Carahunge Prehistoric Monument

Carahunge (also called Zorats Karer) is a prehistoric megalithic site near Sisian in Armenia's Syunik Province, covering about 7 hectares at 1,770 metres elevation on a plateau above the Dar River canyon. The site comprises 223 basalt stones up to 3 metres tall and weighing up to 10 tons, with 84 featuring drilled holes. Its purpose is debated: radiophysicist Paris Herouni argued it is the world's oldest astronomical observatory (potentially 7,500 years old), while University of Munich archaeologists identified it as a Bronze Age-to-Iron Age necropolis with stone lines representing a Hellenistic-period city wall. The name derives from Armenian "car" (stone) and "hunge" (sound), as the perforated stones produce whistling sounds in wind.