Stone antiquities of Kosmach I
Two rock sanctuaries and several ritual stones were discovered on the territory of the village Kosmach. One of the sanctuaries, called “Stone of Dovbush” is located on the southeastern slope of the hill (790 m above sea level), 2.5 km from the village of Zavoyely. The village is one of the farthest from the central part of Kosmach. It is located in the northwest in the valley of the Stavnyk River, which is a left tributary of the Pistinka River.
At the place where the Dovbush Stone is located, more than 20 stone blocks of light gray sandstone are concentrated. They are scattered on the pasture adjacent to the field road. A deep ravine overgrown with forest approaches the monument from the northern side. In the study of ancient religious monuments, the topography of the sacred place is of great importance – the planning and compositional structure, the location of the constituent parts of the sanctuary and their sacral-symbolic meaning.
In the central part of the sanctuary, ritual rites related to fixing the winter and summer solstices were held. These astronomical phenomena were allegorically depicted in the form of animals. The rock remains were given a zoomorphic appearance by means of large chips and undercuts.
