YEREVAN (Armenpress) — Bnorran Historic-Cultural NGO and the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography (National Academy of Sciences) are teaming up to jointly study the mysterious Carahunge, the prehistoric archaeological site near the town of Sisian in the Syunik Province of Armenia. The two organizations signed an agreement to that end on July 30.
The two institutions have long had differences regarding the structure, and now they are joining forces to find out what Carahunge, also known as Zorats Karer, was: an ancient astronomical observatory or a settlement which has a mausoleum status.
Carahunge is often internationally referred to as the Armenian Stonehenge. The construction date of the structure is unknown — presumably sometime between the Middle Bronze Age and Iron Age, between 2000 and 1200 BC.
Bnorran Member of the Board Arevik Sargsyan said they believe Carahunge was an ancient astronomical observatory.
“We think Carahunge, where more than 200 stones are located, with 80 having holes in them, is an ancient astronomical observatory, which was studied by Paris Herouni, with other experts having made similar opinions before that,” she said, referring to the late physicist’s views who dated the megalithic structure to 5500 BC and argued that some of the stones mirror the brightest star of the Cygnus constellation, Deneb.
“According to another opinion, Carahunge isn’t an astronomical observatory. It is simply an ancient site, a settlement, which has a status of a mausoleum,” she said.
