Ughtasar Trapet Basin — Pilgrim Lake Shore Petroglyphs
Trapet Ughtasar · Karahundj basin
Bronze Age (3500–1000 BCE)·Syunik Bronze to Urartian pastoral·🇦🇲 Syunik Province, Ughtasar plateau Trapet small crater lake 500 m west of main lake, Armenia
About
About Ughtasar Trapet Basin — Pilgrim Lake Shore Petroglyphs
Western crater-lake basin 500 m from main Ughtasar lake on the Syunik pilgrim mountain plateau at 3220 m, with dense clusters of 5th–2nd millennium BCE petroglyphs featuring long-horned bulls, hunting nets and a unique 3-m 'wheel' calendar motif carved on basalt slabs encircling the tarn. Discovered 1968 Harutyunyan. Accessible only July–September, jeep then hike.
Why it mattersTrapet proves Ughtasar plateau has multiple lake shrines, not single lake; wheel motif unique among Armenian petroglyphs
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Wheel motif calendar vs trap net debate
- 02Seasonal pilgrim vs permanent summer pasture
Theories
- 01Pilgrim mountain lake cult thesis
- 02Solar calendar predecessor to Carahunge
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.3500–1200 BCE; wheel 2000 BCE?
- Period
- Bronze Age (3500–1000 BCE)
- Culture
- Syunik Bronze to Urartian pastoral
- Purpose
- High lake pilgrim shrine and calendar marker
- Abandoned
- c.1000 BCE
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
1968
Harutyunyan discov esp plateau
2011
Tigran Mets park fragments moved to Yerevan
2022
Concierge travel guide 3000-3300 m mapping
On the ground
Structures & features
39.6820° N · 46.0450° E · 3220 m · 3 mapped features
Wheel Calendar Slab
petroglyph3 m circular wheel with 24 spokes and central cupule
39.6822° N · 46.0453° EBull Hunting Net Panel
petroglyph panelLong-horned bull entangled in net with hunters
39.6818° N · 46.0446° ETrapet Tarn Shore
landscapeCrater lake 100 m dia with encircling carved boulders
39.6824° N · 46.0456° E
Gallery