Zorats-Karer ( Armenian ** Զորաց Քարեր — stones of warriors , stone army ) or Karahunj ( Armenian ** Քարահունջ — singing stones ) is an ancient megalithic complex located on a mountain plateau at an altitude of 1770 meters above sea level , in the Syunik region of Armenia, three kilometers north of the city of Sisian .
The complex consists of many large standing stones, some of which have circular holes in their upper part. It is a Historical and cultural reserve since 2009.
The complex was located next to a Bronze Age settlement, to which it belonged. According to popular legend, a military leader is buried in a dolmen, and his soldiers are buried under detached stones: hence the name: «military stones».
For the first time, archaeologist O. Khnikyan and astronomer E. Parsamyan spoke about the astronomical purpose of the monument in the 1980s.
In 1985, Elma Parsamyan connected the complex with the village of Karahunj, located in the same district of Zangezur . The name of the village was divided into parts «kara» (stone) and «hunj» (bouquet)***( punj in armenian), and a parallel was drawn with the name Stonehenge in view of the external similarity of objects and the alleged astronomical purpose .
29 kilometers east of the complex, near the town of Goris , there is the eponymous village of Karahunj, 80-90 kilometers to the north-east. In Nagorno-Karabakh, there are 2 more villages with the same name. The name Karahunj (Քարահունջ) consists of two Armenian words «kar» that is «stone» and «hunj» (հունջ) or «hunch» that is «voice», «echo», «sound».
Actually the name «Karahunj» can be translated as «talking stones». Armenian historian Stepanos Orbelian in his work “History of Syunik ” (XIII century) mentions the village of Karunj <?> near the city of Syunik / modern Sisian. This name is translated from Armenian as “stone treasure” or “fundamental stones”
Մարգարիտա Գրիգորյան 