About what there is in the Voronezh region stone labyrinth, built at the turn of the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC (!!!), I read on a local forum back in the winter and, of course, noted this circumstance in Plans.txt. Little by little, I collected the necessary minimum information to try to find him and was only waiting for the right set of circumstances to immediately rush off to find him.
And so, on May 9, 2010, when the entire public, including the legion of LJ photographers who later flooded my feed with sad pictures from military parades, were bruised and jostling on the main city streets, I and my eternal partner in all sorts of adventures, Lyokha, decided, on the contrary, to leave on this day, somewhere far away, or better yet, in the absolute wilderness. After purchasing provisions, we got out of the city in Lyokhin’s old “five” and headed for.
01
. The Ostrogozhskaya highway is indecently picturesque, empty and almost uncontrolled by the valiant traffic police. Every 5-10 km I had to fight the urge to stop and take a photo of something. But ahead, according to my forecasts, something completely prohibitive awaited us and therefore we flew to the intended goal without stopping. Until we saw the horse.
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02
. Look, you were too lazy to follow the link above and see where exactly we met such a crazy horse, and yet it’s even visible on Google Maps (!). Therefore, here is another warrior’s shoulder portrait. The model has a runny nose, don't pay attention.
03
. This, if you still haven’t followed the link, is the village of Devitsa. More precisely, its very outskirts.
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04
. Another native, but still unknown to Google.
05
. There is a small river called Potudan behind the trees.
Its section from the village of Soldatskoye to the confluence with the Don is called the Mordva tract and is considered one of the the most beautiful places in the Don region.
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06
. The meadows are flooded, every now and then we go around wet areas, but in the end we get stuck. I curse the hordes of man-eating mosquitoes and the rear-wheel drive in the AvtoVAZ design, but somehow I push the “five” out of the puddle. Ufff....
07
. The Mostishche farmstead, in the vicinity of which a stone labyrinth was discovered by archaeologists, is literally one and a half kilometers away. We decide to push our way further. Fighting off mosquitoes, I chewed in front of the car, choosing places on dry land. Suddenly a whole field of bells appeared around.
08
. It just so happened that before that I had only seen bells in pictures, so their presence, of course, brightened up my experience as a navigator a little.
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09
. And here is a new ambush. The bridge over Potudan, marked in the navigator as operational, was in fact in a state of disrepair.
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10
. Local men who came to fish reported that no one had been driving along it for a long time and there was another road to the farm. I was categorically against it and suggested returning through the bells and swamps, but Lyokha decides to force the bridge. Below you can watch a short video of how it happened. Lyokha is driving, I am in charge of the operation, the men are stupidly shocked. Pardon me for the shaking (the camera was just hanging on my neck), the trembling voice and the swearing - it was really annoying that we would accidentally drown the car.
11
. To catch our breath a little and let the jerk cool down, we wandered around the bridge. According to legend, Potudan was the border north of which the Tatars did not collect tribute. Hence the name, which means that on the other side of the river it is necessary to make money.
12
. By the way, this river gave its name to Andrei Platonov’s story “The Potudan River,” which was later used in the film “The Lonely Voice of a Man.” And some researchers also believe that it was on the banks of the Potudan that the battle between the Russians and the Polovtsy took place, described in “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” and that it was Potudan that ancient river Kayala. Why not believe it, I think, especially since there is such nonsense around.
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13
. Beaver traces.
Sometime in the fall I visited, those interested can familiarize themselves.
14
. And finally, we enter the farm. It is almost entirely abandoned and mainly consists of these ancient abandoned huts.
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15
. Surprisingly, not only the signs with house numbers have been preserved...
16
. ...But also with street names.
17
. There are houses that are newer, if such a synonym can be applied to the Mostishchensky huts, but, for the most part, they are also uninhabited.
18
. We begin to circle around the village in search of the subject. I incorrectly interpret the information I have about the labyrinth and confuse it with an abandoned vegetable garden. The fact is that after excavations by archaeologists, the locals decided to steal ancient stones for their own household needs. The people of science scratched their heads and came up with nothing better than to cover their find with a thick layer of soil again.
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19
. There is a version that the labyrinth “works” to this day and is an active place of power and harmonizer environment. A giant dill grows in the garden and is not caught Cell phones, so for some time I am sure that we are wandering right above the labyrinth.
20
. Later it turns out that I poked my finger at the navigator too schematically and we wander around the garden, and giant dill is very common and is called fennel.
21
. We decide to climb the mountain familiar to you from the two previous photographs, but we take the wrong direction and again end up on the damp banks of Potudan.
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22
. We understand that we have lost our way, we begin to turn around and get involved in full. It’s not exactly a swamp around, but the bald tires don’t want to somehow adhere to the damp ground. I’m starting to fume, because it’s no longer possible to push the car out in one direction, the branches aren’t helping either, and now Lyokha starts putting shoes on the “five” in the chain.
23
. He invites me to wait and see how playfully he will get out of the ambush as soon as he finishes his installation. Having calmed down a little, I begin to while away the time by photographing all sorts of hats. Here, for example, is a tinder fungus.
24
. Suddenly (in such and such a wilderness) a man on a motorcycle from photo number 9 smokes past. He asks me if he needs help, I honestly answer that I don’t know. Like, the driver said that now everything will be fine at its best without any outside help. Luckily for us, the man still remains to gawk at the free circus, and Alexey gives the gas, then the gas, and then the burning and the surrounding reality is clouded with white smoke. When it dissipates, the man and I already see the “five” taking up all-round defense in a freshly dug trench. Alexey climbs out and reports that he forgot to put down the handbrake. I say that he himself is the word and with forces increased tenfold by this stressful situation and, of course, with the help of a man, I still push the “five” onto the dried soil. In the picture below, Lyokha is already washing his loins and miracle chains in the river. Left. About five meters.
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25
. Here, perhaps, it’s time to make a lyrical digression and tell us what kind of labyrinth this is. It was discovered in the late 1980s. Similar stone structures are well known in England (the rings of Stonehenge, for example), Sweden, Denmark, the Mediterranean, as well as in the north of Russia, Karelia and off the coast White Sea. All the more surprising is the presence of such megalithic structure in central Russia. To date, this is the only archaeological find of this kind in our latitudes. The Mostishchensky labyrinth has the shape of an oval measuring 26 by 38 meters, built of chalk stones. As to who and why erected such stone sanctuaries, science does not yet have an exact answer. And the uniqueness of the Mostishchensky labyrinth, it seems, has generally plunged scientists into a state of cognitive dissonance and they prefer to remain largely silent even about its existence. Below is a picture of what archaeologists managed to unearth. Please note that in some sources the farmstead is called M A articulation, and the labyrinth, respectively, M A Stishchensky.
26
. And we continue our search.
The farm, as can be seen below, is located between chalk capes (mountains). We climb onto one of them.
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27
. On the right hand of this place, as far as I understand (alas, I’m already at home) is the Mostishchensky labyrinth. Do you see a power pole? It's somewhere there.
28
. In wet weather, climbing up by car is almost impossible. Look at the angle of descent/ascent and what holes are being washed away by the water rushing down. By the way, this is the other road to the Mostishche farm that the fishermen told us about. If you continue to drive along it, it will lead through fields to big village Korotoyak.
29
. Stone structures were also discovered on the neighboring hill, but not in the shape of an ellipse, but rectangular. I repeat that I compiled in my brain what I had read and seen when I was already at home, and at that moment, having climbed up and suddenly seeing a picturesque drive up the neighboring hill, I concluded that the most interesting thing would be there and we decided to return down the washed-out road and try to climb there along an overgrown dirt road. By the way, this place is called Mount Gorodishche, because an ancient settlement, excuse the tautology, was also discovered on it. Naturally, it’s not as ancient as a labyrinth, but still.
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30
. We slide down (poor “five”!), meander around the farmstead a little and crawl onto Gorodishche. According to our internal routine, it’s long past lunch time. Lyokha begins to prepare for the meal, and I suddenly find a pile of stones. Naturally, I begin to suspect the locals that they have dug into the labyrinth and are dismantling it for their own worthless aboriginal needs or even selling stones to companies that trade in landscape design.
31
. Suddenly the sky darkens and it becomes obvious that rain, or even a thunderstorm, is surely approaching. Remembering the fishermen’s warning about the subsequent impassability of the descents and ascents, we quickly collected the gear that had been laid out, retreated in horror and rushed non-stop to the nearest asphalt in the area of the mentioned Korotoyak. We nervously have lunch in the car - it’s still starting to rain. We decide to move towards our native land, but along the way a wondrously beautiful panorama opens up to us. We stop. Somewhere on the left there is the village of Mostishche. The photo shows that it is raining steadily there.
32
. Something turns white behind the tree and I slide down the wet grass closer to the cliff. This is a chalk cliff, slightly gnawed by the aborigines.
33
. A look along the Don riverbed in the direction of Mostishche.
Lepota - the thunderstorm leaves, but the sunset begins.
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34
. Sliding, we crawl up to the car. The rain is still drizzling and the power lines are humming strainedly about this. The brain too. Time to go home.
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 a.s.l., 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 Bely and Barents seas, as well as on the territory of 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.
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 the largest concentration of labyrinths is located on the famous Volosyanaya Hill, 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.
277 km from the city of Murmansk, not far from the small town of Kandalaksha, there is a labyrinth whose age 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 a large system of 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 well-known 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 was the cult of Seids - sacred stones in which sacred and respected spirits live. It is known that Seid 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 the largest concentration of labyrinths is located on the famous Volosyanaya Hill, three km from the main road Kandalaksha. All the secrets of the mysterious “Babylon” have not yet been clarified, which means that new excavations will follow.
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‘Mostishchenskoye settlement and labyrinth “sanctuary” is located in the Lukodonye valley, Ostrogozhsky district, Voronezh region, on the right bank of the Potudan River. The area of the Mostishchenskoye settlement is 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.
The Mostishchenskoe settlement is small in size; archaeologists have identified only the remains of 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 generally located at its very edge. All yurts are similar and have an area of up to 20 square meters, with rectangular bases and post holes in the center. Traces of a hearth were found in one of them, and some wool fibers were found on the floor of the yurt. Archaeologists were able to determine the entrance to the room; it is directed towards the slope of the cape. Due to the fact that the residential buildings were located almost on a slope, residents had to deepen the place to level the floor. The same buildings were discovered by archaeologists at the excavations of the ancient settlement of Rossoshki 1 “Krutsy”. But at the Mostishchenskoye settlement, residents did not use the central, almost flat part of the settlement for construction. It seems that the residents were “confused” by the remains of the stone pavements of the more ancient labyrinth, or perhaps they guarded the labyrinth?! It is obvious that the very choice of places to build dwellings was subordinated and similar to the security functions of the settlement. Around the central part of the settlement (including the ancient labyrinth) household pits were found, more than 60 of them, half of them for grain. By all indications, the pits were not used simultaneously (given the two periods in the life of the settlement), as were the dwellings themselves. Judging by the size of the dwellings, from 4 to 8 people could live in each of them, and in three, therefore, no more than 25 people. Such a figure cannot correspond to the size of either the clan or the neighboring community.
A burial ground was discovered on the square of the Mostishchenskoye settlement, which included five burials: three adults, a teenager and a baby. An iron akinak and a bone amulet were found among the funeral items. The burials were made on the ancient horizon and littered with stones.
It is most likely to assume that the inhabitants of the Mostishchenskoye settlement performed mainly guard duty here. In this case, the settlement could belong to representatives of the authorities - tribal leaders or priests. Perhaps the inhabitants of the settlement were also dependent people: fellow tribesmen of the lower class, perhaps slaves. Public meetings were held here and, judging by the size of the outer remains of the dwellings outside the settlement (to the south), some kind of celebrations, sacrificial rites or other ceremonies; Residents from nearby settlements could take refuge here in case of danger. As for the defensive fortifications, they were probably erected through the efforts of several neighboring communities or by the hands of... slaves or captives from other tribes. Perhaps the defenders of the Mostishchensky settlement and the labyrinth failed to repel the unexpected attack of the nomadic Scythians, who literally showered the settlement with arrows from their bows, during the attack they changed the way of life in the settlement and from which both old and young suffered. The residents should have expected new raids, and they urgently needed to save another wealth - the grain stored in the pits. The survivors had to bury the dead and quietly remove the grain. Naturally, they did not have time to dig graves and observe funeral ceremonies. Yes, quite probable cause the departure of people from the settlement - complications caused by the military situation.
Along with the usual finds for the Scythian period, fragments of vessels of the Ivano-Bugorsk type and the catacomb culture were identified. On the upper platform of the cape, the ruins of circular stone masonry stand 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. The layout of the settlement includes a round central platform made of stone pavement and six concentric elliptical rings surrounding it, between which in some cases there are lintels. 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. That is, only the ruins of a structure have reached us, which in its original form was architecturally complex and systematic, which leaves no doubt: these are the remains of a “megalithic” structure religious purpose. It can be called a sanctuary - a labyrinth. http://vk.cc/4ecyuO
