Ughtasar High Plateau — Pilgrim Mountain Petroglyph Field
Ուխտասար բարձր սարահարթ · Ukhtasar High · Mount Ughtasar Upper
Chalcolithic to Iron Age·Kura-Araxes, Trialeti-Vanadzor, Lchashen-Metsamor·🇦🇲 Syunik Province, Sisian, Mount Ughtasar (Pilgrim Mountain) 3300 m, Vorotan highland, Armenia
About
About Ughtasar High Plateau — Pilgrim Mountain Petroglyph Field
Upper field (3200–3300 m) of the Ukhtasar/Ughtasar petroglyphs on Mount Ughtasar, the Pilgrim Mountain crater lake plateau 20 km north of Sisian, Syunik, covering ~12 ha around the volcanic crater lake. 1000 BCE) with medieval shepherd over-carving. Discovered 1968 Harutyunyan, surveyed A. Karakhanian, UNESCO Tentative 1995. High plateau distinct for best-preserved chariot hunting scenes and a unique 8-m stone circle with radial rock art interpreted as Bronze Age calendar.
July–September access only due to snow; jeep 2 hr from Sisian.
Why it mattersLargest Transcaucasian high-altitude petroglyph field documenting Kura-Araxes to Urartian pastoral iconographic continuity.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Calendar stone function
- 02Bull worship vs hunting magic
Theories
- 01Pilgrim mountain crater lake ritual (ukht pilgrimage)
- 02Seasonal transhumance aggregation art
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.5000–1000 BCE (Chalcolithic to Late Bronze) medieval reuse
- Period
- Chalcolithic to Iron Age
- Culture
- Kura-Araxes, Trialeti-Vanadzor, Lchashen-Metsamor
- Builders
- Syunik highland pastoralists
- Purpose
- Alpine pilgrimage gallery around crater lake and calendar observatory
- Abandoned
- c.700 BCE
- Rediscovered
- 1968 discovery; 1970s Harutyunyan corpus; 2010 Tigran Mets park replicas Yerevan
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.3000 BCE
Bull geometric phase
c.1500 BCE
Chariot hunting peak
1968
Discovery by H. Harutyunyan
On the ground
Structures & features
39.6840° N · 46.0500° E · 3220 m · 2 mapped features
High Plateau — Chariot Hunting Panel
petroglyph panelBlack basalt boulder with two-horse chariot hunting long-horned bulls, Late Bronze 1500 BCE
39.6850° N · 46.0510° EHigh Plateau — Calendar Stone Circle
stone circleVolcanic rock circle 8 m with radial petroglyphs interpreted as solar calendar
39.6830° N · 46.0490° E