Situated in the north-east of

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

Cocev Kamen () is a hilltop cave site of volcanic origin near the town of Kratovo. Objects (bone fossils) discovered near the cave suggest human presence since the Paleolithic. Authors agree that the site served as a gathering point for sacrificial rituals from the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

, during the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

, throughout antiquity until the Middle Ages as clarified by an abundance of pottery shards, stone (flint) tools and bone fragments unearthed from the surrounding areas. Several caves and rock shelters are decorated with red figurative art work. Comparison with similar sites in Bulgaria and Italy suggests that the paintings are indeed prehistoric. Debated remains the notion that Cocev Kamen has also been used as an (astronomical) observatory. "There are visible interventions on the stone surface everywhere, in the form of stairs, pools, thrones, and one big cave was completely rearranged, with a large part of its wall ripped off to make a fenced platform looking at the nearby hill, which contains big natural stones..." These alterations served ceremonial purposes during offerings to fertility deities.

References

{{Navbox prehistoric caves Geography of North Macedonia Kratovo Municipality Archaeological sites in North Macedonia