Dolmens of the Krasnodar Territory are places of power. Dolmens in the Kuban

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

Giants built for dwarfs?

One of the main mysteries of dolmens is their prevalence throughout Eurasia - they are available not only in our Krasnodar Territory, but also in the territory british isles, middle 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 of this.

The most ancient of them is the legend of the Circassians, who live near the dolmens for many centuries. According to this legend, they were built to shelter and protect dwarfs (who were so small in stature that they rode hares) who took pity on them. That is why the Circassians call dolmens "ispun", which means "house of dwarfs" in translation. Interestingly, 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 multi-oared and sailing ships that allowed for 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 similar culture and language with the Basque people now living in Spain and southern France, and the ancestors of the Basques built dolmens very similar to those on Black Sea coast.

Bogatyrskaya glade in Adygea. There are many dolmens on the territory and Krasnodar Territory, and 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 means "stone table" in translation, although most of these structures look more like beehives.

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

In terms of the complexity of the construction, dolmens are quite consistent with the Egyptian pyramids, although much less. It is estimated that a large dolmen should have been built by 150 people within two years.

Tombs or calendar?

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

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 groups of dolmens located in a special way could serve as a kind of calendar, with the help of which the priests with great accuracy determined the onset of the new year, the time of sowing and harvesting, and kept the chronology.

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

On the territory of the Krasnodar Territory, clusters 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).

One of the main tourist attractions are the Dolmens of the Krasnodar Territory. Dolmen (from the Breton tol - table and men - stone) is a type of ancient structures found on the coast, presumably for temple or burial purposes, built of stone slabs or carved into the rock.

The most ancient dolmens are over 6 thousand years old. The corresponding culture existed for 2-3 thousand years. I must say that the dolmens of the North Caucasus belong to a separate archaeological culture, and they should not be confused with African or Far Eastern ones. These are round or square structures made of solid sandstone slabs of a large mass, or hollowed out in ledges of rocks. They have an entrance portal. The purpose of dolmens is still controversial among archaeologists. Some say that these are ancient temples, others - that they are meditation sites, and others - that they are burial places. local legends and stories tell of mountain and forest spirits living here and making sure travelers respect nature. The only thing that is certain is that their harsh archaic beauty annually attracts the interest of many tourists. In addition to dolmens, many groups of stone steles are scattered throughout the area, presumably for ritual purposes. In general, dolmens are found on the coast of Europe and Africa. There are more than 2500 of them in the Caucasus. We will talk about the most famous dolmens among tourists in the Krasnodar Territory.

Dolmen in the Kuapse valley

It can be found in the picturesque Mamedov Gorge in Sochi national park. This dolmen is in the form of a trapezoid, 4 meters high, which is carved right into the rock in a south orientation. Since it is located 2 km from the village of Lazarevskoye, getting here is the easiest. However, despite the proximity to modern housing, the attraction is quite clean. In front of the dolmen there is a ritual platform covered with stone. And some patterns are carved on the front plate.

The dolmen itself is not the largest, but the simplicity of the road to it makes the monument one of the most visited. The internal space is small - 168 cm (accurately measured).

There are many rumors and legends associated with the dolmen. They say that on the days of the summer, winter solstice, the compass needle goes crazy, and the sun's rays fall directly on the center of the megalith. They also say that at night, during windy weather, a barely audible sound comes from the stone. Some tourists experience peace and tranquility next to the dolmen, although here who is in the mood for what.

The tourist can get here on public transport(stop "Mamedka"). You can take a tour, but if you go yourself, you won't lose much. The gorge itself, where the dolmen is located, is also quite interesting and covered with many legends about which any local resident will surely tell you.

Not far from the previous one, also in the Sochi National Park, there is another interesting and accessible dolmen. It is located on the banks of the Svir River on the slope of the ridge not far from its second waterfall. This is a single megalith of the same shape, hollowed out in a single piece of sandy rock. You can visit the object with a guided tour or on your own, since the route is equipped with fences and provided with signs. Apart from archaeological sites ecotourists will be interested in visiting the many surrounding waterfalls and beautiful mountain views. The portal has irregular geometric shapes. The chamber has long been clogged with earth. An interesting tradition is that there are always fresh flowers here. This is one of the most ancient dolmens - it has been standing for more than 6 millennia! The roof of the structure has already collapsed, and beech has grown on it.

Dolmen in the village of Dzhubga

Another large megalith, which is not difficult to visit for an ordinary tourist, is located on the Dzhubga River in former sanatorium Tsentrosoyuz just a kilometer from the sea. The dimensions of the monument are 2.5x3.5x4. In front of the dolmen, an ancient sacred stone platform was erected for some mysterious religious purposes. Due to the ease of visiting and the authentic look, the monument is one of the most famous among visitors. It was built 1500 years later than the previous ones, although architectural style little has changed during this time.

Not far from the village of Ubinskaya, on the left bank of the Ubin-Su River, next to the children's camp, there is another dolmen. In general, there were several of them here before, but not everyone knew that this was a valuable monument. As a result, when scientists paid attention to this place, there was nothing special to protect. I had to rebuild. In general, the dolmen is already a new building (II millennium BC) and also restored.

Not far from here (no more than 2 km) on the watershed ridges there are several more smaller dolmens. Since you are still here, then to the south, on another spur of the same ridge, you can see ancient stones - altars (well, most likely). These are monoliths of the correct form and with a carved altar.

It is also located next to the sea on the Godlick stream. Built somewhere 4-5 millennia ago. Ancient builders hollowed it out in a rock of sandy rock. The dimensions are not the smallest: 17x7.4x6m. Inside is a rectangular room. You can climb into the portal in its entirety for a photo or just like that. True, the room inside is smaller than the entrance. The dolmen is oriented to the southeast.

I must say that the dolmen looks very impressive against the background of the surrounding mountain landscapes and gorges. The monument is generally unique in that it is the only one in this area. For the North Caucasus, such structures are rare, so do not miss it.

Dolmens on Mount Seregai

Near the horticultural partnership "Breeze", on the banks of the Ozereyka River, the engineers of the past decided not to limit themselves to one dolmen. The complex includes three monuments in different states. The architectural composition of the attraction is characterized by rounded shapes. The building material was large stone blocks carved into the rock. The towers stand in a semicircle, and the area in front of them is covered with natural stone. Around the towers are ancient burials of a later period. In 1986 and 1987, an expedition from the Novorossiysk Museum (headed by A.P. Kononenko) was sent to the complex. After that, the archaeological site was restored by A.V. Dmitriev. Apparently there was something like a temple here, however, let's leave guesswork to knowledgeable people. The complex is protected by the state and is open to tourists.

Dolmens near the village of Aderbievka

Another pair of monoliths was erected on the top of Medovaya Mountain, towering over the left bank of the Aderba River. The area around the dolmens is not cleaned and it is overgrown with shrubs, which gives the sights a natural look. Dolmens differ in the way they were built. One is made of massive stone slabs 2m high. Its foundation is a huge solid processed stone, and there is a ledge in front of the entrance.

His neighbor is further down the slope in the east, 400 meters higher. It is oriented to the south and is made of hewn bricks. The dolmen has a height of 1.7m. On the plates there is an ornament of rows of wavy lines. Both monuments were built in the first half of the 2nd millennium BC. However, the difference in the method of construction suggests a different time of work (or a sudden insight of the architect).

In any case, visiting this place, you can see two different types of dolmens at the same time. Archaeologists in 1972 found artifacts of the Bronze Age and things of the Scythians inside the dolmens. It is believed that these things came here later with migration flows and the arrival of other peoples.

Dolmens on the river Doguab

Several ancient buildings can be visited on the way from Sochi to Novorossiysk. There are two tiled dolmens about 2 meters high in good condition. One stands in a quince garden on a dominant peak. You can find the second one to the right of the road in a dense forest overgrown with shrubs and lianas. Nearby, another artifact of the past of an incomprehensible purpose was found.

There are many archaic artifacts of past centuries in the surrounding mountains. However, many of them are difficult to access and unexplored. If you appreciate sights that have not been spoiled by civilization by crowds of tourists, contact local travel companies.

Dolmens of Niheth

There are nine dolmens on this ridge. All of them have the same material and method of construction. Most of them are in a greater or lesser degree of destruction.

The tour starts with three destroyed monuments. The first is made of sandstone slabs. Time did not spare him - only the portal remained standing. The side and back walls went underground, and the Inlet is located exactly at the surface. The next one is already built from blocks. From it, too, only ruins remained. In fact, only the remains of the frontal wall can be seen. The third dolmen of this group, most likely trough-shaped, is completely covered with a layer of earth. Only the tops of the eastern and southern walls can be seen.

Fifty meters from the first three there is another group of dolmens. Three of them are located at a distance of visibility, the rest - a little further.

The first pair of dolmens of this group has been preserved in good condition. There are even grommets for entry. Dolmens are built from sand slabs. Material - sandstone. Dolmens are a recognized monument of archeology.

The third dolmen of the described complex is also made of sand slabs. It is half buried underground. The lid is missing, as is the cover.

Another dolmen is atypical. It does not have a portal. The building consists of four walls without a ceiling and ceilings. Perhaps this is unsatisfactory.

The last dolmen here is also half destroyed. A part of the side walls and the front plate protrude. The entrance is already covered with earth.

Dolmens of the Chukhukt River

Along the course of the river there are six trough-shaped dolmens, differing in shape and size, but built in the same way.

The first tiled dolmen can be found right at the beginning of the path. It consists of four walls without a roof. The portal has dimensions of 2x2 meters. There is an entrance in the center. The roof probably cracked and fell inward.

The next dolmen was discovered only in 2003. Before that, it was completely buried underground. One of the walls is the best preserved. The rest broke up into separate stones and went into the ground. Poor preservation is explained by the thinness of the slabs from which it was composed. interior has a semi-oval shape. The dolmen is filled with stone chips, earth and water.

Nearby is another dolmen in good condition. It has a whole roof and walls. The monument is a rare example of a dolmen with two portals located opposite each other. This is a fairly large structure with a ritual platform lined with stones around and a courtyard enclosed by an ancient fence. On the inner surface, archaeologists found drawings and ancient writings. During excavations, the structure was somewhat damaged by construction equipment, and part of the wall now lies nearby.

A little higher along the ridge is another dolmen complex. Three monuments are in comparatively good condition. The roof of the first one has been removed from its base and is lying nearby. The inner chamber has a rectangular shape. The entrance is an elongated ellipse. The portal is not fully processed and is a wild stone. There is another one about 20 meters from the first one. The inner chamber has a similar shape and is almost completely covered with earth. The lid is also removed and lies nearby. The inlet is the same as the previous one, and the portal stone is also unworked.

The last megalith is distinguished by a better elaboration of the portal slab and the presence of a well-hewn entrance. The lid is also dropped to the side. The inner space is filled with earth and small stones, overgrown with shrubs and grass. Apparently, this dolmen was prepared with the greatest care.

It is likely that all three structures were looted, as their covers have been removed and lie side by side. Near the structures is a ritual triolite. Signs are drawn on the surface of the stone, presumably related to the cult of sun worship.

Dolmens near the village of Tatyanovka

A group of four monuments was built near Mount Arosh, near the village of Tatyanovka, on the banks of the Psezuapse River. It is not easy for a tourist to get to these places, everything is covered with forest and thickets of wild shrubs. If you do not want to get lost, chat on this topic with local residents. The people here are good-natured and ready to show the way to the traveler. However, even knowing the right place, it will not be so easy to find some ruins. All dolmens are made of sandy rock and each has traces of past centuries.

The first one is of average safety: the eastern wall sank and crumbled, the western one almost completely went into the ground, the cover was split into two halves in the middle. The frontal slab is already heavily buried under a layer of soil and the inlet is partially filled in. The height above the surface is just over a meter. However, the building is not very large - only 2 meters in length.

Nearby, a couple of tens of meters away is another dolmen. You may not see it because of the dense vegetation, so look for it. It is also partially covered. However, of the entire group, this structure is the best preserved - thanks to the long-standing burial underground of the rear and side slabs. But the place where the front wall should be remains empty. An irregular cross is carved on the lid - evidence of the late, Christian era.

To the north of the first two are the remains of other monuments. Them independent search will be a particularly difficult task due to the poor condition. All the walls are split into small fragments and scattered over the area. As a guide - one of them has a whole top plate. Also, there are two walls from different structures nearby. In general, if you search purposefully, you can find.

Dolmens near the Kizinka farm

On the river of the same name and in the surrounding mountains, there is a whole city of dolmens. It was probably some kind of holy or prestigious place of ancient culture, or a densely populated region. The only fact remains that scientists have already found more than half a thousand such structures here.

These places have been the object of attention of historians since at least the end of the 19th century. A comprehensive study was carried out in 1967-1971 by the expedition of the Institute of Archeology of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Huge work on the description and systematization was done by Professor V.I. Markovin. All structures were created from local limestone rocks. Dolmens of all shapes, types, sizes and construction time are presented here. It is one of the largest such complexes in the world and the largest in the region. This in itself is of interest. Interested tourists can visit these places for free. However, many companies organize tours here with a guide and an interesting route.

Dolmens of the Serenth Range

Here, in the area of ​​the Chuhukt riverbed, there are several more dolmens, two from each bank. These structures are different in form and construction method, probably erected by different generations of builders. On the one hand, trough-shaped dolmens were built on a hill near the dacha village. On the other hand, it is rectangular and round. All the monuments are of medium state of preservation; they have obviously been visited in search of valuables. One is missing a roof.

Another lurked on the outskirts of the old garden. The structure is already half hidden by a layer of earth and overgrown with grass, but it is easy to find it (due to its location near the road). You won't be able to get inside because the entrance is blocked. The dolmen has already been visited - the cover was thrown off from its place and left nearby. The chamber has a rectangular shape with an area of ​​about 2.5 square meters. In the thickets further there is another object. It differs from the first in the round shape of the lid and better preservation. The hewn stone of the portal, about 2x2 meters wide, has been perfectly preserved. The entrance has an oval shape and is located above ground level (approximately in the center of the slab). The dolmen is practically not covered with earth. Rain water has accumulated inside. The place around is quite clean, but overgrown. On the portal there are marks of later eras: runic signs and a Byzantine cross. The lid is a little cracked from time or purposeful impact, but not cracked.

There are as many as twenty dolmens in the valley of the Psekups river. Artifacts were found in the areas of the villages of Fanagoriyskoye and Bezymyannoye and the village of Pyatigorskaya. Seven of them are in hard to reach place on the bank of one of the sources of the Gryaznaya river. The construction of these structures was carried out between the 2nd and 3rd millennia BC. Why so many religious buildings are located in this particular area, as well as the way they were built, remains a subject of debate for scientists.

All buildings are made of huge stone slabs weighing from three to 40 tons, over 2 m long and up to 2.5 m in height, thickness - from 30 to 57 cm. stone. The technology of erecting these impressive structures is not fully understood even now. One of the main mysteries is how the ancients could drag a heavy slab onto a structure without construction equipment. However, it can be assumed that the stones were dragged along a specially made earthen embankment.

Dolmens are considered religious buildings. In the surrounding villages, legends are told about the ancient gods and giants who built these temples and about the forest spirits that live here. Visit these places alone (preferably in the evening) and you will remember folklore with pleasure.

This object is located 700 meters from the Pshenako River (the name translates as a valley of springs). The presence of historical importance here was discovered back in 1972, but a detailed survey of the complex was carried out only in the 80s. Active archaeological research is going on here even today. There is a dolmen here, standing on a prepared stone embankment and a monolithic base. There are three tholos above the building (it is such a stone vault). The roof is additionally reinforced.

There are good reasons to believe that this is an important temple of the sun. From the base there is a long embankment towards the neighboring mountain. It is most likely an ancient viewpoint, because from it you can watch the sunrise between the mountains on the day of the summer solstice. Nearby is a place surrounded by a stone fence and having an unexplained purpose. Work with the complex has been going on for a long time, but documents on turning it into a museum have been submitted only now.

Dolmens on the Pshada River

Another interesting place for an inquisitive tourist will be the forest around the Pshada River. There are several dolmen-type structures here. The history of their study is interesting in itself. They were discovered here in 1818 by the French explorer Jacques-Victor-Edouard Tebu de Marigny, a famous ethnographer, scientist and traveler who left behind great heritage in the form of memories and introduced the Europeans to the local peoples and customs.

It is very convenient to visit this place - it is located a couple of hundred meters from the highway. The path here is signposted and is not a problem. Ease of access has its downsides. AT recent times dolmens like a magnet attract crowds of different tourists, which completely kills the atmosphere of solitude, and does not contribute to cleanliness. The writings of primitive artists have already begun to be covered by modern ones. However, one can look at vandalism philosophically - in the end, and it will become history.

The monument is located on the Kotsekhur ridge. To go to this dolmen, you need to get to the village of Shapsugskaya. Then go south along the forest road for about 4 km to Kredyanaya mountain. The object can be seen on the right.

The building itself resembles a stone mushroom 2.5 meters high. 4 thousand years from the date of its construction, it stood in good condition. The only thing - there is a crack above the inlet. All the walls, the roof and the portal slab with the entrance have been preserved. Someone took the cork. The walls on the inside are decorated with some kind of drawings, and on the lid there is a network of dots resembling the night sky. Finding a dolmen in this state is considered a rarity. Probably, the reason for the preservation of the structure is its remoteness from large settlements.

In addition to those described in the article, there are many more similar structures both in the Krasnodar Territory and beyond. Some of them are well described and cataloged, others are unknown and remain unexplored. Some have been preserved in a beautiful (almost original) form, while others have only mounds left, since these structures are often destroyed by black archaeologists, lumberjacks and peasants. We have indicated only those monuments that any tourist can easily find.

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

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

Archaeologists estimate the start of construction of some Caucasian dolmens as the end of the third millennium BC. It means. What are dolmens older than the pyramids! They attribute them to burial structures, because they find in them the remains of human burials. But neither the dolmen builders themselves nor their other contemporaries left any records with answers to our main questions.

Updated: 28.02.2019

Oleg Lazhechnikov

106 505

I have long wanted to write a note about the Caucasus, about and in general. The topic is quite extensive, as I have been there many times, and accordingly there is a lot to tell. But today about the dolmens of the Krasnodar Territory. Briefly about what they are and where they are easiest to see. For whom these places are pop, do not blame me ...

Dolmens- these are stone structures built in the 4-2 millennium BC (the dates are different), it is not clear by whom, and it is not clear why. They are structures made of stone slabs of sandstone of a large mass, or carved into the rock, usually with a portal (inlet). Dolmens come in different shapes: rectangular, round, trapezoidal. There are more than 2,500 of them in the Caucasus, some are destroyed, some are in inaccessible areas, and some are not far from resort towns. Unfortunately, until the 50s, the dolmens of the Krasnodar Territory were not studied and were taken away by local residents or destroyed. Many of the dolmens are not protected by the state even now.

There are many theories about the purpose of dolmens. I have always visited dolmens of the Krasnodar Territory on my own, but a couple of times I managed to overhear the guides. Naturally, one of the theories is some burial structures, type Egyptian pyramids. And one of the options for putting it inside the body was to soften it with tricky compounds so that it crawled into the hole-portal. There was some theory connected with altars, I don't remember the details. One of the guides pushed the theory that these were the houses of little gnomes, either joking or smoking something. There is also a theory that people went to dolmens to meditate into eternity, plunging into a state of samadhi (trance, transition to the fourth dimension) in order to pass on knowledge to their descendants, and it was possible to communicate with them entering meditation. For what, in fact, dolmens were built, no one will say for sure. But definitely for some serious purposes. It is difficult to carve and fold the slabs even now, using modern equipment, and making a dolmen in the rock is generally like it was necessary to get confused.

Most public dolmens in Gelendzhik:, Pshada and on the way to them. I marked some of them on . There are also dolmens, Ashe, Lazarevsky and Sochi. But close ones can be counted on the fingers.

Tour or on your own

You can go on a tour, or you can do it yourself. The second option is closer to me, because in terms of comfort it is not much different, but it differs greatly in price, and there is an opportunity to plan the time yourself. If we are talking about the dolmens of Gelendzhik, then buses from Gelendzhik to Vozrozhdenie and Pshada run about 10 times a day from the lower (old) bus station, and the fare costs about 20-40 rubles. The entrance to the territory to the dolmens is about 100 rubles. Also a plus independent visit is that you can stay near the dolmens for as long as you want, and not as much as the guide took. Still a place of power. You can arrive in the morning and leave in the evening, almost everywhere there is a cafe and the opportunity to plunge into the river.

In some places you can come for a longer period and stand with a tent nearby. I can also advise, if we are talking about several days, to come at the end of spring, at the beginning of summer, there will definitely be few people, and it is already warm.

Energy of dolmens

Feelings from dolmens are different for different people. It depends on the goals of the visitor, on his imagination, on his mood, on his knowledge of himself. For many, they are places of power where wishes come true and answers to questions come. I noticed for myself that I get an answer not to the question being asked, but to the hidden one, that is, one that actually turns out to be more important. Maybe I made it all up myself, but why not? Still, it is necessary to answer the tormenting questions somehow. But the feeling of calmness and some kind of lightness is definitely there, though not everywhere.

To believe or not to believe that there is some kind of energy next to the dolmens, actually depends only on you.

Dolmens photo

Dolmens Khan. Farm Dolmen near Pshada

Solid dolmen in the forest near Tuapse

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Dolmen - (Celtic) "tol" - table, "men" - stone. those. "Stone table". They belong to the culture of "megaliths" - (from Greek) "huge stones". The bearers of this amazing culture are not precisely defined, but the monuments left by them are truly grandiose. The European name is not accidental, dolmens are quite widespread. An interesting sequence of their distribution can be traced. Early dolmens are found on west coast Black Sea, then the band of their distribution extends to Asia Minor, then the Middle East.

Palestine - North Africa- Spain - Portugal - France - Holland - northern Germany - along the Danube to the Balkans - the Western coast of the Black Sea. Thus, a closed loop is traced. Apparently, the carriers of the "Dolmen" culture migrated along this route. True, there are separate dolmens in Central Africa, and India, and even in Japan. But still, the dolmens of the North-Western Caucasus became the most interesting for researchers. The name Stone Table was given for a reason - the presence of a massive lid, which crowns almost every dolmen, makes it look like a table. Almost all of the Caucasian dolmens are individual, although for decades archaeologists have not abandoned their attempts to find some mathematical regularity in their structure. But in the words of the famous Soviet archaeologist Markovin, a researcher of dolmens who devoted several decades of his life to them, this is an idea with the systematization of these stone monuments “art for the sake of art”, like medieval scholasticism. It is unlikely that the ancient builders suspected some of the mathematical patterns under which their researchers tried to bring the dolmens. Rather, it is important to understand what their creators tried to show by building dolmens.

Scientific studies of the Caucasian dolmens begin at the end of the 17th century, when the famous Russian naturalist and geographer Pallas first made detailed descriptions of these buildings found by him on the Taman Peninsula. True, he somewhat underestimated their age. Pallas discovered in one of the dolmens several objects of a later time than the burial structures themselves. Therefore, he dated them to the time of Greek colonization. Later, such scientists as Tebu de Marigny, Frederic Dubois de Monpere, Felitsyn, Veselovsky and others were engaged in the study of dolmens. Since the middle of the 20th century, archaeologists Teshev, Kondryakov, Autlev, Markovin have been dealing with this problem. Thanks to their work, many questions regarding dolmens have now been revealed.
The distribution band of the Caucasian dolmens extends from Taman Peninsula to Abkhazia at a length of 480 km. Its width varies from 30 to 75 km. Dolmens are not located haphazardly, they can usually be found along river basins and near passes. A map of the distribution of dolmens, when combined with a map of the strike of the main rocks, showed that these buildings were always located where there was material suitable for their construction. In total, according to archaeologists, there are about 2,500 dolmens in the Kuban. Local buildings, despite their certain resemblance to European dolmens, also have their own characteristics, for example, almost all Caucasian dolmens have a hole made on the front side, as a rule, of a round shape, the diameter of which ranges from 37 to 43 cm. Apparently, Caucasian dolmens are later than European ones. and this is traced by their more regular form. According to Jessen, they date back to about 2500 BC. AD the period of construction of dolmens lasted about 900 years, after which the traces of their builders disappear.
The nature of the finds made in the dolmens allows us to draw two conclusions - these were burial structures. remains of human burials (usually bones sprinkled with red ocher) and grave goods were found in untouched dolmens. - the second conclusion is that these are undoubtedly religious buildings, as evidenced by their monumentality, astronomical orientation (some researchers conclude that the openings of the dolmens are directed to the place of sunset on certain days).
Despite the fact that Vladimir Ivanovich Markovin rejected attempts at mathematical systematization, he himself and his colleague Pshemaf Ulagaevich Autlev systematized dolmens into five main groups.

1. Tiled - the most common type of dolmens, about 90% of total known. The name comes from the form and principle of construction. It was built from five massive stone slabs (hence the name), Four slabs made up the walls, the fifth - the ceiling. The thickness of the walls is from 30 to 60 cm in the form of a truncated pyramid. With great care, V. I. Markovin, after carefully measuring, deduced the proportion of the ratio of the front, rear and equal side plates. It turned out that the builders of dolmens had a certain architectural module, i. a unit of measure, by which the entire structure was repaired. This module is equal to 1/10 of the front plate. The general proportion of most of the tiled dolmens was 10 x 12 x 8 (the ratio of the front, side, and rear sides, respectively, of the inner chamber of the dolmen).

The slabs are massive, hewn and are not inferior in thickness to modern artificial panels. We must not forget that there were no cranes and tractors in the era of the construction of ancient structures.
Dolmens in the full sense of the word are the creation of human hands. Historians unanimously regard them as ancient monuments architecture. It is with the description of megaliths that almost all educational courses in the history of architecture begin, because works of architecture inextricably combine solutions to practically necessary utilitarian tasks, with purely artistic creativity. Each epoch has its own architecture, the images of which actively influence the consciousness of a person's feelings. It should be added that architecture is not only a building business or purely artistic creativity; it is a synthesis of both.
Famous art historian Mikhail Vladimirovich. Alpatov, studying ancient megalithic monuments as architectural structures, wrote: "One can imagine with what sense of dignity and creative satisfaction people looked at these monuments, who with their efforts defeated the physical resistance of the stone." When building a dolmen, a person, in his words, “limits space by piling up material; for the first time here, the bearing and resting parts are clearly contrasted; this opposition became the basis of architecture” From the internal space of the dolmen “the interior had to develop” - “The beginning of order, first of all rhythm, is manifested in dolmens, the beginning of which in one form or another became the basis of the artistic language of architecture.” Proportionality and scale can be added to these qualities, because they create a feeling of strength and grandiosity. As a rule, sandstones and quartzites were the material for the construction of dolmens. And the softer the stone was, the more correct the shape of the dolmens themselves and the slabs that made them up. Archaeologists have restored the construction technology of these tombs with great certainty. First, a massive block of approximately the right thickness broke off from the formation. A thin gutter about 1 cm deep was knocked out along the contour of the future slab. After 20-30 cm, along the perimeter of the future slab (along the gutter), through holes were drilled into which wooden wedges were tightly driven. After that, the gutter was poured with water, and after a while the tree swelled, and the stone cracked. It turned out a blank for the future dolmen slab.

archaeologists have found both unused blanks of future slabs and the tools with which these slabs were processed. A hole was punched in the front plate. After careful cutting and fitting, the slabs were transported to the place of assembly (sometimes several kilometers away, given the mountainous and wooded area). Transportation took place apparently with the help of both human traction and oxen traction. The slabs were transported on log-skating rinks, alternately placing them under the movable slab (the famous Thunder-Stone was transported in a similar way, for the monument to Peter in St. Petersburg). The place for the construction was not chosen by chance, not far from the water (usually along the banks of rivers), and on a hill, or on the slopes of mountains (usually, these are places where the sunset is clearly visible). A powerful stone foundation was laid out from two or three large stones, less often from one. For tiled dolmens, grooves were knocked out at the joints of the plates and their installation began. First, the front and rear plates were installed using props, and then the side plates were attached to them from the sides. The joints were so tightly fitted that the surviving dolmens could not even fit a sheet of paper into them. Sometimes a temple was built around the dolmen, most likely intended for ritual sacrifices. After that, an earth embankment was made on one of the sides of the building, and the top cover-slab was rolled over it. The hole was closed with a mushroom-shaped stone plug. Based on the fact that a dolmen usually weighs several tons, according to the calculations of archaeologists, approximately 50-70 people took part in its construction. The dolmen did not immediately become a tomb. There are dolmens in which there have never been burials, this fact suggests that most likely the dolmen was not built for a specific person, but the burial was carried out in it, after a certain period, after its construction. All tiled dolmens have a "portal" i.e. the front and side plates protrude 30-40 cm beyond the junction. Some scientists attribute the presence of the portal to the fact that the dolmen personified the transition to other world. And the portal thus could represent the gate. Like it or not, some dolmens have such a massive portal that they had to make additional props for it. All dolmen slabs had a trapezoid shape in plan, and in general the tiled dolmen has the shape of a truncated pyramid, which ensures the overall strength of the structure.

Thus, the building expands to the base and to the "portal".

2. The next type of dolmens - systematized by Markovin - is a composite dolmen, which is not built from five huge slabs, but from a larger number of smaller stones. An analysis of the study of these buildings showed that at first it was a necessary measure, because. there might not be enough large stones and they were replaced with smaller parts.
Dolmens have been found, which have three monoliths at the base and one of the walls is made up of several stone blocks. Later, the composite dolmen becomes an end in itself for its builders, and due to the greater plasticity of the architecture of these buildings, dolmens of the most unusual form begin to appear.
Even round in plan, although it should be noted that composite dolmens are relatively rare. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, due to their structural features, they are less durable and less resistant to the elements and human barbarity. Secondly, due to the greater complexity of the technology, fewer of them were built.

3. No less interest was caused by the so-called. “Trough-shaped” dolmens are the third type of dolmens identified by V.I. Markovin. In the very name of their clue to their features.
A dolmen chamber was hollowed out in a large stone block, the outer part of the stone was cut. A hole was punched in the front plate. Then a lid was mounted on the resulting "trough". These dolmens, due to the more complex construction technology, are also rare.

4. Even less often "trough-shaped" and "composite" monolithic dolmens are found, which are much smaller than all the others. The name itself speaks of their structure - they are hollowed out in a large block. At the same time, a “portal” is necessarily imitated, which indicates their later origin than the tiled dolmens. They are extremely rare.

5. Finally, the fifth group can be divided into "false portal" dolmens. Their name comes from a strange design feature. If in all dolmens with a portal, the hole is located on the vertical axis of symmetry, then in the “false portal” dolmens, the hole is either absent altogether, or is located in the rear or side slabs. What explains this feature of their construction, scientists have not yet undertaken to answer reliably. These dolmens are also very few, we can say only a few. The closest one to Anapa is located in the valley of the river. Jane.

Findings of primary objects placed in dolmens by their builders help archaeologists answer some historical questions about the bearers of this material culture. For example, that, despite the later period of the existence of the dolmen culture. Pottery and metallurgical production was a level lower than that of the bearers of the "Maikop" culture. Also, archaeologists have not been able to find the remains of the settlements of the dolmen builders, which is not yet clear. Apparently, this bygone civilization embodied all its achievements in these grandiose structures, paying less attention to the domestic side of life. To this day, dolmens, their history, despite the huge interest in them both from science and from the inhabitants, remain the greatest mystery humanity.