer solstice. Nearby granite boulders indicate the direction to the rising point of the autumn and spring equinox.
Thus, it is a fair assumption that the Mostishchensky labyrinth was used as an observatory for observing celestial bodies. It could also be a place for ritual ceremonies.
Square Mostishchenskoye settlement 2.3 hectares. During excavations here, the remains of defensive fortifications of the Scythian period were found on two capes. Here, on two capes, the remains of defensive fortifications (fortifications) of the Scythian period were found - Mostishchenskoye fortification and Averinskoye fortification, which appeared on the Middle Don in the 6th century. BC e.
Mostishchenskoe settlement is small in size; archaeologists have identified the remains of only six residential buildings. The buildings are of the yurt type and are located along the edges of the settlement, at the outskirts of the cape, and one of the buildings is located at its very edge. All yurts are similar, up to 20 square meters in area, with rectangular bases and post holes in the center.
Labyrinth "Babylon" (Kandalaksha labyrinth)
On the shore of Maly Pitkul Bay, 4 km from the city of Kandalaksha, there is a stone labyrinth “Babylon”, whose age reaches 4000 years. Administratively belongs to Kandalaksha district Murmansk region.
Not everyone will be able to find the entrance to the labyrinth - a traveler unfamiliar with the area simply will not notice it.
It was believed that the Kandalaksha labyrinth was created by primitive man and is a diagram of a trap used for catching fish. Scientists believe that religious ceremonies were held here - ancient people hoped to ensure their success in fishing.
All “Babylons” indeed have intricate, intricate passages, laid out in a special way from stone. Spirals can be found in several places on the Kola Peninsula. Their mystery has not yet been solved; there are hypotheses about the use of structures in fishing witchcraft, controlling the winds, and in ritual dances. There is also a known hypothesis about the location of labyrinths in burial places so that the souls of the dead get lost, wandering in a spiral, and do not disturb the living.
The labyrinth is lined with small stones on the shore of Kandalaksha Bay. The Pomors called it “Babylon”, i.e. winding, wavy. But opinions differ about the origin of this name. According to one version, the Pomeranian name for the labyrinth “Babylon” is a slightly distorted Celtic term. The island (city) of Avalon, where fairies live, the island of the blessed, which is revealed only to a select few, is known in Celtic mythology. The very name of the magical city turns out to be derived from the Celtic word for apple (abal, atal), which fits perfectly with the shape of the labyrinth, very similar to a schematic section of an apple. If we add that the Celtic legends about the “Isle of the Blessed” talk about wonderful apples that bestow immortality, then the name, shape and legend ancient building turn out to be closely related to each other. Then it turns out that since ancient times the labyrinth was considered an indicator of the proximity of other spaces and dimensions.
What were the labyrinths for? This question is still considered open. There are a great many versions - from the completely earthly to the most fantastic. Many researchers believed that these were ordinary altars used by ancient people when performing some rituals. Others argued that labyrinths are nothing more than doors to some other worlds. Of undoubted interest is the assumption that the labyrinth is a circuit of a transceiver antenna, with the help of which the ancient inhabitants of these places could communicate with each other over vast distances.
One thing is certain: the stone spirals are literally empty. Many researchers tried to find some evidence of their versions under them, but in vain: there turned out to be either untouched pebbles or rock.
In the Kandalaksha area in the summer of 2011. a tourist local history trail “Kandalaksha Coast” was developed - a three-kilometer route is equipped with signs and plaques with descriptions of attractions, several tourist stops were made. Among other objects on the trail, this labyrinth is also located on it.
277 km from the city of Murmansk, near small town Kandalaksha, there is a certain labyrinth, the age of which is close to four thousand years. Most scientists suggest that such an amazing riddle in its form is more reminiscent of a trap, which was often used by ancient people in the process of catching fish or as a means of performing various rituals, with the help of which luck was supposed to go to their side.
The most common name for the Kandalaksha labyrinth is the “Babylon” stone labyrinth, which is big system intricate passages made entirely of stone - it was in these places that ancient people performed their magical rites. There is an opinion that the rituals have nothing to do with labyrinths, but only served as an aid in hunting. There were cases when the dead were buried in the passages of the labyrinth. It is known that many primitive peoples had this kind of labyrinths. In all existing labyrinths there are intricate and intricate passages, which are laid out in a special way from stone in the form of a spiral, which is especially noticeable in several places located on the Kola Peninsula, next to the Umba and Pona rivers.
Such a noticeable popularity of the presence of labyrinths gives rise to a virtually fantastic hypothesis about the purpose of these buildings. There are research scientists who believe that there was a close connection between the belief of ancient peoples in the afterlife, other worlds and this kind of stone structures. It is believed that the villages near which the labyrinths were located apparently maintained contact with each other, even despite the enormous distances; at the same time, powerful structures were used not only as an antenna, but also as a kind of receiver.
It is worth noting that none of the presented theories has currently found exact confirmation, because no traces of burials could be found in the soil under the spirals, and as for confirming the version about the presence of doors to other worlds and the method of transmitting various signals in this way over long distances - then it seems unlikely at all.
All the tribes living near the labyrinth, whose name sounds like Pomors, called the spirals made up of medium-sized stones “Babylon.” In this case, it’s worth thinking about: why did the ancient people choose this name? This question can be answered in different ways: according to the first version, it is assumed that the word “Babylon” translated into Russian sounds like “wavy, winding,” and this option is considered the most obvious, but still is not the only and confirmed one. There is another version, according to which it is believed that the word “Babylon” is a slightly distorted word “Avalon”, which translated from the Celtic language means “the place where fairies live.” If you translate the word “Avalon” into Russian, it means “apple”, which is somewhat correlated with the inherent shape of “Babylon”, reminiscent of an apple cut lengthwise.
There is a legend that says that only a select few can get to the labyrinth, but in fact, getting to the labyrinth is not very easy, because it is not located so close to the city of Murmansk, especially since people who are not familiar with the area can find the right place It will be very difficult, because many simply do not notice it.
To date, it has been precisely established that on the territory of the modern Kandalaksha region there were two religious cults, one of which was called the cult of the highest gods, and the other the cult of the Seids - sacred stones in which sacred and respected spirits live. It is known that Seyd always demanded respectful treatment of himself, and for respectful treatment he always rewarded with a rich catch during the hunt.
“Babylon” in the Kandalaksha Hills is a unique, although not uncommon, phenomenon, because largest cluster labyrinths is located on the famous Volosyanaya Sopka, three km from main road Kandalaksha. All the secrets of the mysterious “Babylon” have not yet been clarified, which means that new excavations will follow.
Archaeological antiquities of the Voronezh land
Prehistory
In 1957, the Archaeological Expedition of the Institute of Archeology of the USSR Academy of Sciences under the leadership of P.D. Liberova discovered the Mostishchenskoye settlement for science. Judging by small excavations at this archaeological site, it was created in the early Iron Age, in Scythian times. Then, due to the lack of finds to date the monument, the period of activity of the fortified village was determined incorrectly. At a later time, when the site was excavated over a wide area, the time was determined more precisely - the end of the 5th or the turn of the 6th - and until the end of the 4th century. BC.
Labyrinths of Europe and Mostishchensky labyrinth
Stone labyrinths and other stone structures are well known in Northern Europe, England, the Mediterranean, Sweden, Denmark, in the north of our country in Karelia and in White Sea, in the North Caucasus. They are complex structures made of stone of different layouts and designs in the form of concentric circles and ellipses.
There is an opinion about the builders of these structures - the tribes that lived in the Pyrenees. For some reason they moved along Atlantic coast to the shores of the North Sea. Their traces are noted on the territory of present-day Germany - on the Rhine and Elbe. And about 900 stone structures were created in the British Isles.
Among specialists who have studied and are studying labyrinths, over time, an idea has developed about the religious purpose of these objects. As has now been found out, the labyrinths were also ancient observatories from which observations of celestial bodies and calculations of solar and lunar eclipses were carried out. The time of their creation is Neolithic - Chalcolithic. The construction of huge stone structures lasted almost 3000 years, from the 5th to the 2nd millennium BC. But there are much more mysteries of stone giants than answers: who built them, how, why?
At the Mostishchenskoye settlement, the labyrinth had the shape of an oval, built of chalk stones. The stones are laid out on the turf, on level ground. The structure itself consists of six ring-shaped masonry. They are badly damaged, but in general the approximate size can be determined. If you count from the outer boundaries of the masonry, then its dimensions will be as follows: 26 x 38 m. The ellipse is stretched along the northeast–southwest line. Later, it was largely destroyed when the tribes of the Scythian era began to use the location of the labyrinth and its stones for their construction needs. But nevertheless, the main forms of the stone labyrinth are captured.
There were hopes that during excavations the burials of the priests who served the labyrinth would be discovered. And when several burials without grave goods stretched out on their backs were found on its square, it seemed that the wait was not in vain. Alas... In the next burial, an iron short sword of the Scythian time was discovered, and it became clear that these burials belonged to the inhabitants of the Scythian time.
A.T. Sinyuk draws attention to the fact that fragments of ceramics from the Abashevo and Catacomb cultures were found at the site of the labyrinth. At the same time, Abashevo ceramics, in his opinion, are early, like the catacomb ones. Does this indicate him? If the researcher’s assumption is correct, then we can assume the joint use of a stone labyrinth by Bronze Age tribes. According to A.T. Sinyuk, the structure existed for one or two centuries during the turn of the 3rd - beginning of the 2nd millennium BC.
But that's all that can be said about the labyrinth itself. There were attempts to prove its astronomical role with the help of the finds of several granite stones at the site. In accordance with this, calculations were made for the sunrise points on the days of the winter and summer solstice, autumn and spring equinox. But the severe destruction of the monument, the possibility of the origin of granite stones from Scythian times, the accident of their location exactly where they are found in our time, so far reduces these attempts to zero. In addition, there are other granite stones on the monument, in other places, which are not included in the calculation.
The uniqueness of the Mostishchensky labyrinth has led to a cautious attitude towards it. Until now, scientists prefer to remain silent about this discovery, probably doubting its reality. This is the fate of everything new, the approval of which requires time or... a second similar labyrinth...
Roads of millennia
In the study of the ideology and social structure of the ancient Don tribes, unexpected results have been brought in recent years by excavations near the Mostishche farmstead in the Ostrogozhsky district.
If you climb the middle of the three high chalk capes, hanging in a semicircle over the farm, and turn to face it, you will see a rare panorama in its geographical context - a valley formed by the confluence of the floodplains of three rivers at once: Potudan, Devitsa and Don. From here, in clear weather, you can see open spaces to the north for tens of kilometers! The view of the area to the west and east is almost as wide. The place is amazing, allowing you to control a large area with beautiful pastures, hunting and fishing grounds, as well as waterways in all directions.
Our distant ancestors could not help but appreciate such a place. A clear proof of this is the remains of defensive fortifications of the Scythian period on two capes. Will there be signs of human habitation in an earlier period? It was for this purpose that excavations were undertaken on the central (Mostishche 1) and northwestern (Oastishche 2) capes. And our expectations were met. At the first of the monuments, along with the usual finds for Scythian times, fragments of vessels of the Ivano-Bugorsk type and the catacomb culture began to be found (as we already know, to a certain extent synchronous). The attention was immediately drawn to the chalk stones with which the cultural layer was saturated. The fact is that building stone has not yet been found in settlements of either the Bronze Age or the Scythian era in the Middle Don.
Excavations became more careful: every stone had to be preserved in place. And finally, the upper platform of the cape was freed from soil layers, and the ruins of stonework stood out in relief against the background of the mainland! The masonry was preserved only in fragments; it was repeatedly destroyed both in the Bronze Age and in the Early Iron Age.
And yet, an irrefutable argument in favor of the ancient age of the structure was obtained. Excavations on the neighboring cape also revealed the remains of stonework (though not circular, as at Mostishche 1, but rectangular). They were accompanied by fragments of Ivano-Bugorsk and catacomb vessels, and not a single cutting from a later time!
Now we have facts at our disposal that allow us to connect the remains of stone structures of both monuments with the Ivano-Bugorsk population (the turn of the 3rd-2nd millennia BC and somewhat later).
Since the excavations were completed quite recently and there is a lot of work ahead to understand their results, we will only present in the most general terms the design of the Mastishta 1 settlement (Fig. 40). It includes a round central platform made of stone pavement and six concentric elliptical rings surrounding it, between which in some cases lintels are fixed. Both rings and lintels consist of stones laid out without special adjustment and without any binding solution. Their maximum height did not exceed half a meter in ancient times; the larger diameter of the outer ring along the west-east line reaches 40 meters. Let us once again make a reservation that only the ruins of a structure have reached us, which in its original form was architecturally more complex and systematic. But what has survived to this day leaves no doubt: these are the remains<мегалитического>religious buildings. It can be called a sanctuary, a labyrinth.
IN scientific world megalithic structures are widely known - grandiose monuments of the past, scattered along the European coast Atlantic Ocean And Mediterranean Sea. Megaliths are large carved stones weighing several tons. They were often placed on the end or dug in in the form of multi-meter pillars, and were fastened on top by laying the same blocks. Megaliths were used in the construction of structures of a wide variety of shapes, including ring-shaped ones in the form of ellipses. For the same purposes, stones of much smaller sizes were used. The age of the structures is from four thousand years or more, and some were erected long before the appearance of the pyramids of Egypt!
For many years, the stone rings of Stonehenge in Southern England have attracted particular attention from scientists. Many books have been written about this monument, but the study of its design and the hidden meaning about it continues to this day. Scientists have been able to establish that such monuments were mostly used as tombs, but also have a symbolic meaning: all kinds of religious rites and meetings of widely scattered communities from surrounding areas took place here. Finally, Stonehenge turned out to be not only a sanctuary for ritual ceremonies, but also a huge astronomical observatory, which may have been able to predict solar and lunar eclipses!
Readers have the right to ask, what do Stonehenge and the very modest-sized Mostishchensky masonry have in common?
Indeed, external comparison is not in favor of the latter. But if we do not take into account the size and architectural techniques, but pay attention to the semantic purpose of the Don structure, won’t we see similar signs? After all, the Mostishchensky labyrinth is also not an industrial building or a dwelling. Only single specimens of vessels and bone remains were found in the labyrinth, and no traces of the production of tools and household utensils, no remains of dwellings, no utility pits. This is on an excavated monument area of more than 2000 square meters! The monument, strictly speaking, was not a place of residence of ancient people, that is, a settlement. The finds of vessels, as well as animal and fish bones, are quite consistent with the sites of ritual ceremonies. Structures in the form of stone labyrinths are known both on the White Sea coast of our country and in a number of northern European countries(Finland, Sweden, Denmark, etc.). Some of them, differing from the Don in smaller sizes, methods of laying stones and individual structural details, are similar in the presence of concentric circles. But, as has been established, the northern labyrinths reflect the same ideas that prompted the construction of the megalithic rings! Nowadays, few people doubt and cult purpose labyrinths: they were certainly sanctuaries. True, no traces of a tomb were found in the complex of Mastnshchensky buildings, but it may be somewhere nearby and for it, the usual ritual of placing remains in the ground was provided for in the Don Eneolithic.
So, for the first time for such an early time (the turn of the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC) in central Russia, a sanctuary in the form of a stone labyrinth was opened, reflecting the pan-European ideology of the construction period megalithic structures. What is the specific content of this ideology, what are its constituent links - a question that, apparently, will be resolved only in the future.
The Don Labyrinth could also be the center of a wide area where important public events were held. Consequently, the ideas underlying the construction of such structures were much more widespread than hitherto thought. In addition, the question is legitimate: were all sanctuaries made of stone? It could be that, given the scarcity of its reserves (which is different in our region), the sanctuaries were built from turf or bulk earth, and it is almost impossible to discover them today.
Finally, could the Don labyrinth combine the functions of a sanctuary and a device for observing celestial bodies? We do not rule out a positive answer, but more research is needed. Our optimism is based on the fact that the time has come to decisively reject existing historical prejudices and re-evaluate their creative potential in favor of ancient societies. This fully applies to the Bronze Age.
Sources
- Berezutsky V.D., Zolotarev P.M. - Archaeological antiquities of the Voronezh land - M.: Bratishka, 2007.
- Vinnikov A.Z., Sinyuk A.T. - On the roads of millennia: Archaeologists about ancient history Voronezh region. - 2nd ed., rev. and additional - Voronezh: Voronezh Publishing House state university, 2003.
There are five of them on the Kandalaksha and Tersky shores of the White Sea: Kandalaksha, located on Cape Pitkulsky Navolok at an absolute height of 3.4 m above sea level, Umbinsky (large and small) - on Cape Anninsky Krest, 90 m west of Toni Udarnik on height of 6.6 m above sea level and two Ponoi labyrinths.
The study of these objects on the coasts of the White and Barents Seas, as well as in Sweden, Norway, Finland showed that the “Trojan cities”, with very rare exceptions, were built in close proximity to the ancient coastline(high tide lines) and were never flooded by the sea.
Some labyrinths are located next to other archaeological sites (primitive sites, prehistoric burials), where quartz scrapers and staples, arrowheads made of slate, fragments of asbestos ceramics, and rare fragments of vessels decorated with ornaments were found. The finds of these artifacts were associated with the so-called “Arctic Neolithic culture,” which refers to the time interval V-I thousand. years BC (Gurina, 1953), which allowed archaeologists to compare the age of the Kola labyrinths precisely with the Neolithic era and estimate it at 3-4 thousand years.
There is no clear answer yet to the question regarding the purpose of the stone labyrinths of the Kola region, but it is known that they are all connected with the sea and are confined to places rich in fish. It is reliably known that the Kola labyrinths were never flooded by the sea. Based on this, it is possible to determine the maximum age of these archaeological objects by relating them to the position of sea level at one time or another. A similar approach to estimating the age of Scandinavian labyrinths allowed foreign researchers (Kern, 2007) to significantly adjust it towards rejuvenation.
The work carried out at the Geological Institute of the KSC RAS to study the late post-glacial movement of the sea coastline makes it possible to determine its altitudinal position on the coast at one time or another, i.e., using geological methods to establish the age of the coastline at the height at which the labyrinth is located, as is the maximum possible age of the stone labyrinth (Kolka, Korsakova, 2010). For this purpose, we used data from a study of the movement of the sea coastline in the late Holocene at the top of Kandalaksha Bay and in the area of the village. Lesozavodsky on his south coast. According to these data, the age of the Kandalaksha labyrinth cannot be more than 918-1000 calendar years, and during the “Arctic Neolithic” the surface with an absolute elevation of 3.4 m, on which the Kandalaksha labyrinth is located, should have been at a depth of approximately 11 m below modern sea level.
There are two ways to get to the labyrinth:
By car - exit from observation deck(route marked in red)
On foot - through the "Japan" microdistrict, thanks to which you can see what Kandalaksha was like several centuries ago. And then along the rocky shore with beautiful views of the White Sea (route marked in yellow). ()
Prepared based on materials from Kolka V.V., Korsakova O.P., Nikolaeva S.B.
