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Zorats Karer
Carahunge (, also romanized as Karahunj and Qarahunj), also known as Zorats Karer (), Dik-Dik Karer (), Tsits Karer () and Karenish (), is a prehistoric archaeological site near the town of Sisian in the Syunik Province of Armenia. It is also often referred to among international tourists as the "Armenian Stonehenge". Location The Carahunge site is at latitude 39° 34' longitude 46° 01' on a mountain plateau at an altitude of and occupies an area of about 7 hectares on the left side of the canyon of the River Dar, a tributary of the river Vorotan (at 2 km). It is located on a rocky promontory near Sisian. Etymology Thirteenth-century Armenian historian Stepanos Orbelian, in his book ''History of Syunic (I—XII centuries)'', mentions that in the Tsluk (Yevalakh) region of Armenia, near the town Syunic or Sisian, was a village called ''Carunge''. Its name means "stone treasure" or "foundation stones" in Armenian. The name Carahunge is interpreted as deriving from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sisian
Sisian ( ) is a town and the centre of the Sisian Municipality of the Syunik Province in southern Armenia. It is located on both banks of the Vorotan River, at an altitude of 1600 m above sea level, 6 km south of the Yerevan- Meghri highway, at a road distance of 217 km southeast of the capital Yerevan, and 115 km north of the provincial capital Kapan. As of the 2022 census, the population of the town was 13,179. Etymology The area of present-day Sisian was also known as Sisakan and Sisavan during ancient times and later in the Middle Ages. According to Movses Khorenatsi, the name of Sisakanand subsequently Sisianwas derived from Sisak, a legendary ancestor of the Armenian princely house of Syuni. Harutyunyan, Babken. ''«Սիսակ»'' (Sisak). Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia. vol. x. Yerevan, Armenian SSR: Armenian Academy of Sciences, 1984, p. 399. History Ancient history and Middle Ages Archaeological excavations of tombs and ceramics of the middle Bronze Age foun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Basalt
Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial planet, rocky planet or natural satellite, moon. More than 90% of all volcanic rock on Earth is basalt. Rapid-cooling, fine-grained basalt is chemically equivalent to slow-cooling, coarse-grained gabbro. The eruption of basalt lava is observed by geologists at about 20 volcanoes per year. Basalt is also an important rock type on other planetary bodies in the Solar System. For example, the bulk of the plains of volcanism on Venus, Venus, which cover ~80% of the surface, are basaltic; the lunar mare, lunar maria are plains of flood-basaltic lava flows; and basalt is a common rock on the surface of Mars. Molten basalt lava has a low viscosity due to its relatively low silica content (between 45% and 52%), resulting in rapidly moving lava flo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hartashen Megalithic Avenue
Hartashen Megalithic Avenue is a megalithic monument in Armenia. There are two avenues of megalithic rocks which do not intersect. These avenues are composed of basalt stones which are placed at an angle, and menhirs are arranged in three rows in each. The purpose of these three rows of menhirs in unclear and further research is underway. There is no firm dating of the monument. It has been attributed in recent years to anti-tank defences constructed in the Second World War, but recent research favours an interpretation that the site, if not its arrangement, dates to the Neolithic or Bronze Age and perhaps shares a context with the Carnac stones of France. Context The monument comprises 760 preserved steles. Some steles have been disturbed, and it is estimated there may have been up to 1,200 originally. The flat surface between the monuments comprises an unexcavated funerary monument. No connection has been discovered between the avenue and the funerary monuments. The rows of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lake Urmia
Lake Urmia is an endorheic salt lake in Iran. The lake is located between the provinces of East Azerbaijan and West Azerbaijan in Iran, and west of the southern portion of the Caspian Sea. At its greatest extent, it was the largest lake in the Middle East. It is the sixth-largest saltwater lake on Earth, with a surface area of approximately , a length of , a width of , and a maximum depth of . By late 2017, the lake had shrunk to 10% of its former size (and 1/60 of water volume in 1998) due to persistent general drought in Iran, but also the damming of the local rivers that flow into it, and the pumping of groundwater from the surrounding area. This dry spell was broken in 2019 and the lake is now filling up once again, due to both increased rain and water diversion from the Zab River under the Urmia Lake Research Programme. Lake Urmia, along with its approximately 102 (former) islands, is protected as a national park by the Iranian Department of Environment. Names and et ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Obsidian
Obsidian ( ) is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava extrusive rock, extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. It is an igneous rock. Produced from felsic lava, obsidian is rich in the lighter elements such as silicon, oxygen, aluminium, sodium, and potassium. It is commonly found within the margins of rhyolite, rhyolitic lava flows known as obsidian flows. These flows have a high content of silicon dioxide, silica, giving them a high viscosity. The high viscosity inhibits the atomic diffusion, diffusion of atoms through the lava, which inhibits the first step (nucleation) in the formation of mineral crystals. Together with rapid cooling, this results in a natural glass forming from the lava. Obsidian is hard, Brittleness, brittle, and amorphous; it therefore Fracture (mineralogy)#Conchoidal fracture, fractures with sharp edges. In the past, it was used to manufacture cutting and piercing tools, and it has been used experimentally as s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Godedzor
Godedzor is a prehistoric, prehistorical archaeological site located about 1.5 kilometres west of the village of Angeghakot in the Syunik Province of Armenia. The settlement of Nerkin Godedzor is in the Vorotan (river), Vorotan river gorge, at the altitude of 1,800 meters. Some petroglyphs are also found close by. This was a seasonal occupation site used by pastoralists, as this area is covered by snow during the winter. There are some indications that the occupation here started already in the last quarter of the 5th millennium BC but, according to radiocarbon dates, the main activities took place during the time frame between 3650 and 3350 cal. BC. Around 15 km east of Godedzor, near Sisian, is located a prehistoric archaeological site of Carahunge known as the 'Armenian Stonehenge'. It was discovered in 1994, and the age of these megalithic monuments may go back to the Bronze Age or earlier. Discovery In 2003, an archaeological survey revealed prehistoric cultural deposits ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lunar Standstill
A lunar standstill or lunistice is when the Moon reaches its furthest north or furthest south point during the course of a month (specifically a tropical month of about 27.3 days). The declination (a equatorial coordinate system, celestial coordinate measured as the angle from the celestial equator, analogous to latitude) at lunar standstill varies in a cycle 18.6 years long between 18.134° (north or south) and 28.725° (north or south), due to Lunar precession#Nodal precession, lunar precession. These extremes are called the minor and major lunar standstills. The last minor lunar standstill was in October 2015, and the next one will be in 2034. The previous major lunar standstill was in 2006 and the most recent in December 2024. At this time the northern lunistice occurs when the Moon is seen in the direction of Taurus (constellation), Taurus, northern Orion (constellation), Orion, Gemini (constellation), Gemini, or sometimes the southernmost part of Auriga (constellation), A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Solstice
A solstice is the time when the Sun reaches its most northerly or southerly sun path, excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. Two solstices occur annually, around 20–22 June and 20–22 December. In many countries, the seasons of the year are defined by reference to the solstices and the equinoxes. The term ''solstice'' can also be used in a broader sense, as the day when this occurs. For locations not too close to the equator or the poles, the dates with the longest and shortest periods of daylight are the summer and winter solstices, respectively. Terms with no ambiguity as to which hemisphere is the context are "June solstice" and "December solstice", referring to the months in which they take place every year. Etymology The word ''solstice'' is derived from the Latin () and (), because at the solstices, the Sun's declination appears to "stand still"; that is, the seasonal movement of the Sun's sun path, daily path (as seen from Earth) paus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clive Ruggles
Clive L. N. Ruggles (born 1952) is a British astronomer, archaeologist and academic. He is the author of academic and popular works on the subject. In 1999, he was appointed professor of archaeoastronomy at the School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester, when it is believed to have been the only appointed chair for archaeoastronomy among the world's universities. , he was Emeritus Professor at this university. Ruggles was the president of the Prehistoric Society from 2006 to 2010 and the president of the IAU Commission for the History of Astronomy The history of astronomy focuses on the contributions civilizations have made to further their understanding of the universe beyond earth's atmosphere. Astronomy is one of the oldest natural sciences, achieving a high level of success in the sec ... from 2009 to 2012. He is the Chair for the IAU World Heritage and Astronomy Working Group, and was formerly the President of the International Society for Archaeoast ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
University Of Munich
The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke Ludwig IX of Bavaria-Landshut, it is Germany's List of universities in Germany, sixth-oldest university in continuous operation. In 1800, the university was moved from Ingolstadt to Landshut by King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria when the city was threatened by the French, before being transferred to its present-day location in Munich in 1826 by King Ludwig I of Bavaria. In 1802, the university was officially named Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität by King Maximilian I of Bavaria in honor of himself and Ludwig IX. LMU is currently the second-largest university in Germany in terms of student population; in the 2023/24 winter semester, the university had a total of 52,972 matriculated students. Of these, 10,138 were freshmen, while internati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gerald Hawkins
Gerald Stanley Hawkins (20 April 1928– 26 May 2003) was a British-born American astronomer and author noted for his work in the field of archaeoastronomy. A professor and chair of the astronomy department at Boston University in the United States, he published in 1963 an analysis of Stonehenge in which he was the first to propose that it was an ancient astronomical observatory used to predict movements of the sun and moon, and that it was used as a computer. Archaeologists and other scholars have since demonstrated such sophisticated, complex planning and construction at other prehistoric earthwork sites, such as Cahokia in the U.S. Early life and education Gerald Hawkins was born in Great Yarmouth, England and studied physics and mathematics at the University of Nottingham. In 1952 he took a PhD in radio astronomy, studying under Sir Bernard Lovell at the University of Manchester. Career In 1957 Hawkins became professor of astronomy and chairman of the department a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paris Herouni
Paris Misaki Herouni (, December 17, 1933 – December 5, 2008) was a Soviet and Armenian physicist and engineer. He was a member of the Armenian National Academy of Sciences in the fields of Radiophysics, radio-physics, Radio-frequency engineering, radio-engineering, and Radio astronomy, radio-astronomy and the head of the Antenna Systems chair, which he founded, at the National Polytechnic University of Armenia and Radio Physics Research Institute (RRI). In 1986, he was awarded the USSR State Prize. Biography Herouni was born in Yerevan, Armenia, on December 17, 1933. His father was a survivor of the Armenian genocide from Hadjin. Upon completion of his undergraduate studies in Yerevan, Herouni attended the Moscow Power Engineering Institute, where he earned his graduate degree in radio technology in 1957. He earned his doctorate of philosophy in radio techniques from the same institution in 1965. Herouni became an associate professor in 1968 and a full professor in 1983. Becau ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
