Dolmens are an integral part of the historical landscape of both Europe and other parts of the world. Until recently, the origin of dolmens did not worry humanity too much: ancient tales and legends about certain magical creatures, giants or dwarfs who created these megalithic monuments were enough. However, with the beginning of the scientific study of dolmens and other objects of primitive culture, the question of who built dolmens and how became relevant.
European invention?..
The systematic study of dolmens began in Europe only a hundred years ago, at the beginning of the 20th century. Before this, dolmens, like other megaliths, were either classified as natural rock formations or explained by all sorts of legends, semi-fantastic and fantastic. But after the emergence of scientific interest in these ancient monuments and on the basis of the materials of the first archaeological research, dolmens began to be considered as one of the evidence of the antiquity of European civilization.
Initially, dolmens were associated with the northern peoples of Europe, the Celts and the Germans, since most of the structures were discovered in the corresponding regions (Britain, Northern France, Germany, Scandinavia). However, then the dolmens of Southern and Eastern Europe and the North Caucasus became widely known. This led to the conclusion that dolmens were a common characteristic feature of the tribes living throughout Europe several thousand years BC. Thus, the idea arose that dolmens in particular and megalithic structures in general are a specific cultural and religious sign of “Europeans”. That is, the question of the origin of dolmens was resolved in favor of the European version.
A worldwide phenomenon?..
But the fact soon became obvious that the European theory of the origin of dolmens was too arrogant. It turned out that dolmens are present not only in Europe, but also in North Africa, the Middle East and even on the Korean Peninsula. The approximate time of construction of these monuments varies significantly - from five to six thousand years in the case of dolmens of the Middle East to two to three thousand years in relation to the megaliths of Korea.
Proponents of the European theory of the origin of dolmens are trying to use this fact to suggest that this type of ancient buildings spread over such a large area precisely from the Old World. However, at present, the theory of the Indian homeland of dolmen culture is considered the most promising. During excavations, ancient dolmens were discovered 
on the Hindustan Peninsula. Based on some signs, experts put forward cautious assumptions that the type of these dolmens is more archaic even in comparison with the most ancient dolmens in Europe.
A hypothesis has emerged that dolmens, having emerged as a type of ritual monument in India, subsequently spread to the West in two “streams.” The southern direction affected the Middle East, North Africa, the islands of the Mediterranean Sea and Southern Europe. The northern direction of distribution of dolmens included Central Asia, the Caucasus, Eastern and Northern Europe. Naturally, theories were also born about the direct connection of dolmens with the Indo-Europeans, but the wide geographical distribution of dolmens right up to Korea does not yet allow these versions to be confirmed.
There is nothing magical about building dolmens
Another problem, which is actively discussed primarily by non-professional history buffs, is the “human component” of the question of the origin of dolmens. Who and how built the dolmens is what supporters of non-academic versions of history most often ask about. And they themselves, without taking into account the arguments of historians, answer that there is no rational explanation. Allegedly, dressed in skins, armed only with clubs and stones and having neither writing, nor scientific knowledge, nor technical devices, primitive people could not build dolmens. Since this required moving multi-ton stones over considerable distances, they often had to be further processed and then raised to a height of several meters. And this was absolutely impossible, say enthusiasts, unless some supernatural forces or the help of mysterious powerful civilizations (terrestrial or extraterrestrial) were involved.
In fact, science already knows several plausible, and often proven, options for constructing dolmens under conditions of 5-6 thousand years ago. The most common method of building dolmens was probably the following. A mound was first created, into which vertical stones (one or more) were dug. Then a stone was dragged along the slope of this embankment, which served as a vertical partition, and laid on pillar stones. After this, the mound was gradually dismantled and a finished structure, a dolmen, remained.
Alexander Babitsky
What do historians say about dolmens? With this question, we turned to ancient history, captured in the sailing directions of ancient Greek sailors. And this is what we dug up in them.
A long time ago, the land in these places was covered with thick fogs. High bare rocks interspersed with deep crevices. Plumes of smoke and gas burst out from the underground depths. The earth was breathing. At the foot of the rocks the waves of a deep salt lake splashed.
Small, angry pygmies came here from the cold valley in search of warmth. During the day they climbed high mountains, and at night they climbed into deep caves. It was warm underground there, and most importantly, hot golden rivers flowed. Bird eggs could be boiled in molten gold and eaten on them.
Life in the underground delayed the development of this people. They were small, black, cruel and very bloodthirsty. This people had a hard life. One day they saw white giants. They were kind and hardworking creatures. They were constantly building something. They looked at the little pygmies, how they shivered from the cold in the cold, how the hot sun scorched them, and took pity on them. The giants built huge stone houses and allowed the dwarfs to live in them. The houses were so large that the dwarfs could not even get into them. Then the giants taught the dwarfs to tame hares. The dwarfs sat on the hares and forced them to jump into the houses through a small hole.
This is the only information about dolmens that comes from time immemorial. They cast a magical fog over strange structures, through which it is almost impossible to see either time, much less the builders themselves. Who were these mysterious giants - the builders of dolmens?
Gradually the lake rose and turned into a huge sea. It connected with the Mediterranean Bosporus Strait. The highly developed civilization of the ancient Greeks set out to find new lands.
For a long time, the ships of the Argonauts, the first navigators, crashed on the wandering rocks of Plankta, which were located at the exit from the Bosporus to the Black Sea. One day, a wise captain took a soothsayer named Phineus on his ship. He sent a dove ahead of the ship. The bird flew between the rocks. They dispersed, stopped in place and never closed again.
Since then, the history of the Black Sea coast began to be written. “A disastrous place, completely covered with fog. Huge black birds are found here - griffins, capable of pecking at a person; Amazon women who kill any man who sets foot on the shore; barbarian tribes live in the rocks. They sacrifice any stranger to their gods or eat them, and the skulls serve as cups for them,” this is how the civilized Greeks described the Black Sea coast. “A place near the underworld,” they said.
However, despite all the difficulties, ancient researchers discovered that in those places where high rocks were not yet covered with vegetation, frozen rivers of real gold could be seen right in the crevices. The gold rush filled the sails of the desperate Greeks. The Odyssey describes the extraordinary dangers that accompany sailors. Cyclops, sorcerers, sea passions - all this was here, on the shores of the Black, inhospitable Sea.
We had to fight with local tribes - pygmies, who desperately defended their possessions. After all, golden rivers are the only source of heat in the deep underground; it was the source of their life. The Greeks called the pygmies “Keepers of Gold.”
The territory from Sochi to Novorossiysk was not conquered for a long time. It was an ominous place; it brought only death and misfortune.
Gradually the rocks became covered with sand, earth and vegetation. The golden rivers have cooled down. And the pygmies disappeared into oblivion. Maybe they live somewhere deep underground and guard their wealth, or maybe they have learned to survive on the surface of the earth. Greek written sources tell us that for a long time wild tribes of barbarians lived here, first cannibals, then sea pirates, and later slave traders. They worshiped their gods by sacrificing people. Highly developed peoples did not like these places.
Hordes of Scythians wandered past, entered into battles with barbarians, but no one managed to penetrate the terrible, hermitic world of savages.
The bloodthirsty spirit of the ancient tribes disappeared and scattered across the earth and left behind strange monuments.
Not a single ancient Greek written source, replete with fantastic details about the Black Sea coast, talks about dolmens. As if there were no stone structures here before and during the Greek colonization.
Scientists believe that the construction of dolmens took place in the era from 2400 to 1300 BC. e. in the Bronze Age. In those days, the Zigs, Achaeans, and Geniokhs emerged. These warlike tribes, following their more ancient ancestors, engaged in piracy. They captured people and turned them into slaves. Later the Geniokhs became slave traders. On the sea coast Tuapse For a long time there was one of the largest slave markets. In the 4th century BC. e. one of the kings of Bosporus, Eumenes, entered into a war with the Heniochs and cleared the sea of pirates.
The name “dolmen” itself comes from the Celtic words tol - table, men - stone: stone table. In northern European countries, having massive ceilings, they resemble huge tables. Already by the middle of the 19th century, in scientific works the word “dolmen” was assigned to the ancient buildings of the Western Caucasus, while the local population still continues to call them differently. Among the Adygeis and Abkhazians these are “ispun” and “spyun” (houses of dwarfs, caves), among the Mingrelians - “keunezh” (houses of giants), the Cossack population calls them “heroic huts”.
The moment of discovery and the first mention of dolmens in scientific sources belongs to an academician (Imperial Academy of Sciences) Peter Simon Pallas. When he first saw dolmens, he compared these structures to tombs, without yet thinking about their true purpose. This was in 1794.
Traveling along the Taman Peninsula, at dusk he saw stone buildings that looked similar to tombs and described them. Other explorations were made in 1818 by Tebout de Marigny in the area of the Pshada River. Pshad dolmens were also described James Bell. After these studies, all sorts of speculations and theories were born.
Interest in dolmens increased every year. These shrines seem to fascinate a person, and their unusual shape forces them to constantly unravel the mysterious affiliation.
Systematization of the dolmens of the Caucasus was carried out L. I. Lavrov. His work indicates 1139 buildings (1960). 
From 1967 to 1976, the Institute of Archeology of the USSR Academy of Sciences created a special detachment to study dolmens under the leadership of Vladimir Ivanovich Markovin. A huge number of buildings were explored. In carefully recorded documents, there are 2308 dolmens. Markovin shares his impressions “... when the dolmens began to line up before my eyes not as light houses of cards, but as massive stacks of slabs and stones, towering above my personal dimensions, then even at night, alone with my thoughts, I could not get away from the impression of their stunning grandeur. Their silent combination with the huge trees and majestic mountain distances seemed eerie.
No traces have been found showing the prehistory of the emergence, development and complication of the design features of megaliths. Dolmens remain one of the most mysterious types of archaeological sites, as scientists note. The enormous range of their distribution in time and space makes it difficult to reconstruct a complete picture.
At the moment, the hypothesis that dolmens are ancient Adyghe burials has been rejected, otherwise they would not have existed, for example, in India. The theory of funerary tombs for leaders or priests has undergone serious criticism, since not enough material evidence has been found.
We have to believe that the principle and form of dolmens were given by someone once and for all. There are dolmens in some places all over the world. They maintain basic size relationships, despite the fact that they are located very far from each other.
It was assumed that the dolmens were built in 2 - 3 thousand BC. e. in the Bronze Age as tombs for noble and important people. However, no sufficient evidence has been found that the dolmens were truly stone burials. Skeletons of people were found in some dolmens, but they were either in a sitting or crouched position. This suggests that people could be hiding in a dolmen from serious danger and suddenly die. In others, dismembered and neatly arranged human bones were found. Perhaps they were carefully placed by the surviving tribesmen after a massacre or an epidemic of disease.
After the formation of the Center, a group of our researchers collected considerable material from personal intuitive research and testimonies of local residents who experienced the influence of dolmens.
Very interesting conclusions were made, confirming the initial presence of serious scientific and technical knowledge among the dolmen builders.
Dolmens capture waves and atmospheric vibrations, amplify them and distribute them into the surrounding space in such a way that the human brain is able to distinguish the sent information. Well versed in the technical intricacies of stone tools, ancient people used dolmens for various purposes. For example, by placing a dolmen with a hole in a valley, river or simply a body of water, they forced it to influence the enemy’s psyche, causing mortal horror, anxiety and a desire to move away from the strange place as quickly as possible. This arrangement of dolmens is just as dangerous now.
Ukrainian scientists have done very serious research on dolmens Furduy And Shvaidak. It is known that dolmens were built exclusively from quartz- and granite-containing rocks (granitoids, sandstones). Quartz SiO2 generates electric current and maintains constant oscillations (frequency stabilization). This property is used in radio engineering. When exposed to electric current, quartz crystals generate ultrasound. When mechanically deformed, quartz is capable of generating radio waves.
There are large, medium and smaller dolmens. The resonant frequency of such cameras is 23, 16 and 35 Hz.
Such frequencies are located at the lower threshold of human audibility, adjacent to the infrasound range. Such acoustic vibrations have an adverse effect. For example, ultrasound from 15 to 40 Hz causes the sensation of “gimlets” drilling into the skin. A powerful ultrasound beam on the brain of animals causes physical depression and turns off the irradiated areas of the brain.
Exposure of the human brain to low-frequency vibrations with a frequency of 13–25 Hz leads to resonance of various internal organs. Exposure to a frequency of 25 Hz for 30 minutes causes an epileptic seizure.
The resonant frequency of most Caucasian dolmens is close to this value. It is also known that exposure to low-frequency vibrations close to the natural frequencies of human organs, in particular the heart (6 – 12 Hz) can be harmful and even fatal.
It is assumed that dolmens were at one time a multifunctional tool. They not only generated ultrasound, but also emitted it directionally in the form of a beam (spotlight effect), as evidenced by the design features of the dolmens. They are a bell that expands in the direction from the back wall to the front. An important element in the design of dolmens is the hole in their front wall - the “manhole”. It is located on the center line of the front wall at a certain height from the floor. The hole diameter is most often 40 cm.
The holes in the dolmens were closed with special stone bushings - plugs. Their shape is similar to ultrasonic emitters used in modern technology to focus ultrasonic flow.
A dolmen installed in some strategically important place (gorge, pass) as a combat installation and “launched” at the right frequency at the right moment did not allow enemies to pass, causing them the feeling of “drilling gimlets”, or even loss of consciousness and death .
In France, women specially spent nights at megaliths in order to recover from infertility, beg for a happy marriage, and so on. On the back wall of one of the French dolmens there is a relief in the form of a stylized human figure consisting of parallel lines. Some of these lines resemble human acupuncture lines known to acupuncturists. But most of the lines go far beyond the contours of a person’s body and rather resemble the lines of his aura. The heart and lower part of the spine, that is, the energetically most important organs, are especially highlighted in the relief. The drawing is drawn upside down.
Dolmens were used for psychogenic effects on humans. By tuning the dolmen to a certain frequency, it was possible to ensure that a person (priest) entered a special state of trance and began to utter prophecies, just as the ancient Greek oracles or Eskimo shamans did.
It is believed that the dolmens were used for technological purposes, for example, for ultrasonic welding of jewelry, in particular, Celtic and Scythian jewelry, made, as experts suspect, using a completely incomprehensible technology for attaching small parts to a base, reminiscent of high-frequency or ultrasonic welding.
Western Caucasian dolmens, as suggested by Furdui and Shvaidak, were installed in seismically dangerous areas, along zones of active geological faults. As we already know, these scientists were almost at the truth, they approached the innermost secret of dolmens and went further, revealing another of their important functions - signaling an approaching earthquake. It is known that before a strong earthquake, stresses in rock blocks increase and small tremors occur. The dolmen could pick up this sound and began to “buzz”, warning the priest and the population about upcoming events.
Studies have shown that dolmens in the North Caucasus generally have an adverse effect on humans. Their vibrations have a destructive effect on the psyche and body, so it is necessary to communicate with them with extreme caution.
Dolmens were built all over the world: from Japan to the Iberian Peninsula, from India to the Caucasus and from North Africa to the northern regions of Western Europe. Similar monuments are known in South America - Peru, Bolivia. In Western Europe - in England, France, Germany. On the islands of the Mediterranean Sea - Corsica, Sardinia, the Balearic Islands, Malta and the island of Mallorca. They were found in England (the famous Stonehenge), in France, in Germany, in Spain, even in Africa. The shape of dolmens is different. These are simple high-standing stones, pointed upward in the shape of a pencil (menhirs), and two high-standing stones with a crossbar on top.
On the small Pacific island of Malekula, part of the New Hebrides archipelago, a few decades ago local residents erected dolmens and menhirs, reminiscent of those that were built all over the world millennia ago. These dolmens were shrines for all the islanders. It was believed that the leader of a secret religious union on the island on certain days listened here to the voice of the spirit of the great ancestors and asked him for advice. At certain times of the day, the stone megalith emits a strong ultrasonic sound, drowning out the squeaks of bats.
Before sunrise, the stone monument emits ultrasonic pulses that die down shortly after sunrise. Ultrasonic radiation is most intense and lasting during the equinoxes, and minimal during the solstices. Individual stones that make up the structure have different sound cycles.
Many Caucasian scientists tried to clarify the question of the origin of local dolmens. However, among the antiquities of the Kuban River basin and the Black Sea region, including Abkhazia, such monuments have not yet been found that would be structurally close to them and at the same time precede them. We can talk about large structures such as stone boxes. This is what archaeologists call the lining of a grave pit when all its sides are closed with flagstone placed on edge. However, in the delineated territory, such burials are unknown for the first half of the 3rd millennium BC, and only from them could dolmen buildings appear through transformation - complication of the “box” structures. Not immediately, but the idea arose that dolmens were brought to the Caucasus from outside. But from where? It is clear that not from the mountains, since it has long been noted that dolmens not only in the Caucasus, but throughout the world are confined to coastal parts. There are, however, private opinions, as expressed by Jacques de Morgan: “... one does not at all need to be influenced by distant centers in order to erect large stones and cover them with a roof.” Alas, he is wrong, he did not want to see the grooves, heel stones and everything that makes the dolmens of the Western Caucasus and some other countries the forerunners of high architecture.
They also thought that the dolmens of the Caucasus arose from grottoes and caves, as imitations of them. And this disappears, although it was supported by such Caucasian experts as D.N. Anuchin and M.M. Ivashchenko. Then why do trough-shaped buildings, which are really close in shape to grottoes, have a portal (facade) and on it, knocked out of solid stone, they imitate protruding side slabs, a heel support, or simply a niche in front of the manhole? After all, this is a complete imitation of dolmens made of slabs, when it is quite natural that long side walls and protruding ceilings form a portal in front of the hole. No, the “cave theory” is clearly not suitable for Western Caucasian dolmens; it does not explain anything.
So it's the sea again. The “idea” of such a structure as a dolmen could only come from the sea. B. A. Kuftin and L. I. Lavrov thought so. The latter generally thought that the “ideas” of dolmens were widespread, and there could even be an “ethnic (blood) relationship” between their builders. Putting all the dolmens of the world, including the Far East, in an unbroken line, he believed that such buildings appeared “with the development of trade and military navigation among the coastal peoples in the Neolithic and Bronze Age,” when Caucasians could see dolmens in other countries and begin to build them at home .
L.N. Solovyov, the same archaeologist with whom I consulted on how to dig ancient buildings, imagined that dolmens in the Caucasus first appeared in Abkhazia (“southern dolmen culture”), then spread more widely, and all this happened under the influence of the “Kashki” - the Asia Minor, rather mobile population, known from cuneiform sources. But there is a problem here - “kashki” dolmens were not built, and they have not been found in Asia Minor.
Almost every theory has its supporters, including L.N. Solovyov.
So, the situation with the origin is very complicated. With the beginning of our expeditionary work and the appearance of the first publications, the matter became even more complicated. The relative similarity of the vessels of the late stage of the Maikop culture, found in the dolmens of the village of Novosvobodnaya, with the ceramics of the Western European culture of “globular amphorae” led to another opinion: the dolmens of the Western Caucasus are the result of the invasion of the East by the bearers of this culture. This opinion is supported more than others by V. A. Safronov and N. A. Nikolaeva. We will not delve into its rationale and criticism. Firstly, the territory of the culture with “amphoras” did not go so deep - to the Caucasus. Secondly, the materials found in the tombs of Novosvobodnaya are not typical for dolmens, they were brought into them, and why they ended up in them is still unknown, this still needs to be sorted out. And if we are talking about comparing antiquities, then it should go along the line of the cult of “spherical amphoras” - the Maykop culture, and dolmens only sideways entered this route.
Until now, no one has ever compared the dolmens of the world with each other, walking between them with a tape measure, a compass and at least a mining shovel as an entrenching tool; this would take the life of any long-term researcher.
Publications of world monuments that interest us can be found in magazines and books, but they are all written with a different approach, from different scientific positions, and ancient buildings are depicted in different drawing styles and examined under different critical eyes - so figure out for yourself what is important in these ruins, and what is secondary. I tried to do this kind of office work by covering my desk with books and even piled them on the floor. I will not repeat here what is typical for dolmens in a particular country. This has already been done. The closest features to Western Caucasian dolmens, it seems to me, can be found in ancient buildings of the Iberian Peninsula (Portugal, Spain), Corsica and the nearest islands of the Mediterranean, North Africa, Palestine. The dolmens on the territory of prehistoric Thrace (Lalapasha) are especially similar. They have attached portal slabs and, perhaps, the same proportions. A theory involuntarily arose that buildings close to the Caucasian dolmens are located along sea currents, and they in the Mediterranean Sea go from Gibraltar along the northern coast of Africa and turn into the Black Sea counterclockwise, washing first the Caucasian coast and then its opposite side. And everywhere, except for Asia Minor, along the currents there are dolmens, to one degree or another similar to those in the Caucasus. Sea currents are strong, and their currents could help the movement of ancient ships. Looking through the literature on the history of shipbuilding, one can find information about sea voyages that took place in the 3rd-2nd millennia BC not only on multi-oared ships, but also on ships equipped with sails. Drawings of such ships are known on vessels, stone reliefs, signets, even models of them have been found (Anatolia, Crete, Cyclades Islands, Egypt). So, ships were already being built in such ancient times as the time of the appearance of the first dolmen buildings in the Caucasus, and they could sail along the coast, taking advantage of not only fair winds, but also currents. And of course, the dolmen builders, setting off on their voyage, did not even know that the Caucasus existed somewhere; they accidentally landed on its shores and settled here. Speaking about migration (resettlement) to the Caucasus, I wrote in 1974: “One can only assume that the sea voyages were not simultaneous, they were carried out from different territories, but the most ancient dolmen monuments of the Caucasus find analogies in the western part of the Iberian Peninsula (modern Portugal) and on the island of Sardinia." It seemed to me that a random visit to the Caucasus was then replaced by repeated visits.
In my opinion, this hypothesis explains the appearance of dolmens in the Caucasus, overgrown with associated pictures: the advance of builders from the coast into the depths of the mountains, the emergence of their connections - military and more peaceful - with the tribes of the Maykop culture already living on the occupied lands, etc. In all details migrations were difficult to understand right away, but I proceeded from a dry and businesslike premise - the “idea” of dolmens could not penetrate the Caucasus without the people who saw and built them. They brought it.
Further developments concerned the mechanics of migration itself. How could they pass, what was their reason, the role of sea routes in this process, could migrations be spontaneous?
In October 1979, an international symposium entitled “Trakia - Pontica I” was held in the small Bulgarian town of Sozopol. Already deep autumn has touched this fertile land. The Black Sea was raging, and in unison with it, rain clouds came in gusts. Representatives of fourteen European countries met in a cozy hall, sitting at a large table decorated with flowers. The prim coldness of the first day was then replaced by a friendly atmosphere, and the reports were lively, giving way to excursions and conversations in the park. Three speeches were dedicated to dolmens - by P. Delev, I. Vankov and mine. The first two speakers spoke about the study of Bulgarian megaliths, and I, having introduced the audience to the architecture and contents of our Caucasian dolmens, focused most of all on the doubts that arise in connection with the hypothesis of the migration of their first builders to the Caucasus from foreign countries. Indeed, the briefly recounted thoughts about the origin of dolmens are far from a final opinion. A lot of unknowns. The study of migration processes of the recent past, caused by economic factors (primarily population growth with lagging economic growth), when people, in search of their daily bread, are forced to look for new habitats where they could put their hands and energy, shows the complexity of such “outflows” population. It is primarily the strong, middle-aged male population that takes part in migrations. The appearance of not always welcome newcomers in new places leads to military skirmishes and struggles with the population that has been living here for a long time. To this we must add the need to adapt to a new climate and food for migrants, to overcome diseases unknown to them, etc. And only with the second, third wave of migration did older people and women usually arrive in new places. The winners in such a complex process as migration were the strongest - it could be the more ancient local population or aliens: after all, the combat was not for life, but for death. Often the defeated population “dissolved” among the victors. This was the case during the Spanish Conquest in Central America, during the Arab conquests or during the Crusades. All this also takes place in modern migration processes, but in a more relaxed, ennobled form, unless they turn into open war, when the surplus population in the form of mercenary troops seeks to seize foreign territories. There are many examples of this.
The report in Sozopol caused noisy debate. Probably, not everyone agreed with his provisions, although no one denied the possible connections of the ancient buildings of the Caucasus with the Mediterranean megaliths as their fundamental basis. There is another line of connections between the Caucasus and the Pyrenees, which confirms this opinion. I mean the Basques. This people, who now live mainly in Spain and in the adjacent southern regions of France, are quite close in language and culture to the Caucasian peoples. Another famous scientist of the 19th century, P.K. Uslar, noting linguistic features, could not say anything about the origin of this people, finding it mysterious and lost “in the darkness of centuries.” Archaeologists (P. Bosch-Gimpera and others) attribute to him a special Basque-Catalan megalithic culture, among the monuments of which there are trapezoidal dolmens. Modern linguists trace a chain of languages related to Basque and Caucasian, leading it from Spain to the Caucasus itself. Academician N. Ya. Marr, for example, got carried away and outlined the routes along which the Basques (Japhetids) could penetrate into the Caucasus. It turned out that in their movement they could use both land routes, overcoming small spaces of water, and sea routes. Their route went along the islands and peninsulas of the Mediterranean Sea, through Asia Minor and along the Black Sea coast.
As we see, the dispute about the origin of the dolmens of the Western Caucasus leads into the world of linguistics, complex grammatical and phonetic comparisons, again associated with migrations. The sound of the sea still sounds in all purely theoretical and somewhat abstract constructions, destroying the fragile partitions between the past and the noisily pulsating present with stormy blows...
The small, hospitable Sozopol and the fabulously beautiful island city of Nessebar were left behind, and the dolmen problem is increasingly surrounded by shells of speculation, theories and opinions.
Archaeologists almost always set themselves the task of connecting certain antiquities with some ethnic group, that is, they strive to trace whether it is possible to compare them with the culture of any particular people. B. A. Kuftin, for example, using “semantic bundles”, was ready to consider dolmens to be the product of many living and dead peoples. He mentions the Ligurs, Cimmerians, Pelasgians, Etruscans, and along with them the Chans, Circassians, and Dagestanis. Another researcher of dolmens, L.I. Lavrov, an excellent linguist, ethnographer and archaeologist, associated the culture of dolmens only with the ancestors of the Abkhaz-Adygs. The same opinion was expressed by L.N. Solovyov and Sh.D. Inal-Ipa. In contrast to them, Ya. A. Fedorov believed that only the ancestors of the Abkhazians could have left the dolmens. It seems to me most correct to attribute their construction to the ancient Abkhaz-Adyghe population, especially since the division of their common proto-language could have occurred, judging by the research of linguists, at a later time, when dolmens were no longer erected. There is one more interesting fact here. The Basque language, when compared with the languages of the peoples of the Caucasus, is closest to the population of the Black Sea regions, and with distance to Checheno-Ingushetia and Dagestan it finds fewer and fewer parallels. Thus, the Proto-Basques, like the Proto-Adygs, could well have had contacts.
However, Professor Otar Mikhailovich Japaridze believes it is possible to connect the culture of dolmens with the ancestors of the Georgians (Kartvelian tribes). Without opposing his opinion, I would like to note that the third change of the burial rite, when, along with sessile bones, traces of secondary burials begin to appear in them, that is, heaps of bones without any anatomical order, may be an indicator of the appearance of the ancestors of the Kartvelian population on the territory of the dolmens. Usually such burials are accompanied by things of the Protocol Khid culture, which are not described in this book, since most likely at that time they had already stopped building dolmens, but were only used for inlet burials. It seems to me that it is precisely such finds that can be linked to ancient Georgian culture. But this opinion is cursory; it still requires more complete argumentation.
There are other views. Thus, some archaeologists are ready to declare any building even remotely similar to a dolmen a megalith, regardless of the nature of the masonry, the manner of processing the stones, etc. They look for dolmens in the mountains of Ossetia, Checheno-Ingushetia and Dagestan, forgetting about their connection with a certain ethnic group, and if not an ethnic group (let it be so), then even distracting from the inventory that is characteristic only of them and described here, which leads to confusion of the very concept of dolmens and interferes with the already complex understanding of these already mysterious buildings.
Probably, scientists will be interested in dolmens for many years to come, giving rise to new opinions about the culture of the population that left them, their way of life and beliefs. Perhaps the time will come when scientists with drawings in their hands will be able to personally compare all the megaliths of the world with each other, regardless of the difficulties of long journeys and language barriers. A dream... Any dream sometimes comes true.
A short story about dolmens has been completed. It may not have fully satisfied the curiosity of many readers. After all, it contains more assumptions than answers to questions. It's like that. Science does not stand in one place, it develops and expands the horizons it sees from day to day. What now causes us bewilderment, in ten years, you see, will be easily deciphered and understood. There are already forecasts that the age of ceramics will soon be determined, there is hope that the degree of destruction of the rock along the weathering crust will also provide material for dating, and the expeditions themselves will be organized with the involvement of various specialists, whose efforts will be reduced to solving a common problem - a full-fledged understanding a particular monument. Such expeditions are already starting to work.
The dolmens of the Western Caucasus are still waiting for a new galaxy of researchers, but I would like them to master the technique of drawing and sketching - that depth of fixation of material that preserves a crumbling monument for centuries. And dolmens are becoming more and more rare every day. The dolmens of the Kozhzhokh group have been gone for a long time; the buildings of the Deguak glade have begun to be demolished. Dolmens disappear for various reasons - because of their own antiquity (the natural time limit allotted for their durability has been exhausted), ignorance and selfishness of people (they break them into stone), because of the need to free up the areas they occupy.
Modern legislation “On the protection and use of historical and cultural monuments,” adopted in our country on October 29, 1976, requires respectful and careful treatment of them.
Probably, compliance with the articles of this law is mandatory not only for special persons, but also for all people, regardless of their profession, the degree of knowledge of national history and the breadth of their horizons. The entire local population should be involved in the protection of dolmens, at least remembering that their design, contents and even location on the ground contain answers to many historical questions that are important on an international scale. And if this book has aroused at least a little interest in dolmens, then we can assume that they will be preserved, and that means that my work was also not useless.
Brunov Viktor Viktorovich, Vologda.
In 2009 and 2010, scientific studies of these two megaliths were carried out using IGA-1 devices and the dowsing method.
2009-Brunov V.V. About the energy-informational impact on people of sanctuaries located near Sochi. Conf. Torsion fields. M. 2009. p.652-667.+
2010-Brunov V.V. Kravchenko Yu.P., Brunova N.P. New discoveries of Sochi dolmens // University science for the region: 8th All-Russian scientific and practical conference. T.1. Vologda: VoSTU, 2010. p.378-381.
Zelentsov Sergey Nikolaevich. Ph.D., Vologda.
Most of the seids had no effect on the frames, but seids around which moss and bushes do not grow gave a strong counterclockwise rotation of the frame (?!), in addition, the same rotation was recorded in photographs of cracks in the rocks.
You can often find deep cracks in rocks filled with stones. The work of researchers with dowsing frames shows that the stones covering the cracks in this case block the strongest energy flow emanating from them. Also noteworthy is the reaction of the frames to the white stones, which were often placed in prominent places. The frames showed that the white stones “neutralized” with their placement certain natural forces that caused a strong negative rotation of the frames.
Kudin Mikhail Ivanovich(1965-), local historian, senior researcher ARGI, Sochi.
The movements of the pendulum were recorded in the areas of the portal protrusions of the dolmens, in the area of the hole or fictitious plug, in the rear part of the monuments in the places of the protrusions of the side slabs. For the most part, it turned out that in the places of the portal protrusions, as well as in the areas of the protrusions of the side slabs in the rear part of the dolmen, the pendulum makes circular movements (both right- and left-handed). In the area of the hole or fictitious plug, the pendulum makes oscillatory movements along the main axis of the structure.
2010-Kondryakov N.V. Secrets of Sochi dolmens. Maykop, 2010.
Kuznetsov Nikolay, geophysicist, Abakan.
Geopathogenic zones are areas of the earth's surface that emit a flow of energy hitherto unknown to science. As a rule, the width of these zones is insignificant and varies between 10-50 meters, and the length is many hundreds of meters, and in some cases kilometers. Based on the shape and strength of the impact of these fields on the biolocator, we divided geopathogenic zones into two types:
1-high-frequency (negative), when the vector of the measured field is directed “fan-shaped” (in these places there is an “imbalance” of the human biofield, which ultimately leads to pathology),
2-low-frequency (positive), where the sinusoidal shape of the dowsing effect curves appears, while the direction of the vector of the measured field in one part of the anomaly is fixed strictly vertically downward, in the other - upward. In these places, the human biofield is aligned, which contributes to its healing.
2010-Kuznetsov N. The mystery of the menhirs of Khakassia.
Sochevanov Valery Nikolaevich, Saint Petersburg.
Explored Bolshoi Zayatsky (Solovetsky archipelago). Research methods:
Dowsing survey of objects (V.N. Sochevanov),
Dowsing diagnostics of people (V.N. Sochevanov),
Determination of changes in the functional activity of the cardiovascular system,
Changing the circulation of energy along energy channels (scanning).
Dowsing diagnostics of people revealed a positive effect of the labyrinth on the psychological, emotional and physical state of the body. The harmonization of the chakras was recorded. There is a 2-3 times activation of the upper chakras in men, and the lower chakras in women.
2003-Kodola Oleg Evgenievich. Sochevanov Valery Nikolaevich. The path of the labyrinth. St. Petersburg 2003. 174 pp.++ The book presents the results of research of 2002-2003 on the island
Stonehenge.
Egyptian pyramids.
Myths and reality.
Origin and purpose.
Design differences.
Material used.
Builders of dolmens.
Ornaments and paints.
Finds in dolmens.
DOLMENS
In the territory Kr Asnodar region There are thousands of monuments scattered around, which in terms of historical and cultural significance are on a par with the famous Stonehenge and are the same age Egyptian pyramids.
This dolmens. For 200 years now, historians and archaeologists, anthropologists and linguists have been struggling with the mystery of the origin of dolmens, trying to penetrate behind the dense “curtain” of thousands of years in order to plunge into the everyday life of those distant times. There are many obstacles in the way of their research, the main one being time.
Gradually, thanks to the scrupulous work of scientists, the darkness of the past is dissipating, revealing an amazing period of world history. Just as archaeologists extract ancient artifacts from the ground bit by bit, the daily life of the ancient builders, their technical capabilities and scientific knowledge, beliefs and customs is revealed to us step by step.
Dolmen s. Pshada.
Myths about dolmens and the history of their study
Dolmen of Mount Nexis.
Scientific name "dolmens" Caucasian monuments have received since their discovery (at the beginning of the 18th century). Since then, it has become entrenched in the scientific literature. The first who paid attention to these structures were foreigners, more precisely, European travelers who, by chance, found themselves on Caucasus , namely in the area Gelendzhik . IN 1818 year Frenchman, Tetbou de Marigny explored a group of dolmens on Pshada River . A decade later, they were described in his diary by an English ethnographer (part-time spy, resident of English intelligence) James Bell . In the 30s of the 19th century, our dolmens attracted the attention of the Swiss, Dubois de Montperet , who in the middle of the century published his research, thus opening the Caucasian monuments to European science and determining their place among megaliths Europe. IN Russia they begin to be studied much later, only in the 70s of the 19th century.
A wide variety of fictions and legends have long been around these ancient structures. For example, according to the legends of the local population (Adygs) , once lived here giants sledges and dwarfs , weak and helpless. Out of pity for this lowly people, sled they erected impregnable, fortress-like houses for them from huge stone slabs, leaving in the front part only a small passage in the form of an opening through which only a very small person could pass. That's why Circassians and called them "sssypp-una" , that is "dwarf houses" . Having moved to Kuban Cossacks , shocked by the monumental buildings, they believed that only heroes could create them, and accordingly gave them the name "heroic huts" . All these legends arose several centuries ago. The 20th century brought even more fantastic speculation about the origin, age and purpose of dolmens. An excess of enthusiasm, mixed with mysticism and superstition, gave rise to the most incredible assumptions about dolmens as ultrasonic weapons of the ancients, platforms for take-off and landing of UFOs, or primitive computers created hundreds of thousands of years ago.
Time of occurrence and purpose
In fact, the first megalithic monuments appear at the end of the 6th century. BC. (about 7.5 thousand years ago). First of all, they began to be built in France . Here on Western Caucasus , the first dolmens were erected at the end of the 4th century BC. This is around 3400 BC. (plus or minus 50-70 years). From this time on, in For almost 2 thousand years, amazing tombs “grew” along the slopes and saddles of mountains, in river valleys, reliably guarding the ashes of the ancient inhabitants of these places.
No matter how romantic and attractive the myths that have developed around these grandiose buildings, research by scientists gives us a completely clear answer to the question of the functions and purpose of these monuments. First of all, dolmens served as tombs. However, due to the religious beliefs of those distant times, they were also used as places of worship.
Dolmen s. Pshada.
Dolmen r. Pshada.
Dolmen of the river valley Zhane.
Dolmen s. Pshada.
Design Features
Dolmen of the river valley Zhane.
Dolmen of Mount Nexis.
Sometimes in the twilight of the Caucasian mountain forests you can see lonely monuments; more often you come across small ones dolmen groups , but there are necropolises , consisting of several hundred tombs. Despite the external similarity, as if the architects were making copies from one sample, they have many options: composed of huge slabs, round, half or entirely hollowed out in a piece of rock, with walls made of small blocks, etc.
To make the building more durable, the side slabs were supported untreated stone blocks (buttresses) , and an embankment was made on top of the entire structure, which left only the facade slab open, with the hole closed stone plug .
In front of the dolmen paved area (yard) , rectangular, square or round, sometimes fenced off with walls of small blocks. Some tombs have a courtyard that covers an area of hundreds of meters. Often the dolmen was surrounded cromlech (a ring of stones around the entire structure). Its function is simple - to keep the embankment and yard from destruction. All slabs and dolmen blocks were individually adjusted and fastened together using grooves . But perhaps the most surprising thing is that some buildings have the most real, storm drainage . Thus, the ancient builders provided everything to protect their creations from the negative effects of natural elements.
Construction Materials
Material for construction was taken from quarries , located, as a rule, somewhere nearby. Distances were not such a difficult problem for Bronze Age builders. In practice it turned out that blocks within 20-30 tons are amenable to human power: processing and moving . In fact, the most difficult thing is not to transport, but cut off a slab or block of the required size . A very simple but effective method was used for this. Shallow oval notches were made on the workpiece. Then they took bronze tape 2 times longer than the depth of the notches, folded in half and placed the fold in the hole and carefully hammered a wooden or metal wedge between the walls (strips) of the tape, alternately in each of the notches . Gradually the stone cracked exactly along the line marked by the notches. And thus, blocks of the required size were obtained.
Construction process
Blanks for blocks and wood dragging transported to the site of future construction. Here the stone was subjected to final processing. They did this using bronze And stone tools . If you look closely, on the surface of the carefully hewn slabs you can see traces of the work of ancient masters. Long, narrow notches abandoned bronze tool , A "pockmarks" (round) stone (with a sledgehammer or a stone chipper).
The process of collecting dolmen was labor-intensive. First, the side walls were laid and installed, then the embankment , which left only the facade open, and along this embankment with the help of levers, ropes and the draft force of the oxen was pulled along the logs and the ceiling was installed . After that, all other details were completed. All this dry masonry , without using any fastening solution, and all cavities were filled with fine crushed stone .
During construction they used measures of length , such as elbow, palm etc., and also construction module , whom he most likely served hole diameter in the front wall. As surprising as it may seem, but dolmen builders not only that were familiar with actual temple or cult funerary architecture , but also had quite deep mathematical knowledge . Indeed, to create such a design, complex mathematical calculations are required, especially for round dolmens . They are composed of small blocks arranged in several tiers, tapering from the base and forming a kind of false arch . Every block in such a building represents circle segment . The length of these segments needed to be calculated so that in the end, during assembly, the result is exactly what was intended. And the thought involuntarily arises whether we have the right to consider ancient peoples primitive, standing at a lower level of development than you and I.
Dolmen of the river valley Pshada.
Builders of dolmens. Who are they?
For a long time, there have been endless discussions and debates on this matter. Some scientists believe that the tradition of building such tombs was brought by settlers from Asia Minor , others tend to think that this idea came from countries Mediterranean , still others believe that it is the indigenous people of these places . AND the last theory is the most convincing . Judging by the remains found, these were people of average height and graceful build , in appearance, probably similar to Circassians . In the scientific world the name has been assigned to them "tribes of dolmen culture" .
We are separated by 5 thousand years, and now it is difficult to restore in the smallest detail the life and spiritual culture of these peoples, but we still know something about them.
TO III century BC. (i.e., by the time the tombs were built) people learned the properties of metals and learned to smelt tools from copper and bronze. This gave them a significant advantage: for example, a copper ax turned out to be 3 times more effective than a stone one, the productivity of a copper knife was 6-7 times higher than that of a stone one, most noticeably revealed advantage of copper when drilling (20 times faster) . However, stone tools continued to be used at this time.
The main occupations of the population were cattle breeding And agriculture , and with technological progress, new professions appeared among local residents: foundries, blacksmiths, jewelers, gunsmiths .
Despite such impressive tombs, the dwellings of the dolmen culture tribes were made of adobe, so they were not preserved. In general, very few settlements of that era are known, about 10, and only 5 have been explored. Apparently, for the ancient builders it was much more important to create "eternal" burial structure than to build a comfortable home. Why is that? What is this connected with?
Let's imagine that distant time. Several disparate tribes coexist in a small territory. They were not always peaceful towards each other. Frequent skirmishes, wars for the right to exist and live in that territory forced us to look for a way to somehow establish ourselves in the land of our ancestors. . The land with its rich natural resources was the most valuable, it was valued above human life . How could this or that people prove that this is the land of their ancestors? Exactly funerary monuments , who have become family crypts and served as such evidence. According to the plans of the ancient builders dolmens were supposed to claim ownership of the land forever . Society has always had a complex structure, and most likely dolmens and dolmen complexes did not belong to ordinary citizens . If these were medieval monuments, they could be called "princely" . But for the Bronze Age it is not yet known which term to apply in this case. These are family crypts .
Perhaps separate types of dolmens corresponded to certain strata of society ( leaders, priests, elders and so on.). Or maybe different structures were built different tribes . All this remains a mystery for now.
All dolmens face down the slope . But there are times when they stand on the top of a ridge, for example on grief Nexis (near Gelendzhik ). And here it is not clear why they are facing exactly that direction and not the other? Is it related to the rising or setting of the sun, the location of the planets and stars? The orientation could be astronomical, but it could also depend on the relief . Both of these claims have not been proven. There is only one known case where a dolmen is oriented toward sunset, marked by a stone (obelisk) - this is a dolmen in the area of the village of Novosvobodnaya. The top of the stone was decorated concentric circles , which in many ancient cultures symbolized the sun . Now this obelisk is kept in Maykop Museum .
Religion of the Ancient Builders
Attempts to look back into the depths of thousands of years and determine the religious beliefs of ancient builders lead the views of scientists to the ornaments carved on dolmen slabs. Simple drawings in stone lead us to the origins of religion . Plunging into the mysterious world of paganism. The most common ornaments are in the form diverging circles, repeating zigzags and triangles .
WITH funerary cult many peoples are connected various symbols . One of these symbols snake . It was believed that she was a mysterious creature connecting this world with the otherworldly, the earthly with the underground. And the snake plot was often repeated in the Bronze Age. In ancient times, a snake was depicted in a zigzag pattern. . On one of the dolmens on Mount Nexis zigzags topped with small snake heads . When the dolmens near the village were explored Novosvobodnaya, we discovered that two of them had painted ornaments on the walls inside the chamber red ocher even before the entire structure is assembled. It can be assumed, that the dolmen building, tightly closed with a stone plug, was a receptacle for deceased ancestors who could influence future prosperity and fertility. These are not just funerary monuments, they are also cultic. Why? For the same reason we are now visiting cemeteries - commemorating relatives, cult of ancestors . The dead were always respected and feared; they believed that they could mystically interfere in the affairs of the living, which is why they performed this cult.
Dolmen of the river valley Zhane.
Dolmen of the river valley Zhane.
During the archaeological survey of the valley Zhane River an amazing discovery was made - block-altar (altar), which is currently stored in the Gelendzhik Museum of History and Local Lore . Apparently, he stood in the top row of walls enclosing the dolmen courtyard (he has groove ). Perhaps it adjoined directly to the dolmen. Its exact location has not yet been determined. This altar is a unique thing. He once again makes us understand that in those distant times, here, in front of the dolmens, some complex rituals unknown to us were performed. What spells did the sullen tombs hear, whose blood sprinkled the stone altars, to which gods did the exalted priests offer prayers? ? The ancient tombs will never reveal this secret. We will also not know who accompanied the deceased on their final journey. What is known for certain is that the roof of the dolmen was never moved during the funeral procession . It was always blocked by an embankment. The deceased was brought inside the cell through a hole in the front slab , which then, after performing the accompanying rituals and funeral feast, was tightly closed cork .
Dolmen of the river valley Pshada.
Dolmen of the river valley Pshada.
What do archaeologists find in dolmens?
Dolmen of the river valley Pshada.
Unfortunately, many of these monuments were robbed in ancient times. But some scientists were lucky and managed to pull out traffic jam dolmens were the first, after the last person put it in place thousands of years ago, burying relatives. And the remains of these people (how they lie, what things are next to them) prove that this crypt . Sometimes there are several buried there (usually 2-3 people, sometimes, as in the dolmens of Abkhazia, up to 15). There are 2 types of burials:
— crouched when the skeleton lies on its side with its knees tucked to its chest;
— plastic bag (bag) with bones, sometimes embroidered beads . The skull, long bones, and sometimes the bones of the chest and pelvis were placed in such a bag. This phenomenon is known for the Bronze Age - ritual procedures were very complex.
Often at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. crouched position of the buried perceived as sedentary . Some bones are sprinkled red ocher And coal . In many ancient cultures, ocher was a symbol of blood, life in the other world . This means that the dolmen builders believed that death is just a transition to another life , where a person will need things that he used in earthly life. Therefore, next to the burial - personal belongings of the deceased (weapons, decorations etc.) and parting food (usually in clay vessels). Traditional weapon set – bronze spear And dagger .
To confirm that this is not only funerary monuments , but also cult , archaeologists find traces of funeral feasts that took place on the sites in front of the dolmens - these are ceramic dishes, animal bones and knives.
Happens, at the entrance to the dolmen is stacked with fossils (shellfish, etc.) selected from the river. Rarely do you come across images of animals . For example, one dolmen has about villages Novosvobodnaya 2 bronze s were found silver figurines dogs (one - how Laika , the other is similar to fox ), and at the other dolmen - with an obelisk, partially damaged bull figure . For some unknown reason, approximately in the first halfII century BC. construction of dolmens stopped . But the buildings of the Bronze Age were not forgotten. For a long time they were used for burials and funeral feasts by tribes of later times ( Meotians, Adygs ).
Modern archaeological research
For the last few years, two expeditions have been working in the Gelendzhik area. One of them is under the leadership candidate of historical sciences B.V. Meleshko , — has been conducting excavations for three seasons in a row dolmens Nazarova Gap near resort village Arkhipo-Osipovka . This expedition operates within the framework Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAN, Moscow) . And its goal is not only to excavate a specific monument, but also searching and mapping new dolmen locations . Now on Caucasus About 3 thousand dolmens are known. But their true number should be about 3 times larger (i.e. about 10 thousand).
The second expedition operates from Institute of the History of Material Culture (RAS, St. Petersburg) V valley of the Zhane river . Leads it Candidate of Historical Sciences V.A. Trifonov . The expedition's work is being carried out from 1997 of the year. Together with archaeologists from St. Petersburg and Moscow, specialists from the USA, Italy, Australia, and Denmark took part in it, so it may well be called International . As a result of completing the planned work, it is expected return the Zhane River valley complex to a look as close as possible to the original, including dolmens, mound structures and interstitial structures. mound space. And create natural archaeological reserve , and within its limits – archaeological park . A similar technique is known in the West as reconstructive . This is the first time such work has been carried out in our country. Also in 2001 year Presidential Fund , who allocated funds to continue research, directly called this project a project of national importance .
Dolmen of the river valley Pshada.
Due to the similarities between dolmens and widely known megaliths Europe and Asia, Caucasian monuments remain the focus of attention in world prehistoric archaeology. But so far, as a result of the research, scientists have more questions than answers. Between us and Bronze Age tomb builders millennia of history have passed. Probability of ever being fully solved the secret of the dolmens- is insignificant, but for those who are bewitched by the harsh beauty of these historical monuments and the amazing atmosphere of the surrounding landscape, this no longer matters.
