Tsotsev Kamen – The Undiscovered Prehistoric Observatory
Risto Stefov
October 09, 2010
I had never heard of Tsotsev Kamen until I arrived in Macedonia, for my second trip, on August 23rd, 2010 and met with Odi Belchevski in Skopje. He informed me that he had made contact with Dr. Dushko Aleksovski and we were invited to go and visit a couple of archeological sites; one of them being the Kokino prehistoric observatory. No sooner had I heard the word "Kokino" than I was all for it and agreed to reschedule my visit with my cousin Spiro, who was on his way to Skopje for a short vacation! Unfortunately neither Odi nor I had transportation so we asked Slave Nikolovski Katin if he would be interested in going. Slave was very enthusiastic at the prospect of visiting Kokino because he had never been there, so he agreed to take us.
Dushko insisted that we leave Skopje early, by 5 am at the latest, for the hour drive to Kokino. But before going there we had to go to Kumanovo to pick up Dushko. Unfortunately the earliest Slave could make it was 8 am because of business matters he had to attend to, August 25 was a working day, but like a Swiss watch Slave was right on time.
About half an hour later we picked up Dushko and we were winding our way up the grand mountains following the signs to Kokino until we could see the great rock formation in the distance. "That is the ancient Kokino observatory," said Dushko as he pointed "but to get to it we will need to go on up on foot for a while."
In spite of the treacherous road conditions, Slave drove up the mountain as far as his jeep could take us and from there on we had to travel by foot. It was a ten minute walk for an experienced climber but, as Slave remarked, "We don´t care how long it takes or how difficult the climb is going to be." We are here now and there was nothing stopping us from going up there. But no sooner had we stepped out of the air conditioned jeep than we felt the burning heat of the morning sun. It was only around 9 am yet it was burning hot, everything around us was parched. The grass was dry and brown. Odi was the first to remark about the heat and we all finally realized why Dushko insisted on leaving so early in the morning.
Our enthusiasm however gave us incentive to keep going. On our way up we met other visitors as they were now leaving. We also met a guide who was very helpful in answering our questions and pointing out important aspects of the observatory. When we were finished he gave us a brochure with information about the observatory, including a link to a website where more information could be found (www.kokino.org.mk).
Satisfied that we had seen all that we could in one visit, we began the downward trek. As we again faced the scorching sun, I realized how unprepared we were. Both Odi and I had come in sandals and neither of us had brought any water. Lucky for us Dushko had come prepared and was willing to share his water.
After stopping off at a roadside concession stand and drinking our fill of water from a natural spring, we were off to another place which, with the exception of Dushko, was not at all familiar to us.
It was a long trip on a treacherous road and Slave kept asking how far this place was, as we wound around hill after hill. When we were finally there Dushko pointed to a large rock formation sticking out of the ground, somewhere close to the bottom of an ancient and rounded off mountain. "Take a right," Dushko ordered. But after looking at the path Dushko wanted Slave to drive his jeep, both Odi and I were about to object. This was indeed a very treacherous road on which I would never drive, no matter what kind of vehicle I operated. Slave however did as Dushko asked and after several minutes of being shaken, bumped and twisted we were there, or at least as close to the rock as a machine could have taken us. The only condition Slave had made for taking such a chance that could have disabled his jeep and stranded us all there was that the person who suggested we take this trip buy us all dinner. Odi volunteered since it was his idea to take the trip.
By now it was past 11 am and we took a long and treacherous trip to see what looked like a great big, ordinary rock. The sun was beaming down and as we exited the jeep reality hit again as to how hot it could get in this part of the country. I am sure at this point we all, except for Dushko, wondered if taking this trip was worth it. But in spite of the burning heat and snakes lurking in the tall dry grass, Dushko insisted we go on.
As we continued our trek up hill, closer and closer to this giant rock, we could see pock marks all over its face, as if some army artillery had used it for target practice. I made a remark to that effect to Dushko but he told me to be patient.
As we came closer towards the rock I could see patterns of smaller holes about six to ten inches in diameter, appearing in regular patterns like beams on a roof. After freeing ourselves from the obstacle of grasping thorn bushes, we finally came face to face with the rock. From here I could see that it was not an ordinary rock, sculpted by cannon fire or a weather beaten rock sculpted by wind and rain alone. It was a well worked rock, sculpted by human hands. There were holes everywhere in straight lines both vertically and horizontally. There were round, square and rectangular holes and there was no doubt in my mind that someone, a long, long time ago had gone through a lot of effort to make these holes, but for what purpose? I did my best to take as may photographs as possible until Dushko called me to go up onto the rock.
As I rejoined the others, who had gone to the topside on the rock, Dushko pointed out some sculpting done on a large horizontal slab about a dozen feet away from the rock face. Some were elongated rectangles and others were "L" shaped, elongated rectangles. "This is where the corners and the door of a structure stood," Dushko pointed out. "And here vertically at this opening was the main door to the inside of the rock. As you can see it is perfectly rectangular and the sides and the top of the rock are cut for a door to fit. Back here the rock is cut to allow for the door to swing and stay out of the way when it is opened. As you can see from the cleavage on the rock, it would have been a very thick door. Here behind it is a hole to hold a strong wedge to hold the door shut," remarked Dushko.
As we walked further up the rock we could see the evidence that the rock was widened to allow a human body to comfortably fit through. "And here at the narrowest part, as you can see by the holes, a second door was put in that could be opened out of the way and bolted shut," remarked Dushko.
As we continued to climb, Dushko pointed to a place on the rock which had been sculpted into a seat, another into a pedestal, yet another place into a basin and a door. Large surfaces of the slanted parts of the rock were also sculpted with small channels to redirect the rainwater into basins carved at the bottom of the rock. "This is where various ceremonies took place and the participants were addressed by the person sitting on the stone chair at the focal point," commented Dushko.
No sooner had Dushko finished explaining the functions conducted at this level, than he invited us to climb up on the steep slope of the rock. We all thought it was some sort of a joke until he himself demonstrated how it was done. "You see the two vertical columns of regularly repeating holes in the rock?" he asked. "They are a step ladder!" Begrudgingly, pouring sweat and sliding inside my sandals, I climbed up the rock finding that I could grip the cup shaped holes very well without the danger of slipping. Before I knew it, I was up on the next level. Being somewhat more secluded inside the rock, I continued to climb to the next level, unsolicited. Finally I reached the top of the upper side of the rock and as the others continued the climb I photographed as many man-made carvings as I could find.
When Dushko arrived at the top he asked me to sit beside him on what looked like a carved out seat on the rock. "What do you see from here?" he asked. I said that I could see everything from there but I missed the point entirely! He then said, "Look through that slit in the rock and tell me what you see." I said I saw that big boulder on top of the hill about a kilometer away. "Move to the side and look up again," he said. As I moved to the side the distant boulder disappeared. The boulder could only be seen from a single position. He repeated the demonstration for another four boulders on top of the hill, which he called megaliths. This was the observatory part of this structure from which the ancients could observe the various cycles of the sun and the moon.
As the sun continued to beam upon us Dushko could see that we were being robbed of our enthusiasm and asked us to go around the rock and enter a shaded part that looked like it had been scooped out with a giant ice cream scoop. But to get to that part we had to go around a dangerous slope. But not to worry, Dushko was going to show us how it was done. There were holes carved in the rock for the feet and one cup shaped hole for the hand to grip. "Grip the top hole with your right hand and put your right foot in the first bottom hole and your left foot next to that. Now continue to walk around the face of the rock. You will not fall but don´t look down," instructed Dushko. Every instinct in my body was telling me not to do it, and I am sure the others felt the same way, but Dushko reassured us that it was safe. It was as easy as it looked and the reward was that we got to sit in the shade. Unfortunately our agony was not over as Dushko again asked us to take yet another dangerous leap of faith and go around yet another column of protruding rock. It was not that this column was any more dangerous than the first, but going around this one you could see straight down, which by this point on the rock was at least six stories high. Just thinking about it petrified me so I refused, thinking it wasn´t wise to take such risks. The others agreed and we begged Dushko not to do it himself. Yet again Dushko showed us how it was done and how easy it was. At this point I felt embarrassed that a much older man could do it and I couldn´t. So in spite of the others pleading with me to stay, I followed Dushko´s lead and crossed over. The sacrifice however was worth it. At the steepest part of the rock a large basin was carved about six by six feet square which could hold a depth of about a foot of water. But as Dushko pointed out, a wooden trap could be mounted on the front of the rock which could extend the basin´s capacity to a depth of about four feet.
When I saw this large formation, carved into the side of this steep cliff on this giant rock, in the middle of nowhere, existing in a parched landscape I knew something big and important was taking place here tens of thousands of years ago. In spite of the parching heat and fear, and sweat pouring out of my body, I was mesmerized and many questions were flooding through my mind. I said to Dushko, "I have to take pictures of this because no one is going to believe me when I tell them what I saw."
The trip back was easy. By now I had lost all fear and as the others prepared for the climb down I began to experiment with the steps. When I finally figured them out, I did some climbing up and down with my eyes closed. It was like climbing up and down modern stairs in the dark. Even though you can´t see the steps, you know where they are. It was the same here. I imagine they were used day and night in the dark and by all kinds of people, young and old. A lot of thought had to be given to designing the steps and whoever did this had to have been experienced in what they were doing.
Who were these people who built this structure in the middle of nowhere, in a parched landscape? If this was just an observatory like Kokino, then why build two levels of doors? Why build a podium and a place for performing ceremonies? Why build a reservoir for water so high up on the steep slope of the rock? Why collect the rain water in basins all over the rock?
These are questions that I could have asked Dushko but he assured me that he has written a book about this site. The one question however that I did ask was about the megaliths on top of the mountain; two of which are shaped as half moons. He assured me that from the platforms they stand on, they were moved there by humans.
Even though we only got to see about one tenth of the carvings on the rock, I was glad we had made the trip. From what I saw, Tsotsev Kamen, one day, will become another wonder of the world. Who were these ancient people who built a fortified observatory? Why did they have a need to fortify it? Did they have enemies? Who were their enemies? What ceremonies did they perform? Why did they need to observe the cycles of the sun and moon? Why did they need so much water and what did they do with it? Were they locals or did they settle there from somewhere else because of the rock? How did they learn the skills they applied to build the observatory? And most importantly, what can they teach us about themselves? Important questions that one day can be answered, but only if we give this great place our attention. So if you are a local in Macedonia or someday you plan to vacation in Macedonia, don´t forget to visit Tsotsev Kamen. You will not be disappointed by what you discover!
Other articles by Risto Stefov:
http://www.maknews.com/html/articles.html#stefov
http://www.americanchronicle.com/authors/view/3446
Free electronic books by Risto Stefov available at:
http://makedonskakafana.com/risto_stefov_ebooks.html
Our Name is Macedonia
www.mhrmi.org/our_name_is_macedonia
You can contact the author at rstefov@hotmail.com
Dushko insisted that we leave Skopje early, by 5 am at the latest, for the hour drive to Kokino. But before going there we had to go to Kumanovo to pick up Dushko. Unfortunately the earliest Slave could make it was 8 am because of business matters he had to attend to, August 25 was a working day, but like a Swiss watch Slave was right on time.
About half an hour later we picked up Dushko and we were winding our way up the grand mountains following the signs to Kokino until we could see the great rock formation in the distance. "That is the ancient Kokino observatory," said Dushko as he pointed "but to get to it we will need to go on up on foot for a while."
In spite of the treacherous road conditions, Slave drove up the mountain as far as his jeep could take us and from there on we had to travel by foot. It was a ten minute walk for an experienced climber but, as Slave remarked, "We don´t care how long it takes or how difficult the climb is going to be." We are here now and there was nothing stopping us from going up there. But no sooner had we stepped out of the air conditioned jeep than we felt the burning heat of the morning sun. It was only around 9 am yet it was burning hot, everything around us was parched. The grass was dry and brown. Odi was the first to remark about the heat and we all finally realized why Dushko insisted on leaving so early in the morning.
Our enthusiasm however gave us incentive to keep going. On our way up we met other visitors as they were now leaving. We also met a guide who was very helpful in answering our questions and pointing out important aspects of the observatory. When we were finished he gave us a brochure with information about the observatory, including a link to a website where more information could be found (www.kokino.org.mk).
Satisfied that we had seen all that we could in one visit, we began the downward trek. As we again faced the scorching sun, I realized how unprepared we were. Both Odi and I had come in sandals and neither of us had brought any water. Lucky for us Dushko had come prepared and was willing to share his water.
After stopping off at a roadside concession stand and drinking our fill of water from a natural spring, we were off to another place which, with the exception of Dushko, was not at all familiar to us.
It was a long trip on a treacherous road and Slave kept asking how far this place was, as we wound around hill after hill. When we were finally there Dushko pointed to a large rock formation sticking out of the ground, somewhere close to the bottom of an ancient and rounded off mountain. "Take a right," Dushko ordered. But after looking at the path Dushko wanted Slave to drive his jeep, both Odi and I were about to object. This was indeed a very treacherous road on which I would never drive, no matter what kind of vehicle I operated. Slave however did as Dushko asked and after several minutes of being shaken, bumped and twisted we were there, or at least as close to the rock as a machine could have taken us. The only condition Slave had made for taking such a chance that could have disabled his jeep and stranded us all there was that the person who suggested we take this trip buy us all dinner. Odi volunteered since it was his idea to take the trip.
By now it was past 11 am and we took a long and treacherous trip to see what looked like a great big, ordinary rock. The sun was beaming down and as we exited the jeep reality hit again as to how hot it could get in this part of the country. I am sure at this point we all, except for Dushko, wondered if taking this trip was worth it. But in spite of the burning heat and snakes lurking in the tall dry grass, Dushko insisted we go on.
As we continued our trek up hill, closer and closer to this giant rock, we could see pock marks all over its face, as if some army artillery had used it for target practice. I made a remark to that effect to Dushko but he told me to be patient.
As we came closer towards the rock I could see patterns of smaller holes about six to ten inches in diameter, appearing in regular patterns like beams on a roof. After freeing ourselves from the obstacle of grasping thorn bushes, we finally came face to face with the rock. From here I could see that it was not an ordinary rock, sculpted by cannon fire or a weather beaten rock sculpted by wind and rain alone. It was a well worked rock, sculpted by human hands. There were holes everywhere in straight lines both vertically and horizontally. There were round, square and rectangular holes and there was no doubt in my mind that someone, a long, long time ago had gone through a lot of effort to make these holes, but for what purpose? I did my best to take as may photographs as possible until Dushko called me to go up onto the rock.
As I rejoined the others, who had gone to the topside on the rock, Dushko pointed out some sculpting done on a large horizontal slab about a dozen feet away from the rock face. Some were elongated rectangles and others were "L" shaped, elongated rectangles. "This is where the corners and the door of a structure stood," Dushko pointed out. "And here vertically at this opening was the main door to the inside of the rock. As you can see it is perfectly rectangular and the sides and the top of the rock are cut for a door to fit. Back here the rock is cut to allow for the door to swing and stay out of the way when it is opened. As you can see from the cleavage on the rock, it would have been a very thick door. Here behind it is a hole to hold a strong wedge to hold the door shut," remarked Dushko.
As we walked further up the rock we could see the evidence that the rock was widened to allow a human body to comfortably fit through. "And here at the narrowest part, as you can see by the holes, a second door was put in that could be opened out of the way and bolted shut," remarked Dushko.
As we continued to climb, Dushko pointed to a place on the rock which had been sculpted into a seat, another into a pedestal, yet another place into a basin and a door. Large surfaces of the slanted parts of the rock were also sculpted with small channels to redirect the rainwater into basins carved at the bottom of the rock. "This is where various ceremonies took place and the participants were addressed by the person sitting on the stone chair at the focal point," commented Dushko.
No sooner had Dushko finished explaining the functions conducted at this level, than he invited us to climb up on the steep slope of the rock. We all thought it was some sort of a joke until he himself demonstrated how it was done. "You see the two vertical columns of regularly repeating holes in the rock?" he asked. "They are a step ladder!" Begrudgingly, pouring sweat and sliding inside my sandals, I climbed up the rock finding that I could grip the cup shaped holes very well without the danger of slipping. Before I knew it, I was up on the next level. Being somewhat more secluded inside the rock, I continued to climb to the next level, unsolicited. Finally I reached the top of the upper side of the rock and as the others continued the climb I photographed as many man-made carvings as I could find.
When Dushko arrived at the top he asked me to sit beside him on what looked like a carved out seat on the rock. "What do you see from here?" he asked. I said that I could see everything from there but I missed the point entirely! He then said, "Look through that slit in the rock and tell me what you see." I said I saw that big boulder on top of the hill about a kilometer away. "Move to the side and look up again," he said. As I moved to the side the distant boulder disappeared. The boulder could only be seen from a single position. He repeated the demonstration for another four boulders on top of the hill, which he called megaliths. This was the observatory part of this structure from which the ancients could observe the various cycles of the sun and the moon.
As the sun continued to beam upon us Dushko could see that we were being robbed of our enthusiasm and asked us to go around the rock and enter a shaded part that looked like it had been scooped out with a giant ice cream scoop. But to get to that part we had to go around a dangerous slope. But not to worry, Dushko was going to show us how it was done. There were holes carved in the rock for the feet and one cup shaped hole for the hand to grip. "Grip the top hole with your right hand and put your right foot in the first bottom hole and your left foot next to that. Now continue to walk around the face of the rock. You will not fall but don´t look down," instructed Dushko. Every instinct in my body was telling me not to do it, and I am sure the others felt the same way, but Dushko reassured us that it was safe. It was as easy as it looked and the reward was that we got to sit in the shade. Unfortunately our agony was not over as Dushko again asked us to take yet another dangerous leap of faith and go around yet another column of protruding rock. It was not that this column was any more dangerous than the first, but going around this one you could see straight down, which by this point on the rock was at least six stories high. Just thinking about it petrified me so I refused, thinking it wasn´t wise to take such risks. The others agreed and we begged Dushko not to do it himself. Yet again Dushko showed us how it was done and how easy it was. At this point I felt embarrassed that a much older man could do it and I couldn´t. So in spite of the others pleading with me to stay, I followed Dushko´s lead and crossed over. The sacrifice however was worth it. At the steepest part of the rock a large basin was carved about six by six feet square which could hold a depth of about a foot of water. But as Dushko pointed out, a wooden trap could be mounted on the front of the rock which could extend the basin´s capacity to a depth of about four feet.
When I saw this large formation, carved into the side of this steep cliff on this giant rock, in the middle of nowhere, existing in a parched landscape I knew something big and important was taking place here tens of thousands of years ago. In spite of the parching heat and fear, and sweat pouring out of my body, I was mesmerized and many questions were flooding through my mind. I said to Dushko, "I have to take pictures of this because no one is going to believe me when I tell them what I saw."
The trip back was easy. By now I had lost all fear and as the others prepared for the climb down I began to experiment with the steps. When I finally figured them out, I did some climbing up and down with my eyes closed. It was like climbing up and down modern stairs in the dark. Even though you can´t see the steps, you know where they are. It was the same here. I imagine they were used day and night in the dark and by all kinds of people, young and old. A lot of thought had to be given to designing the steps and whoever did this had to have been experienced in what they were doing.
Who were these people who built this structure in the middle of nowhere, in a parched landscape? If this was just an observatory like Kokino, then why build two levels of doors? Why build a podium and a place for performing ceremonies? Why build a reservoir for water so high up on the steep slope of the rock? Why collect the rain water in basins all over the rock?
These are questions that I could have asked Dushko but he assured me that he has written a book about this site. The one question however that I did ask was about the megaliths on top of the mountain; two of which are shaped as half moons. He assured me that from the platforms they stand on, they were moved there by humans.
Even though we only got to see about one tenth of the carvings on the rock, I was glad we had made the trip. From what I saw, Tsotsev Kamen, one day, will become another wonder of the world. Who were these ancient people who built a fortified observatory? Why did they have a need to fortify it? Did they have enemies? Who were their enemies? What ceremonies did they perform? Why did they need to observe the cycles of the sun and moon? Why did they need so much water and what did they do with it? Were they locals or did they settle there from somewhere else because of the rock? How did they learn the skills they applied to build the observatory? And most importantly, what can they teach us about themselves? Important questions that one day can be answered, but only if we give this great place our attention. So if you are a local in Macedonia or someday you plan to vacation in Macedonia, don´t forget to visit Tsotsev Kamen. You will not be disappointed by what you discover!
Other articles by Risto Stefov:
http://www.maknews.com/html/articles.html#stefov
http://www.americanchronicle.com/authors/view/3446
Free electronic books by Risto Stefov available at:
http://makedonskakafana.com/risto_stefov_ebooks.html
Our Name is Macedonia
www.mhrmi.org/our_name_is_macedonia
You can contact the author at rstefov@hotmail.com
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