Stone Labyrinths of Tashly-Kol (Hudes)

 

Traveling through the Stone Maze is very interesting and exciting.
We pass through the Narzans, Mountain Ring (not Kislovodskoe!), Gud Mountain, Bechasyn Plateau, menhirs, through the herds of Yakov and horse pastures.

 

 

Some interesting information:

Stone labyrinths in legends, myths, rituals of Pomors

The population of Pomerania calls labyrinths “Babylons” everywhere. Almost all the Northern peoples keep legends about the purpose and creators of these buildings, such as:

According to the legends of Ireland and England, fairies danced on the spirals of labyrinths in the moonlight; in mountainous Norway, stone ridges were laid out by ice giants - "yotuns"; in Sweden, labyrinths marked the entrances to the underground palaces of dwarfs - dwarves who owned precious stones, ores that made magic swords, shields and spears for the heroes of the sagas; in the Saami legends it is said that the Babylons were built in honor of the Saids - deities of Lapland and attributed to their personal constructions.

In the folklore heritage of Scandinavia and Finland. Stone labyrinths often bear the names of cities or fortifications - "Troy", "Babylon", "Nineveh", "Jerusalem". In Finland, in addition, there are names "Fence or Road of the Giants", "St. Peter's Game", "Maiden dances", etc. Such names are inspired by ancient Greek and biblical motifs, local legends.

 

 

An example of the secondary use of historical monuments was the custom of using labyrinths for folk games and festivities between Easter and mid-summer. Usually the girl was put in a circle and danced towards her. There are several local legends explaining the origin of labyrinths in certain places. For example, according to legend, two large labyrinths at G. Cokes were built by King Valit or Valent, planter of Veliky Novgorod, who defeated Murman and the Norwegians. The emergence of labyrinths on the Solovetsky Islands is associated with Peter the Great. In fact, none of these characters had anything to do with the construction of mazes.

However, in legends we do not find a solid enough basis for the construction of hypotheses, if only because of their extreme heterogeneity.

 

 

Stone labyrinths - versions of scientists and researchers

In science, several points of view have been expressed about the appointment of labyrinths. They see objects associated with commercial magic, the cult of the dead, assign them a calendar value and there are even quite fantastic. Here are some versions:

Some researchers have argued that mazes are nothing more than doors to parallel or other worlds, it is important only to be able to use them.

 

 

There is an assumption that the labyrinth is a diagram of a transceiver antenna, with the help of which the ancient inhabitants of these places could communicate with each other over vast distances.

Some scientists see in the labyrinth objects associated with the astral cult, give them a calendar value.

However, opponents of this version argue that the constructions of the labyrinths are different, are not associated with the countries of the world, they do not guess any cyclicity or general patterns that could be associated with the movement of celestial bodies. In addition, deep knowledge of astronomy, compiling calendars, in ancient times characteristic of southern agricultural peoples (Egypt, Mesopotamia), and to a lesser extent inherent in hunters and fishermen of the taiga and tundra zones.

 

 

Most researchers defend the cult-religious nature of stone labyrinths.

Labyrinths were used, according to numerous versions, in commercial magic associated with rituals, beliefs, ceremonies, the meaning of which was to ensure the well-being of ancient people in fishing, which could mean not only good catches, but also favorable weather, safety, etc.

 

 

The patron of fishing among the ancient Sami was the man-fish Accruva, with a human head and upper body. It is possible that the stone spirals on the shore of the sea served as altars on which primitive anglers sacrificed to the Master of Water to drive the fish into set traps.

The well-known ethnographer V. R. Cabo, offers an interpretation of the northern labyrinths as structures associated with the ideas of the “lower world”, where the rites of multiplication of commercial fish were performed, and with initiation rites – initiation of young men into men, girls into women. V. Czarnolusky, a researcher of Karelia in the first half of the twentieth century described the rite when Shaman-Noyd became one foot on the track and, jumping to the center of the labyrinth, looked at what signs speak for success or against the undertaking.

 

 

Labyrinths served as a place of entertainment and dances of a cult character among other northern peoples: the “dance of the crane”, the “dance of young maidens” by the Swedes, the “dance of Adam” by the Germans, etc., as well as the list for military sports competitions (the “Trojan game”).

A large group of scientists, mainly archaeologists, associate the labyrinths with the cult of the dead. Labyrinths could symbolize the difficult and winding passage from life to death, which is confirmed in the ethnography of some peoples of the world. A prominent archaeologist A. Y. Bryusov, who worked for many years in the White Sea region, considered labyrinths grave signs over burial places (funeral rite). The historian M. N. Vinogradov, a researcher of the Solovetsk labyrinths, expressed the opinion that the moves of the labyrinth served to confuse the souls of the dead in order to prevent them from returning to the living. Sometimes, next to one labyrinth, another was built with the purpose that if the soul of the deceased, if it still managed to get out, it would fall into it.

 

 

Researcher B. Olsen also suggests that the labyrinth may have played a role in the rituals associated with the transition from life to death involving shamans. At the same time, the shaman entered the labyrinth, and this meant the separation of the death of the individual from his life. The presence inside the labyrinth marked separation from life on earth. The ceremony ended with the shaman leaving the labyrinth as if symbolizing the transition of the deceased to a new stage.

In support of this version is the neighborhood of labyrinths with ancient burial grounds in southern Sweden, northern Norway and the Solovetsky Islands. In southern Sweden, labyrinths coexist with burial grounds of the Bronze Age and the Viking Age, in northern Norway in the Finnmark area - with Sami cemeteries of the XII-XVII centuries. On the Big Hare Island, archaeologists A. Y. Martynov and A. A. Kuratov found burned human bones and stone tools under three stone piles. A. A. Kuratov suggests that labyrinths were ancestral sanctuaries, where the ancients buried the dead, performed magical rites of multiplication of prey, initiation, etc. A similar assumption for the northern labyrinths was expressed by the famous Russian ethnographer V. P. Kabo, who investigated the purpose of labyrinths among the aborigines of Australia. Images of labyrinths on stones, trees, land were associated with the ideas of the “lower world” among the aborigines of Australia. Around them were performed rites of multiplication of prey, initiation and other cult activities.

 

 

However, not all labyrinths are accompanied by burials. For example, on the Red Luda, the Terek shore of the White Sea and many other places, traces of burial sites were not found.

Known locations of labyrinths are associated not only with the sea in general, but also with certain areas of it, the richest fish, with fishing colors. Hence the point of view that the labyrinths were fishing in nature. According to the researcher I.M. Mullo, the labyrinths are a plan of complex fishing gear (fishing traps), laid out with stones on the ground to facilitate their further construction in fishing areas. Comparison of the construction of labyrinths with fishing facilities such as "venter" or "cache", the device of which was practiced by the population of the Murmansk coast also forced N. N. Gurina to suggest that the labyrinths are associated with magical rituals, the purpose of which was to ensure marine fisheries.

Archaeologists, in the locations of the Karelian labyrinths, find ancient asbestos ceramics. According to N. N. Gurina, whose point of view is shared by most researchers, the tribes that produced asbestos ceramics should be considered the ancestors of the Sami, that is, possible builders of labyrinths. But the location of labyrinths does not always coincide with the places of accumulation and migration of fish. Surprisingly, the absence of labyrinths on fresh water bodies, including such significant as the Ladoga and Onega lakes, which in the minds of the ancient population could well be associated in size with the seas. Veps, for example, Onega Lake was called the sea. A significant difference between the seas and freshwater bodies in addition to the composition of water, flora and fauna are tidal fluctuations in the water level, reaching, for example, in the throat of the White Sea 6 m, and the locations of most labyrinths 1.5-2 m. Hence, some researchers conclude that labyrinths are associated with these water fluctuations.

 

 

Different versions of scientists suggest that the meaning of labyrinths is difficult to definitely connect with any one idea. Perhaps in different parts of Northern Europe their functions differed. The purpose of the monuments may have changed over time. Initially, they could be used for commercial magic, then associated with the cult of the dead and funeral ceremonies, and in modern times used for folk festivals. The magic figure of the labyrinth caused and causes a variety of associations and forms of understanding.