Week 7: The Sound of the Stones

Carahunge (Zorats Karer) is a Prehistoric Monument consisting of hundreds of Standing Stones on a territorial area of approximately 7 hectares, around 200 km from Yerevan. A study by Russian prehistorian Professor Paris Herouni indicates that Carahunge (car means stone in Armenian, and hunge means voice or sound) is an old megalithic site dating to around 5500 BC. More investigations indicate that most likely Carahunge was created as an astronomical observatory marking the movement of the sun, the moon and the stars.

 

Carahunge - The sound of The stones

 The stones of Carahunge are made of basalt (andesite). These stones have local origin, each weighing up to 10 tons. Many of the standing stones have smooth circular holes of 4 to 5cm in diameter in the upper part. It has been argued that those stones without holes make up one tool together with those having holes in them. 

Karahunj Stone detail

Over millenniums the stones became worn and grown over with thick layers of moss. However, the holes have been rather well preserved since they were cleanly processed once. The holes appear as telescopic tools angled at different points on the horizon and the outer space. In total 84 stones are known to have these artificially made holes. Thus, to the north from the main ring goes 136 m long wall of 80 upright stones of which 49 have holes. To the south extends another wall of 70 stones, it is approximately 120 m long and here 26 stones have holes. Through the central ring goes a line of 20 smaller stones, with 6 of them having holes. In three cases holes enter the stone from the side and then turn in right angle and go upwards.

 

The telescopic stone of Carahunge

It is speculated that the scientists who created the Carahunge, could have also been involved in planning and the implementation of the Great Pyramid, Stonehenge, etc. There is also a linguistic dispute over the names of these monuments. For example Stonehenge, suggested to have the same connotation as Carahunge, because “stone” in Armenian is “kar” and “henge” (no definition in English) is the same “hunge” (voice, sound, echo in Armenian). Another example is suggested to be Callanish in Scotland (Luis Island in North Gebrids), because “kal” which is essentially “car”, “nish” in Armenian is “sign” and Luis is “light”. The same principle could be applied to the name given to the standing Stones in Carnac in Brittany (France), in Egypt, etc. It is curious to look into the territorial correlations of these monuments too, as some of them were built in approximately equal latitudinal distances from each other. For example, the latitude difference between Carahunge and Stonehenge is about +10°, between Carahunge and the Great Pyramid is about –10°, between Carahunge and Kallanish as well as the oldest Egyptian observatory and Temple of the Principal God RA (AR), near present Assuan, is ±16°.