http:// www. thehindu. com / features / friday-review / history-andculture / megalithic-burial-site-found-in-kadapa / article3565463. ece( Megalithic burial site found in Kadapa, India, 2012)
ZORATS KARER OR KARAHUNJ, ARCHAEOLOGICAL MONUMENT OR FICTIONAL OBSERVATORY?
Piliposyan Ashot( Armenian State Pedagogical University after Kh. Abovyan)
Zorats Karer archaeological site has a special place among the numerous archaeological monuments of the Syunik Marz of RA. In scientific literature the site is referred to as Dik-dik Karer, Tsits-tsits Karer, Zorats Karer, Karezork, Ghoshun Dash, and recently Karahunj. The site is situated 3 km to the north of Sisian, on the left bank of the Dar River, tributary of the Vorotan River. It is placed on a plateau unassailable from the eastern side, 1770 m above sea level. The geographic coordinates of the site are 39 ° 33 ′ 02.52 ″ N and 46 ° 01 ′ 42.96 ″ E.
According to the popular legends, bodies of commanders were interred underneath the large kerbs, whereas bodies of warriors were inhumed beneath the large upright stone slabs. This is why, the local people named the site“ Zorqi kar, Zorats Karer”( Arm. Stones of Troops).
At present the earliest records about southern Armenia and the region of Sisian, in particular, are considered to be the cuneiform inscriptions of Van Kingdom( Urartu). Though the latter do not provide any direct information about Zorats Karer, they contain important data on the social and political processes of the region of the 8 th – 7 th cc. BC. They are reflected in the chronicle of Sarduri II( 764 – 735 BC), in the cuneiform inscription of Argišti II( 714 – 685 BC) on the stele from Tanahat Monastery near Sisian and in the text by Rusa II( 685 – 645 BC) found at the entrance to susi temple in Ayanis.
The non-contemporaneous remains of material culture gathered in the vicinity of Zorars Karer also provide some valuable information about the site. As far back as in 1930s, when the site was more known as“ Ghoshun Dash”, ethnographer St. Lisitsyan gathered and handed to the History Museum of Armenia interesting archaeological material found in Zorats Karer and its neighborhood. In 1980’ s archaeologist O. Khnkikyan excavated over a dozen of tombs at Zorats Karer. The majority of the tombs were north-south oriented cists with disintegrated corpses and archaeological material dated to the 10 th – 8 th / 7 th cc. BC. The excavations at Zorats karer were restarted in 2013. The
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