Скельские менгиры

Скельские менгиры, also known as Tekli-Tash and Текли-Таш, meaning “поставленный камень,” are a group of upright limestone blocks in the village of Родниковое, 120 metres south of the shore of Чернореченского водохранилища. They are a Bronze Age archaeological monument and a regional cultural heritage site of the peoples of the Russian Federation. The name “Скельские менгиры” comes from the former name of the village, Скеля.

The largest central stone rises to 2,8 м and weighs about six tons. Its average cross-section is 1 м x 0,7 м, and its regular shape resembles a modern pyramidal obelisk. The southern stone is lower and broader, measuring about 1,5 м high, 1,2 м wide and 0,55 м thick; it now stands inside the fence of a burial place for Red Army soldiers and partisans of the Великая Отечественная война. Two further stones form the northern side of the group.

The monument was first brought into scholarly circulation by archaeologist Н. И. Репников in 1907. He recorded three menhirs. The third was excavated in the 1960s during water-main construction, while a fourth stone, already fallen in antiquity, was discovered during earthworks. А. А. Щепинский studied the site in 1978, dated its creation to the III — beginning of the II millennium BCE, and proposed that the stones had cult significance.

The third and fourth menhirs were returned to their places on 26 ноября 2010. The central stone is one of the most prominent surviving monuments of this kind in south-eastern Europe, having remained on its original site. Its protection was confirmed on 9 февраля 2017 by Sevastopol government decree 98-ПП, which designated it a regional cultural heritage object.

Скельские менгиры is a menhir (standing stone) in Rodnikivske, Russia. No English Wikipedia article exists for it; the full text below is the Russian article "Скельские менгиры", shown in the original language.