Zorats Karer

Armenia, Armenia

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Zorats Karer (also spelled Zorats Qarer) is a prehistoric megalithic site near the town of Sisian in the Syunik Province of southern Armenia, frequently called Armenia’s “Stonehenge” and sometimes also known as Karahunj or Carahunge.

The monument sits on a rocky plateau about 1,770 meters above sea level in the gorge of the Dar River, a tributary of the Vorotan, and covers more than seven hectares. It consists of about 220–223 large basalt stones (menghirs) standing vertically, many up to 2.8 meters high and around 10 tons in weight, with about 80 of them having circular holes or “spy-holes” drilled near the top.

The name Zorats Karer translates roughly to “Army of Stones” or “Worrier Stones,” while Karahunj is interpreted as “speaking stones,” because wind blowing through the holes creates whistling sounds on the site. Archaeologists from Germany have uncovered large Bronze Age and Iron Age tombs beneath the stones and have argued that the complex was mainly a necropolis and possibly a place of refuge, while Armenian and Russian researchers, including archaeo-astronomer Pavel Herouni, have proposed that it functioned as a temple and an advanced astronomical observatory dedicated to the sun-god Ari, with some calculations placing its origin around 7,500 years ago, roughly 3,500 years before Stonehenge.