In 277 km from the city of Murmansk, not far from the small town of Kandalaksha, there is a certain labyrinth, whose age is close to the mark of four thousand years. Most scientists assume 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 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 stone labyrinth "Babylon", which is a large system of intricate passages, laid out exclusively of stone - it was in these places that ancient people performed their magic rituals. 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 labyrinth passages. It is known that many primitive peoples had this kind of labyrinths. In all the available labyrinths, there are intricate and intricate passages, which are laid out in a special way of 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 an actually fantastic hypothesis about the purpose of these buildings. There are scholars-researchers 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 communication with each other, even despite the great 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 theories presented to date has found accurate confirmation, because in the soil under the spirals it was not possible to find any traces of burials, 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 is not at all possible.
All the tribes living near the labyrinth, whose name sounds like the Pomors, called the spirals made up of medium-sized stones "Babylon". In this case, it is worth considering: 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" in translation into Russian sounds like "wavy, winding", and this option is considered the most obvious, but still not the only and confirmed. There is another version, according to which it is believed that the word "Babylon" is a somewhat distorted word "Avalon", which translated from the Celtic language means "the place where fairies live." If we translate the word "Avalon" into Russian, then it means "apple", which is somewhat comparable with the shape inherent in "Babylon", reminiscent of an apple cut along the length.
There is a legend that says that only a select few can get to the labyrinth, but in fact it is not very easy to get to the labyrinth, because it is not so close to the city of Murmansk, especially for people who are not familiar with this area to find the right place it will be very difficult, because many simply do not notice it.
To date, it has been precisely found 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 the Seids - sacred stones in which sacred and respected spirits live. It is known that Seid always demanded respect for himself, and for his respectful attitude he always rewarded a rich catch on 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 Sopka, three kilometers from the main road of Kandalaksha. All the secrets of the mysterious "Babylon" have not yet been clarified, which means that new excavations will follow.
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‘The Mostishchenskoye settlement and the“ sanctuary ”labyrinth is located in the Lukodonye valley of the Ostrogozhsky district of the Voronezh region, on the right bank of the Potudan river. The area of the Mostishchensky settlement is 2.3 hectares. During excavations there were found the remains of defensive fortifications of the Scythian time on two capes. Here, on two capes, the remains of defensive fortifications (fortifications) of the Scythian time were found - Mostishchenskoye settlement and Averinskoye settlement, which appeared in the Middle Don in the 6th century. BC NS.
Mostischenskoe settlement is small in size, archaeologists have identified only the remains of six residential buildings. The buildings of the Yurt type 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 pole pits in the center. In one of them, traces of a hearth were found, and some woolen fibers were found on the floor of the yurt. Archaeologists managed to identify the entrance to the building, 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 Gorodishche Rossoshki 1 "Kruttsy". But at the Mostishchenskoye settlement, residents did not use the central, almost flat part of the settlement for construction. It looks like the inhabitants were "confused" by the remains of the stone calculations of an older labyrinth, or perhaps they guarded the labyrinth with them ?! Obviously, the very choice of places for the construction of dwellings was subordinate and similar to the security functions of the settlement. Around the central part of the settlement (including the ancient labyrinth), household pits were found, there are more than 60 of them, half of them are grain. By all indications, the pits were not used simultaneously (taking into account two periods in the life of the settlement), like the dwellings themselves. Judging by the size of the dwellings, each of them could accommodate from 4 to 8 people, 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 in the area of the Mostishchensky settlement, which included five burials: three adults, a teenager and a baby. From the funeral things, an iron akinak and a bone amulet were found. The burials are made on an ancient horizon and are littered with stones.
It is most likely to assume that the inhabitants of the Mostishchenskoye settlement carried out here mainly a guard service. In this case, the settlement could belong to the representatives of the authorities - the leaders of the tribes or the priests. Perhaps the inhabitants of the settlement were also dependent people: fellow tribesmen of the lower class, maybe slaves. Public meetings were held here, and judging by the size of the external from the dwellings outside the settlement (to the south), the remnants of fires (fires - hearths), some kind of festivities, rituals of sacrifices or other ceremonies; Residents from nearby settlements could have sheltered here in case of danger. As for the defensive fortifications, they were probably built by 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 did not manage to repulse the unexpected attack of the nomadic Scythians, who literally sprinkled the settlement with arrows from their bows, during the attack changed the way of life in the settlement and from which both old and young suffered. Residents should have expected new raids, and another wealth must be urgently saved - the grain placed in the pits. The survivors had to both bury the dead and take out the grain unnoticed. Naturally, they did not have time to dig graves and observe funeral ceremonies. Thus, the most probable reason for the people leaving the settlement is the complications caused by the military situation.
Along with the finds common for the Scythian time, fragments of vessels of the Ivanobugorsk type and the catacomb culture were revealed. On the upper platform of the cape against the background of the mainland, the ruins of ring masonry are prominently protruding. The masonry has survived 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 bridges. Both the rings and the lintels are composed of stones laid out without any special fit and without any adhesive solution. Their maximum height in ancient times did not exceed half a meter; the larger diameter of the outer ring along the west-east line reaches 40 meters. That is, only the ruins of a structure have come down to us, which in its original form was architecturally complex and systemic, which leaves no doubt: these are the remnants of a "megalithic" cult structure. It can be called a sanctuary - a labyrinth. http://vk.cc/4ecyuO
In 277 km from the city of Murmansk, not far from the small town of Kandalaksha, there is a certain labyrinth, whose age is close to the mark of four thousand years. Most scientists assume 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 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 stone labyrinth "Babylon", which is a large system of intricate passages, laid out exclusively of stone - it was in these places that ancient people performed their magic rituals. 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 labyrinth passages. It is known that many primitive peoples had this kind of labyrinths. In all the available labyrinths, there are intricate and intricate passages, which are laid out in a special way of 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 an actually fantastic hypothesis about the purpose of these buildings. There are scholars-researchers 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 communication with each other, even despite the great 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 theories presented to date has found accurate confirmation, because in the soil under the spirals it was not possible to find any traces of burials, 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 is not at all possible.
All the tribes living near the labyrinth, whose name sounds like the Pomors, called the spirals made up of medium-sized stones "Babylon". In this case, it is worth considering: 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" in translation into Russian sounds like "wavy, winding", and this option is considered the most obvious, but still not the only and confirmed. There is another version, according to which it is believed that the word "Babylon" is a somewhat distorted word "Avalon", which translated from the Celtic language means "the place where fairies live." If we translate the word "Avalon" into Russian, then it means "apple", which is somewhat comparable with the shape inherent in "Babylon", reminiscent of an apple cut along the length.
There is a legend that says that only a select few can get to the labyrinth, but in fact it is not very easy to get to the labyrinth, because it is not so close to the city of Murmansk, especially for people who are not familiar with this area to find the right place it will be very difficult, because many simply do not notice it.
To date, it has been precisely found 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 the Seids - sacred stones in which sacred and respected spirits live. It is known that Seid always demanded respect for himself, and for his respectful attitude he always rewarded a rich catch on 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 Sopka, three kilometers from the main road of Kandalaksha. All the secrets of the mysterious "Babylon" have not yet been clarified, which means that new excavations will follow.
About the fact that in the Voronezh region there is a stone labyrinth built at the turn of the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC (!!!), I read on the local forum in winter and, of course, noted this circumstance in Plans.txt. Little by little, I gathered the necessary minimum of information to try to find him, and waited only for the necessary coincidence of circumstances to immediately rush in search of him.
And so, on May 9, 2010, when the entire public, including the legion of LiveJournal photographers, who later flooded my tape with dismal pictures from military parades, bled and shoved on the main city streets, my eternal partner in all sorts of adventures Lyokhoi decided, on the contrary, to leave. on this day somewhere far away, but better in the absolute wilderness. After purchasing food, we got out of the city on the old Lyokhina "five" and headed for.
01
... The Ostrogozh highway is obscenely picturesque, empty and almost not controlled by the valiant DPS. Every 5-10 km I had to fight the urge to stop and photograph something. But ahead, according to my forecasts, something absolutely outrageous awaited us, and therefore we flew to the intended target without stopping. Until we saw the horse.
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02
... So you go and get too lazy to follow the link above and see where exactly we met such a Zashibensky conic, and yet it can even be seen on Googlemaps (!). Therefore, here is another shoulder portrait for you. The model has a runny nose, don't pay attention.
03
... This, if you still did not follow the link, is the village of Devitsa. More precisely, its very outskirts.
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04
... Another aborigine, but still unknown to Google.
05
... There, behind the trees, there is a small river Potudan.
Its section from the village Soldatskoe to the confluence with the Don is called the tract "Mordva" and is considered one of the most beautiful places in the Don region.
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06
... The meadows are flooded, now and then we go around damp areas, but, in the end, we get in. I curse the hordes of man-eating mosquitoes and the rear-wheel drive in the AvtoVAZ version, but somehow I push the "five" out of the puddle. Ufff ....
07
... The farm Mostische, in the vicinity of which a stone labyrinth was discovered by archaeologists, is literally one and a half kilometers away. We decide to make our way further. Fighting off mosquitoes, I smacked in front of the car, choosing places on land. Suddenly, a whole field of bells formed around.
08
... It just so happened that before that I had seen the bells only in pictures, so their presence, of course, brightened up my navigator's share a little.
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09
... And here is another ambush. The bridge across the Potudan, marked in the navigator as active, in fact turned out to be in disrepair.
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10
... Local peasants who came to go fishing said that no one had been driving on it for a long time and that there was another road to the farm. I was categorically against and offered to return through the bells and swamps, but Lyokha still decides to cross the bridge. Below you can watch a short video of how it happened. Lyokha is on his way, I am in charge of the operation, the men are stupidly in shock. Miles sorry for the shaking (the camera just dangled around the neck), the trembling voice and the mate - it was really creepy that we would accidentally drown the car.
11
... In order to catch our breath a little and let the driller cool down, we wandered around the bridge. According to legend, Potudan was a border north of which the Tatars did not collect tribute. Hence the name, meaning that on the other side of the river it is necessary to bury blood.
12
... By the way, this river gave its name to Andrei Platonov's story "The Potudan River", which was later used for 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 "Lay of Igor's Campaign" and that it was the Potudan that was the ancient river Kayala. Why not believe it, I think, all the more there is such babble around.
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13
... Beaver traces.
Somehow in the fall I visited, those who wish can familiarize themselves.
14
... And now, finally, we enter the farm. It is almost entirely abandoned and, basically, consists of just such ancient abandoned huts.
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15
... Surprisingly, not only the plates with house numbers have survived ...
16
... ... But also with street names.
17
... There are newer houses, if at all 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 farm in search of a subject. I am misinterpreting the information I have about the labyrinth and confusing it with an abandoned vegetable garden. The fact is that after the excavations of archaeologists, the locals thought of taking away the ancient stones for their household needs. Scientists scratched their turnips and did not come up with anything better than to again fill up their find with a thick layer of soil.
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... There is a version that the labyrinth "works" to this day and is an active place of power and a harmonizer of the environment. There is a giant dill growing in the garden and they don't catch mobile phones, so for a while I'm sure that we are wandering right above the maze.
20
... Later it turns out that I jabbed my finger at the navigator too schematically and we wander around the garden, and the 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 go to the damp banks of the Potudan.
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22
... We understand that we were tupanuli, we begin to turn around and get in already to the fullest. It's not that there is a swamp around, but the bald rubber does not at all want to somehow adhere to the damp ground. I start to boil over, because it is no longer possible to push the car into one face, the branches do not help either, and now Lyokha starts to put shoes on the "five" in chains.
23
... He suggests to me to wait and see how playfully he will get out of the ambush as soon as he finishes his installation. I, having calmed down a little, begin to while away the time, photographing all kinds of hatchings. For example, 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 do not know. Like, the driver said that now everything will be in its best shape without any outside help. Fortunately for us, the man still has to gawk at the free circus, and Alexey gives gas, then gas, and then burns and the surrounding reality clouded with white smoke. When it dissipates, the man and I already see the "five" occupying a perimeter defense in a freshly dug trench. Alexei climbs out and says that he forgot to lower the handbrake. I say that he himself is this word and with tenfold this stressful situation forces and, of course, with the help of a man, I still push the "five" onto the dry soil. In the picture below, Lyokha is already washing his loins and miracle chains in the river. Left. Five meters.
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... Here, perhaps, it's time to make a lyrical digression and tell what kind of labyrinth it is. Discovered in the late 1980s. Similar stone structures are well known in England (Stonehenge rings, for example), Sweden, Denmark, the Mediterranean, as well as in the north of Russia, in Karelia and off the coast of the White Sea. All the more surprising is the presence of such a megalithic structure in central Russia. To date, this is the only such archaeological find 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 has no exact answer yet. And the uniqueness of the Mostishchensky labyrinth, it seems, generally plunged the scientists into a state of cognitive dissonance, and they prefer to mostly keep silent about even its existence. Below is a picture of what archaeologists have been able to unearth. I draw your attention to the fact that in some sources the farm is called M a sische, and the labyrinth, respectively, M a stischensky.
26
... And we continue our search.
The farm, as seen below, stretches between chalk headlands (mountains). We climb onto one of them.
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27
... To the right of this place, as I understand it (alas, already at home) is the Mostishchensky labyrinth. See the power line post? Somewhere out there.
28
... In wet weather, it is almost impossible to climb up in a car. Look at the angle of descent / ascent and what holes the rushing water is washing out. By the way, this is the other road to the Mostishche farm, which the fishermen told us about. If you continue to go along it, it will lead across the fields to the large village of Korotoyak.
29
... On a nearby hill, stone structures were also discovered, but not in the form of an ellipse, but rectangular. I repeat that I have compiled in my brains what I have read and seen already at home, and at that moment, climbing up and suddenly seeing a picturesque drive to a nearby hill, I concluded that the most interesting thing would be there, and we decide to return down the blurred road and try to climb there on an overgrown primer. By the way, this place is called Mount Gorodishche, because an ancient settlement was discovered on it, excuse the tautology. Naturally not as old as a labyrinth, but nevertheless.
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30
... We slide down (poor "five"!), Wind a little around the farm and crawl to the Gorodishche. According to the internal schedule, it is already long time for us to have lunch. Lyokha begins to prepare for the meal, and I suddenly find a pile of stones. Naturally, I begin to suspect the locals that they did find the labyrinth and dismantle it for their useless aboriginal needs, or even hack stones to the offices that trade landscape design.
31
... Suddenly, the sky darkens and it becomes obvious that rain is steadily approaching, or even a thunderstorm. Remembering the warning of the fishermen about the subsequent impassability of the descents and ascents, we quickly collect the decomposed manats, retreat in horror and rush without stopping to the nearest asphalt in the area of the aforementioned Korotoyak. We nervously have lunch in the car - the rain still starts. We decide to move towards our native land, but along the way, a panorama of wondrous beauty opens up to us. We stop. Somewhere to the left there was a farm called Mostishche. The photo shows that a steady rain is pouring there.
32
... Something whitens behind the tree and I slide along the wet grass closer to the cliff. This is a chalk cliff, slightly nibbled by the aborigines.
33
... A look along the riverbed of the Don in the direction of Mostishche.
Whisper - 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 transmission line is strainingly humming 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 altitude of 3.4 m above sea level, Umbinsky (large and small) - on Cape Anninsky Krest, 90 m west of the Udarnik river on 6.6 m above sea level and two Ponoisky labyrinths.
The study of these objects on the coasts of the White 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 (the line of the highest tide) and were never flooded by the sea.
Some labyrinths are located next to other archaeological sites (primitive sites, prehistoric burials), where quartz scrapers and scrapers, shale arrowheads, fragments of asbestos ceramics, rare fragments of vessels decorated with ornaments were found. The finds of these artifacts were associated with the so-called "culture of the Arctic Neolithic", which dates back to the V-I millennium BC. (Gurina, 1953), which allowed archaeologists to compare the age of the Kola labyrinths with the Neolithic era and estimate it at 3-4 thousand years.
So far there is no unambiguous answer to the question regarding the purpose of the stone labyrinths of the Kola region, but it is known that all of them are associated with the sea and are confined to places rich in fish. It is reliably known that the Kola labyrinths have never been filled with the sea. Based on this, it is possible to determine the maximum age of these archaeological objects, linking them with the position of the sea level at one time or another. A similar approach in assessing the age of the 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-postglacial movement of the coastline of the sea makes it possible to determine its altitude position on the coast at one time or another, that is, by geological methods to establish the age of the coastline at the altitude at which the labyrinth is located, as is the maximum possible age of the stone labyrinth (Kolka and Korsakova, 2010). For this, we used the data of studying the movement of the sea coastline in the Late Holocene at the top of the Kandalaksha Bay and in the area of the village. Lesozavodsky on its southern 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 the current sea level.
There are two ways to get to the maze:
By car - exit from the observation deck (the route is marked in red)
On foot - through the "Japan" microdistrict, thanks to which, you can see what Kandalaksha was like several centuries ago. And further along the rocky coast with beautiful views of the White Sea (route marked in yellow). ()
Prepared based on the materials of V.V. Kolka, O.P. Korsakova, S.B. Nikolaeva.
