archaicwonder:Carahunge, The Armenian StonehengeCarahunge (aka Zorats Karer, Karahunj, Quarahunj, Ca
archaicwonder:Carahunge, The Armenian StonehengeCarahunge (aka Zorats Karer, Karahunj, Quarahunj, Carenish or Armenian Stonehenge) is a prehistoric archaeological necropolis near the town of Sisian in the Syunik Province of Armenia that dates from the Middle Bronze Age to the Iron Age.The name Carahunge is derived from two Armenian words: car (or kar) (Armenian: քար), meaning ‘stone’, and hunge or hoonch (Armenian: հունչ), meaning ‘sound’. Thus the name Carahunge means ‘Speaking Stones’. This interpretation is related to the fact that the stones make whistling sounds on a windy day, presumably because of multiple reach-through holes bored under different angles into the stones in prehistoric times. About 80 of the stones feature a circular hole, although only 37 of the stones, with 47 holes, are still standing. They have been of interest to Russian and Armenian archaeoastronomers who have suggested that the standing stones could have been used for astronomical observation.The site is rich with stone circles, burial cists and standing stones (menhirs). There are a total of 223 basalt stones. Their heights measured from above the ground range from 1.6 to 9.8 feet (0.5 to 3 m) and they weigh up to 10 tons. -- source link