TIRINKATAR, ARMENIA—Zartonk Media reports that an international team of researchers conducted a comprehensive study of Armenia’s “dragon stones” that has finally cracked the mystery surrounding these enigmatic ancient stone steles. Known as vishaps after the Armenia word for dragon, the monoliths can stand 18 feet high. They were typically decorated with animal imagery often depicting fish, and were erected in high altitude summer pastures. Archaeologists have been unsure exactly when or why they were created. Led by Vahe Gurzadyan and Arsen Bobokhyan of Yerevan State University, the team analyzed 115 known vishaps and determined they were often located near springs, streams, and irrigation systems. This led them to conclude that they must have been associated with ancient water cults and rituals that celebrated water as a life-sustaining force. Frequently clustered at high altitudes, specifically at either 6,200 or 8,800 feet above sea level, the monoliths were likely placed symbolically near sources of the snowmelt that provided water for agricultural communities in the valleys below. In the past, it had been difficult to determine exactly how old these monuments were, but new radiocarbon dating from vishaps at the site of Tirinkatar on Mount Aragats revealed that they were placed there between 4200 and 4000 b.c. According to the researchers, the monolithic stone sculptures were part of a complex sacred topography that offers a better global understanding of high-altitude ritual landscapes. Read the original scholarly article about this research in npj Heritage Science. To read about excavations of the country's earliest known church, go to "Around the World: Armenia."
