Composition: Dolmens of the Krasnodar Territory. Only the ancient Adyghe legends about a dwarf people using hares for riding, which giants used to build houses from stones, have come down to us

Dolmen culture

The culture with burial structures in the form of dolmens was spread over a large area of ​​the Black Sea region - from the Taman Peninsula to the city of Ochamchiri and the Kuban River basin, occupying mainly mountain-forest areas. The oldest dolmens in the Western Caucasus appeared in the Early Bronze Age, between 2400-2100. BC. They are monumental (megalithic) buildings, built of stone slabs and blocks or carved into the rock mass. Dolmens served as tombs. Among the Adyghe and Abkhazians they are known under the name "ispun", "spyun" ("houses of dwarfs", "caves"), as well as "keunezh", "adamra" ("ancient burial houses"). More than 2,200 dolmens are now known in the Western Caucasus. The most common structures are of the slab type, less often monoliths carved into the rocks. They are equipped with round or arched holes through which the deceased was placed in the cells. The most ancient dolmens had no holes. The oldest dolmens contained from one to three deceased, laid crumpled and densely covered with red ocher (the Novoslobodskaya tanya, the Kizinka river basin). These were the burial places of tribal leaders. In the heyday of the dolmen culture (the first half of the 2nd millennium BC, mass graves in a sitting position appear. By this time there are huge accumulations of dolmens ("glades") with hundreds of buildings.

Archaeological finds from dolmens and individual settlements suggest the high culture of their builders. These were tribes engaged in agriculture and cattle breeding, and in the coastal zone - sea fishing; they perfectly mastered the skill of not only processing stone, but also metal; knew how to sculpt durable earthenware, sparingly decorated with ornaments.

Researchers believe that the shape of dolmens or their appearance in the Caucasus is explained by the distant maritime ties of the Caucasian peoples. Be that as it may, the Caucasian builders did not just borrow someone else's practice of erecting such buildings, but put their own ingenuity into it. The era of dolmens in the Northwestern Caucasus was a time when property inequality arose, and the clan was still a strong social organization, although it had already divided its once collective economy between individual families, when high level development reached the construction technique and the funeral cult spread.

Dolmen culture is usually associated with the most ancient Abkhaz-Adyghe ethnos.

Dolmens in the vicinity of Sochi are represented by tiled composite, monolithic, trough-shaped and well-shaped tombs. Let's consider each of these groups separately.

The first, the most common type, recorded at many points (Lazarevskoe, Krasnoaleksandrovskoe, Tsukvadzhe, Solokhaul, Medoveevka, Krasnaya Polyana), are dolmens that were built using four monolithic rectangular slabs forming walls, while the fifth slab served as a cover. In such tombs, there is often a stone floor formed by one or more slabs that underlie the front or back walls. The front wall was usually made higher and wider than the back one, due to which such a dolmen had a trapezoidal plan, and its roof had a slight backward slope. The side slabs and the roof, as a rule, protrude beyond the facade slab, forming a U-shaped portal, which was sometimes built up with additional slabs dug in close to the ends of the side walls. The latter usually protrude from behind. Outside, they were often propped up with additional, inclined, substituted pylon slabs. A round-shaped hole is in most cases located in the front wall of the dolmen; it was plugged with a massive stone plug. One of the dolmens on the Tsukvaje River also has a hole in the rear, smaller slab. The sizes of the considered dolmens are different. The height of the facade slab is 2-2.5 m, the length of the side walls is 3-4 m, the thickness of the slabs varies between 0.11 and 0.75 m.

In front of the dolmen, there was a platform that apparently served for certain ritual activities associated with the next burial, or commemoration of the dead. This site was sometimes surrounded by a fence made of slabs placed on the edge (Lazarevskoe). Some dolmens are hidden under kurgan-like embankments or surrounded by a double cromlech-like fence (Medoveevka).

Composite dolmens are distinguished by the fact that their walls were completely or partially folded in 2-3 tiers of carefully fitted slabs. One of these horseshoe-shaped dolmens (Lazarevskoye) had only the facade and cover slabs monolithic. Its side and rear walls were built of blocks, stacked in two tiers. The platform in front of the façade of this dolmen was surrounded by similar slabs placed on the edge in one tier.

A remarkable example of a dolmen-monolith is a tomb on the Godlik River southeast of Lazarevsky (Chemitokvadzhe). In a huge piece of sandstone rock at a height of 4 m, a flat area was cut. Above it hangs a façade wall decorated with a niche with a hole through which the main horseshoe-shaped chamber with a spherical ceiling is hollowed out. On the roof of this dolmen there is a round recess with a diameter and depth of up to 60 cm. There is only one convenient stepped approach to it from the platform in front of the facade along the end of the wall.

Trough-like dolmens were found in Krasnoaleksandrovsky, Solokhaul, in the upper reaches of the Laura River. The chamber of such structures is carved into a block of stone and covered from above with a separate slab. Their façades in design usually correspond to tiled tombs: portal ledges imitating the ends of the side walls, a platform in front of the façade, a hole plugged with a massive cork. Sometimes the dolmen chamber was also processed from the bottom side, in which case the tomb acquired a truly trough-like appearance. A number of such dolmens have a false facade: in addition to portal protrusions, there was also a false hole, as if plugged with a cork, while a real hole was made in the back or side walls (Thessaloniki, Solohaul).

About a dozen dolmen-like well-shaped tombs have been recorded in the Krasnaya Polyana area. All of them are stacked deep in the ground of untreated limestone in several tiers. Pebble powder is noted around, outside and on the floor.

In addition to the tombs themselves, the dolmen culture includes rock fragments found near the dolmens with pits, circles and other images of cult significance carved on them (Solohaul).

A special place is occupied by the Kudepsten "sacrificial" stone, known among the local population as the "Circassian" stone. This is a block of sandstone, in plan it has the shape of a triangle, each side of which is about 5 meters long. In its northeastern edge, there are two indentations in the form of seats. Behind the seats, on the upper plane of the stone, there are two parallel trough-shaped depressions up to 2 m long and up to 1 m wide.There are also four pits, a bowl-shaped depression up to 0.2 m in diameter.Next to the first block lies another of the same size. Cup-shaped depressions are also visible on its surface. In front of the boulders, the remains of a stone foundation were found from a building, which, judging by the nature of the fragments of ceramic products, belongs to the early Middle Ages. The mutual position of the blocks and the foundation suggests that at this time the blocks no longer played any role in the life of the local population. The nature of the stone processing, individual details of the design and the fact that the complex of blocks was independent of the foundation make it possible to attribute this monument not to the 16th-17th centuries, as it was believed until a certain time, but to the dolmen time, when these stones undoubtedly played the role of a sanctuary.

In dolmens excavated in the vicinity of Sochi, cylindrical cornelian and paste beads and imitating pendants made of young deer teeth, various ceramics, stone axes, and a bronze spearhead were found. The dolmen culture also includes a series of bronze items, mainly hatchets and adzes, kept in the Sochi Museum of Local Lore, as well as, possibly, a human head made of sandstone found in the vicinity of Adler.

The settlement of this time was recorded only in the upper cultural layers of the Big Vorontsovskaya cave. Stone, flint, ceramic and metal items were also found here. Flint tools are represented by scrapers, incisors, sickle inserts and pick-type hoes. Of the stone tools, wedge-shaped axes with drilled holes, bars and other products should be noted. Ceramic finds include flat-bottomed vessels adorned with richly cut ornamentation and a spindle. A bronze awl of a tetrahedral cross-section was also found here.

In the Middle Bronze Age, as before, the basis of farming of the local population was hoe farming, livestock raising, hunting, and various crafts designed to meet the needs of the community. Farming is illustrated by the finds of flint hoes and sickle inserts in the corresponding layers of the Bolshaya Vorontsovskaya Cave. A horse's jaw was found in front of the entrance to one of the dolmens in Solohaul. Among the crafts, it should be noted the manufacture of ceramics, spinning and weaving, processing of leather and bone, metallurgical production. The technique of stone processing has reached a particularly high level in connection with the construction of dolmens. It is necessary to dwell on this activity of the ancient settlers in more detail.

Large (tiled, composite, monolithic, trough-shaped, horseshoe-shaped) dolmens were built in advance: during their lifetime people prepared strong tombs for themselves and their descendants. For this purpose, not far from the settlement, they chose appropriate place... In a number of cases, the location of dolmens near springs was noted, and the dolmen on the Godlik River is located next to mineral spring... An indispensable condition for choosing a site for the tomb was, of course, the outcrops of sandstone and limestone. These rocks are usually deposited in layers, which to a certain extent facilitated the work in quarries. The slabs were probably broken out with the help of wooden pegs driven into holes, hollowed out along a contour drawn in advance on the surface of the rock. The pegs were poured with water: swelling, they broke off slabs of the required size. The slabs were roughly processed and thrown with the help of rollers, levers and ropes, a large number of people, and possibly also draft animals, to the installation site. Then both sides of the facade slab and the inner surface of the remaining slabs, as well as all the edges and corresponding grooves in the side and cover slabs, were carefully processed. The grooves are usually round or rectangular in cross-section. This processing was carried out using adze-shaped bronze tools with a rather narrow blade, small chips that left pits.

Slate tiles with traces of smoothing were also found near the dolmens, which are believed to have served for grinding the details of structures.

High art required the manufacture of cork, which was decorated with grooves, bulges and other elements. The calculation of the size and shape of the plates, holes, plugs was carried out in advance, which indicates certain mathematical knowledge: the concept of right angles, various dimensions of a square, a circle, etc.

The installation of the dolmen itself proceeded as follows. In the grooves of the floor or in the grooves specially dug for this in the soil, first, apparently, the front and rear, and then the side plates were installed. They were brought to a vertical position using wedges, levers and ropes and propped up from the outside with one or two plates on each side. The walls fixed in this position must have been covered from the outside to the very top with soil and stone. Then, most likely, a cover plate was pulled in along the rear slope of the embankment, which lay with grooves on the inner side on the upper ends of the walls specially hewn for this. In those cases when the dolmen had composite walls made of poorly fitted slabs or slabs not connected by a system of grooves, which did not allow it to stand without solid support from the outside, the embankment was left. This scheme for the construction of large slab and compound dolmens using earthen embankments can be controversial, since the embankment could be replaced by rolling logs or piling up stones. It is possible that some specific, so far difficult to reconstruct, a system of levers and blocks was used here.

The technique of processing monolith dolmens required knowledge of several other techniques associated with cutting down rooms in solid rock. Moreover, this work was complicated by the small size of the front opening through which the stone was taken out and the debris was taken out. The construction of trough-shaped tombs was an easier task, which boiled down to open gouging of the burial chamber and the manufacture of only one cover slab. During the construction of horseshoe-shaped dolmens, certain knowledge of the geometric properties of the circle and the accuracy of measuring work were required. It was necessary to make a series of arcuate blocks, and then combine them on site in two or three tiers. Well-shaped tombs were not at all a difficult technical problem. Here, both the need to move significant weights, except for the lid, and work with an adze have already disappeared.

The construction of large dolmens, even if it was assumed that those who built them could use all of the above tools and techniques, required the efforts of such a large team, which could only be a tribal community. At the same time, it should be thought that not all members of the genus were awarded burial in dolmens, but only individual individuals selected for some reason. Thus, we can conclude that the dolmen group is, apparently, a special ancestral cemetery, which served to a certain extent, judging by the sacrificial sites and other attributes (bowls, recesses, solar signs, etc.) simultaneously for periodic prayers. and played a role of some kind temple complex... The existence of such a complex system of religious beliefs makes it possible to assume that there is a rather influential priestly caste. At the same time, the extensive development of the mountain zone indicates the emergence of distant pasture yaylag cattle breeding, which could not but lead to an increase in the role of the latter in the life of dolmen builders. During this period, the foundations of patriarchal relations were formed, the tribal elite was formed: leaders, elders, priests, who somehow stood out against the background of ordinary communes.

No patterns reflecting the ritual character can be traced in the orientation of the dolmens. As a rule, it is directed down the slope with its facade. This is explained by the fact that the builders of the dolmens took into account the accumulation of soil near the walls, carried off the slope by precipitation, and tried to keep the approach to the hole open for as long as possible. However, in some cases (trough-shaped dolmens with a false portal), an opening was noted in the back or side walls facing up the slope. This can be explained by some reasons of a religious order, which forced to hide the real holes.

There are still discussions about the burial ceremony in dolmens. However, in its basic features, this rite is already manifested in the territory under consideration. First of all, it is necessary to pay attention to the fact that in most of the dolmens of the Sochi region, where the undisturbed layer has been preserved, the presence of only individual, mainly large human bones is noted. This phenomenon was traced in two tiled dolmens (Krasnaya Polyana), in a trough dolmen (Thessaloniki). The results of a study of one of the well-shaped tombs in Krasnaya Polyana are also indicative. Only large bones belonging to at least 6-7 individuals are noted here. At the same time, there were only three fragments of skulls, and in one of the vessels were the remains of a skull bearing traces of fire. The presence of cremation features in similar tombs of Krasnaya Polyana was noted earlier. In the same tomb, 16 very small and quite normal-sized vessels were found, which also indicates a large number of burials, most likely not performed simultaneously, but with some interruptions. At the same time, in two small well-shaped tombs of Krasnaya Polyana, single burials were noted, apparently, of women lying in a crumpled position on their side with their heads to the east and having one vessel-circle each.

A characteristic feature of the funeral cult of the builders of West Caucasian dolmens is the desire to isolate the interior of the dolmen from the outside world as tightly as possible. Amazing care in the mutual adjustment of the slabs did not allow the slightest crack. The diminutiveness of the ceramics found in dolmens was believed to be due to the fact that these dishes were intended not so much for the deceased as for his soul, which, according to the ideas of that time, was small. Probably, to a large extent, anxiety and fear forced the living to invent such a durable dwelling, designed for millennia for the souls of their relatives, forced to create conditions of complete tightness for their eternal reassurance. The fear of death, clothed in the form of fear of the spirit, the shadow of the deceased, characterizes a certain stage in the development of human consciousness.

Reconstruction of the funeral rite in the dolmens of the Sochi region can give the following picture. The deceased was left in sacred grove near the dolmen, where after a certain time, as a result of natural transformations, only large bones remained on the site. Then they proceeded to the main rite, in which, as one might assume, the main role belonged to the priest and his assistant.

The average size of dolmens is 2 meters wide, 2 meters high and 3 meters long. The hole diameter is about 40 cm. The weight of each slab is from 3 to 8 tons, the weight of the plug is about 100 kg. The word "DOLMEN" comes from the Breton (Kola) word, in which tol means table, and men means stone.

Adygs, for example, call them "ISPUI" - the house of a dwarf. Their legend says that giants and dwarfs lived in ancient times. The giants were big and often offended the dwarfs, and the dwarfs were small and cunning. Therefore, the dwarfs, with the help of cunning, forced the giants to build dolmens for themselves from huge slabs. They felt safe in these houses. The dwarfs rode on hares and jumped right on top of them through the hole in the front slab. Cossacks called dolmens heroic huts.

Archaeologists estimate the time of the beginning of the construction of some Caucasian dolmens as the end of the third millennium BC. This means. What dolmens ancient pyramids! They classify them as burial structures, because they find the remains of human burials in them. But neither the builders of the dolmens themselves, nor their other contemporaries left any records with the answers to our main questions.

Translated from Breton, "dolmen" means "stone table". The ancient structures, built of large stone slabs, outwardly really look like a table - two vertical slabs and one horizontal. But there are structures of five or six slabs, shaped like houses with a flat roof. The secret of construction and purpose has not yet been fully disclosed. In terms of age, many of them are much older than the pyramids.

These mysterious structures are found in different corners the globe- in Europe, America, Africa, India, Indonesia. It is surprising how people who have absolutely no connection with each other could build structures that are similar in appearance. There are many hypotheses regarding the purpose of dolmens, both scientific and mythological.

The most popular scientific theory has been put forward by archaeologists. They suggest that dolmens were intended for burial burials - like mounds or Egyptian pyramids. The remains present in some structures, as well as shards, ancient amulets and jewelry found nearby, serve as arguments. Opponents of this theory argue that burials are not found in all dolmens. In addition, when considering specific dolmens, it turns out that their age is much greater than the age of burial. These facts indicate that the dolmens were originally intended for other purposes.

Another popular hypothesis claims that the purpose of the dolmens was cult-religious. Its supporters explain the presence of a round hole in the vertical slab as the creation of a symbolic original gate in other world... As an argument, the fact is given that it is the image of the gate that is carved on some plates with holes. But if the purpose of the dolmens is religious, then why weren't sacrificial objects found nearby, there are no ancient settlements?

A lot of dolmens have been found in the Caucasus region, especially in Krasnodar Territory... Some of them are believed to be more than five thousand years old. Looking at dolmen map Black Sea coast, you can see that their largest concentration is located in the area of ​​Gelengik, Novorossiysk, Tuapse, Sukhumi. Researchers studying dolmens in the Gelendzhik area have put forward an interesting theory. They noticed that the dolmen model was similar to the “absolutely black body” model, and suggested that ancient structures were used as an information receiver and transmitter.

Quartz sandstone is the material from which dolmens Krasnodar Territory, widely used in radio engineering. It has the ability to generate electric current and emit waves when subjected to mechanical stress. Researchers believe that dolmens were used as a prototype of the Internet, only information was transmitted at the subconscious level - one person near the dolmen transmitted visual and mental images, another instantly received them near another dolmen.

Some guidebooks for the Krasnodar Territory provide interesting legend about giants and dwarfs. In ancient times, only two tribes lived in these parts - huge, stupid giants and small, but cunning dwarfs. The giants lived on good lands in the valley, while the dwarfs were forced to huddle in dark mountain caves. The dwarfs practicing witchcraft managed to get the giants to build comfortable stone houses from stones for themselves. Such dwellings served as reliable protection, because no one could get into the round small holes except the dwarfs themselves.

Long-term studies have not yet answered the question of why ancient people built dolmens, and this secret has yet to be discovered.

“One of the unique tourist attractions of our region are undoubtedly the dolmens,” writes a participant in our competition “I live here!” Candidate of Historical Sciences Alexander Saveliev... - These massive structures still excite archaeologists and historians with their mystery, and the mystical aura surrounding them attracts many ordinary mystery lovers. Modern science cannot confidently answer any of the main questions about dolmens - who, when and why built them? There are only many versions ... "

Did the giants build for the dwarfs?

One of the main mysteries of dolmens is their prevalence throughout Eurasia - they are found not only in our Krasnodar Territory, but also in the British Isles, the Near and Far East and the Iberian Peninsula. All dolmens have a similar design, and therefore were created by representatives of the same culture, but which one? There are different versions on this score.

The most ancient of them is the legend of the Circassians, who have lived near the dolmens for many centuries. According to this legend, they were built to shelter and protect the dwarfs (who were so small that they rode on hares) by the giants who took pity on them. That is why the Circassians call dolmens "ispun", which means "house of dwarfs" in translation. It is interesting that the Cossacks who arrived in the region called these structures, on the contrary, "heroic huts", since they believed that only very powerful people could build them.

Scientists believe that the dolmen culture originated in one place, and then spread widely. This is quite possible, because at the time of the construction of dolmens, some peoples already knew how to build many oars and sailing ships which allowed to perform long journeys... It is unlikely that it will be possible to trace the origin of this civilization, but it is assumed that the builders of dolmens could have come to the Caucasus from the Iberian Peninsula, since the Caucasian highlanders have a similar culture and language with the Basque people living now in Spain and southern France, and the ancestors of the Basques built dolmens , very similar to those on the Black Sea coast.

Bogatyr glade in Adygea. There are many dolmens on the territory of both the Krasnodar Territory and the neighboring region. Photo: AiF / Photo by Arthur Lautenschläger

It's like building an Egyptian pyramid

The word "dolmen" itself came from the Breton language and in translation means "stone table", although most of these structures are more like hives.

Dolmens can be of various sizes. For example, in the courtyard of the Tuapse Museum there is a dolmen only the size of a dog kennel, but most of these structures are huge in size. Some of their slabs weigh up to 40 tons, although stones weighing between 500 kg and 3 tons are common. In the Caucasus, dolmens were built from sandstone, thanks to the excellent construction qualities of which the durability of these structures was ensured.

In terms of the laboriousness of the erection, dolmens are quite consistent with the Egyptian pyramids, although much less. It is estimated that 150 people had to build a large dolmen within two years.

Tombs or Calendar?

The question of the purpose of dolmens remains open. The most common version that these are tombs is still questioned, because the actual burials in them are rarely found, and the objects accompanying the deceased belong to later times, so for burial they could simply use the long-standing structures.

Initially, the dolmens were most likely associated with the cult of the Sun, which can be judged both by the location of their facades and by the applied symbols. There is an opinion that the groups of dolmens located in a special way could serve as a kind of calendar, with the help of which the priests determined with great accuracy the coming of the new year, the time of sowing and harvesting, and kept the chronology.

There are no written sources informing about the construction of dolmens, there are only legends. Dolmens Photo: AiF / Photo by Alexey Gusev

On the territory of the Krasnodar Territory, accumulations of dolmens are located on the Black Sea coast (Gelendzhik, Tuapse, Lazarevskoye), in the valleys of the Belaya and Laba rivers, as well as on Mount Bogatyrka (village Novosvobodnaya).

Who did the Maykopites meet on the Black Sea coast? Who left behind one of the most remarkable in the entire Caucasus, Krasnodar Territory, one of the most mysterious ancient structures in the world - dolmens?

Maykop residents themselves could not do this. The development of their culture and beliefs could not lead to the emergence of such structures. Archaeologists have not found such monuments in the Caucasus at all that would be structurally close to dolmens and at the same time preceded them. Before setting out various hypotheses about the origin of dolmens and about the people who built them, it is necessary to talk about these structures themselves. Dolmens are usually referred to as megaliths ("big stones"). These are huge structures made of large blocks of wild or rough-cut stone, which are common throughout the world, except Australia, mainly in coastal areas. The word "dolmen" comes from the Breton language and means a stone table. But most of all, a dolmen looks like not a table, but a giant box or a beehive. The resemblance to a hive is reinforced by a round hole made in the front wall of the dolmen.

In the photo of dolmens in Gelendzhik, you can see their variety: some are made in a regular rectangular shape with a large entrance, others are more powerful buildings with a small round entrance, and still others look like pyramids.






















Anyone who has visited the dolms in the Gelendzhik region must have heard that in this mysterious place you can get new knowledge, is that so ?! - How to get knowledge, or rather information, or what is the technique for obtaining it next to megalithic structures?









Among the many secrets and artifacts left to us by the ancient antediluvian civilizations that existed on Mother Earth, dolmens stand out. A large number of these ancient structures are located on the territory of Russia, in the Krasnodar Territory.

• Megalithic structures

  Dolmens of the Krasnodar Territory come in a variety of sizes. There is a dolmen in the courtyard of the Tuapse Museum, which is comparable in size to a dog kennel, and only one slab of the Guzeripl giant dolmen measures 2.45 meters in length, 2.1 meters in height and 57 centimeters thick. A hole with a diameter of 48 centimeters was made in the stone and a stone plug is attached to it, which weighs about 100 kilograms.

  The weight of the slab itself is about 40 tons. This is only the facade, and there are also walls, a floor and a stone roof of similar dimensions. It is estimated that one large dolmen had to be built by 150 people within two years.
  The slabs of the Caucasian dolmens are composed of sandstone. This stone contains little clay, absorbs less water, and over time, its surface gets stronger. This is facilitated by the rays of the sun, which, as it were, melt individual grains of sand. Scientists divide dolmens into 4 groups: tiled, composite, trough-shaped, and monolithic. The most common, beautiful and most difficult to build are tiled dolmens. They are also the most ancient. There are also composite, trough-shaped and monolithic ones. The composite ones are composed of smaller slabs, the trough-like ones are hollowed out in the rock and closed on top with one slab, and the monolithic ones are completely carved into the rock.
  Looking at such Cyclopean buildings, one is imbued with deep respect for the people who built them. At their disposal were only bronze tools, rollers for transporting slabs, the simplest levers and blocks for installing huge stones. But dolmens are often located high in the mountains. The number of dolmens is also striking. So on the territory from to the city of Ochamchiri in Georgia, there are 2038. And these are only found and described buildings. If you try to evaluate the work that the ancient builders spent on the manufacture, transportation and installation of stone slabs, then it can only be compared with the work on the construction of the Egyptian pyramids. But the main mysteries of dolmens are not related to the technology of their construction.
  First, it is surprising that all dolmens appeared on Earth at about the same time. It is unclear what caused the people who inhabited the British Isles to Far East, Thrace, the Iberian Peninsula, at the same time begin to build similar buildings.
  Secondly, there is still no consensus about the purposes for which the dolmens were built. If we assume that dolmens are burial structures, then why are the archaeological finds during their excavations so scarce? Why do most of the finds in dolmens belong to later archaeological cultures?
  Thirdly, it is not clear why the most ancient dolmens are the most progressive in their construction. Why buildings architecturally degraded from tiled to monolithic, and did not evolve.
  The wide distribution of dolmens all over the world and their attraction to the shores of the seas and oceans makes one think that the "idea" of the dolmen was brought to the Caucasus from outside. But where did it come from? It is clear that not from the side of the mountains. Maybe the ancient Caucasians could see dolmens during their sea voyages, or the dolmen builders themselves sailed to the Black Sea coast about 5000 years ago?
  It is known that in the III-II millennium BC. people have made long sea ​​travel on multi-oared and sailing ships. The dolmen builders, setting out on a voyage, did not even know that the Caucasus existed somewhere, they accidentally landed on its shores and settled here. This hypothesis is supported by some facts. The closest features to Caucasian dolmens can be found in the ancient buildings of the Iberian Peninsula (Portugal, Spain), in Corsica and on the nearest Mediterranean islands, in North Africa, Palestine.
  Dolmens are especially similar in the territory of prehistoric Thrace (Lalapasha). All these places are located along sea ​​currents... They go from Gibraltar along the northern coast of Africa and turn into the Black Sea, washing first the Caucasus. Apparently, these currents brought the builders of dolmens to our shores.
  There is one more line of ties between the Caucasus and the Pyrenees, which confirms this hypothesis. We are talking about the Basques. They now live mainly in Spain and southern France. This people, both in language and culture, is quite close to the mountain peoples of the Caucasus. In addition, archaeologists attribute to the ancestors of the Basques a special Basque-Catalan megalithic culture, among the monuments of which there are dolmens similar to those of the Black Sea coast. So it can be assumed that the ancestors of the Basques built dolmens on the shores of the Black Sea.
  Further, the builders of dolmens began to develop the coast, move into the depths of the mountains, compete for territory with the tribes of the Maikop culture. These were strong men, warriors who were looking for a new place to live, a place in which they could apply their strength.
  The winner in the migration process is always the strongest. But often the winners then “dissolve” in the defeated population. The descendants of yesterday's enemies begin to live together, perceive each other's culture and already feel themselves as one people. So it is quite possible that the peoples who now inhabit the Western Caucasus and which are customary to be attributed to the Abkhaz-Adyghe ethnos (Abkhazians, Adygs, Shapsugs, Circassians, etc.), originate from the tribes of dolmen builders.
  This version is also confirmed by the degradation of the building chronology of dolmen builders, which has been observed for thousands of years. Indeed, if the early slab dolmens were built by the aliens themselves, then the subsequent composite, trough-shaped and monolithic ones are already their descendants, who did not cross the seas and who were closer to the caves and grottoes of the Caucasus, which found their expression in monolithic dolmens.
  If the migration hypothesis partially explains how dolmens could have arisen in the Caucasus, then it is more difficult to get an answer to the question about the purpose of construction. What all researchers agree with is that dolmens are structures associated with ritual actions. The orientation of the dolmens on the ground speaks of the worship of their builders to the sun. Most of the studied monuments face south. Part - to the southwest and southeast. However, if the dolmen stands in a highly shaded area among high mountains or in a dense forest, then its facade faces a brightly lit spot - rocks, distant trees, even if it is actually the north side. Some dolmens bear solar and wave-like signs. So, maybe dolmens are a kind of idols and at the same time containers for deceased ancestors, magical tools that should increase the wealth of their creators? Quite possible.
  Some scientists associate dolmens with the pyramids of the Egyptians. They see the similarity in massiveness, tightness, inaccessibility of the contents to prying eyes. The first dolmens were built without manholes. Some of them contained burials. Perhaps the buried were priests, leaders or even gods of their tribes? It is also possible that after the holes appeared in the portals, the buried could be fed and visited. And it was possible to bury several people in one dolmen and worship them together. In addition, any conqueror considered it his own to Ruin the grave of the enemy, throw away other people's bones and prepare for himself a worthy place for the afterlife. For example, the Maykopites and later the Alans did the same.
  Numerous reburials and looting led to the fact that the archaeological finds in the dolmens are scanty, and the things found belong to different eras, according to them it is impossible to establish exactly who was the first to occupy such an honorable place.
  At the beginning of the century, a version arose according to which dolmens were special funerary tables on which the ancients roasted their dead. The version is completely wild. Its only confirmation was seen in the fact that fire coals were found in some dolmens. Bonfires were apparently kindled to fumigate burial chambers. In any case, it is difficult to imagine to what temperature a giant stone must be heated in order for a human body to turn to dust.
  In addition to scientific and archaeological hypotheses about the origin of dolmens, there is a whole group of folk and mystical ones. The Adyghe people, who for 4000 years acted as the guardians of dolmens, call them "ispun", which means the house of isps (dwarfs). Remembering that all the megaliths scattered across the Earth are similar to each other, and given that on British isles there are many similar structures, it can be assumed that they were built by the legendary "small people" - hobbits, elves, dwarfs from English legends. The version seems quite insane, but it is interesting that a structure called "Psynako I object" was recently discovered near Tuapse, which, in terms of its characteristics, is closest to the famous cromlech Stonehenge.
  The Circassians, who appeared in the Caucasus later than the Circassians, say that these peculiar monuments were built by "giants" in order to shelter a small tribe of people who did not have enough strength to build a dwelling from the weather. People were so small that they used hares for riding. You see, the "little people" appear again.
  However, the most interesting and most mystical hypothesis arose quite recently. Its adherents believe that the dolmens were built not 4 thousand, but 10 thousand years ago. Moreover, they were built by other people, bearers of higher knowledge. A kind of Atlanteans. Their civilization was dying, and, realizing the inevitability of their own extinction, they decided to pass on knowledge to their descendants. At first, a man built a dolmen, and feeling the approach of death, he went into it still alive and closed the stone plug behind him. After death, the intellect was absorbed by the walls of the structure and changed the very structure of the stone. Now anyone who wanted to could walk up to the dolmen, put their head on its wall and enter into direct communication with the bearer of the highest knowledge. So each dolmen can be considered alive. Can you imagine what kind of torment a living brain experiences when tourists engrave their own initials on ancient stones?
  Since 1930, all dolmens in our country have been under state protection. When visiting them, try to treat these monuments of history and culture with due respect. No new lettering can decorate architectural structure whose age is comparable to the age of humanity itself.