The rocks
And the sunrise marks.
Тоши Трајчев — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Тоши Трајчев — CC BY-SA 4.0 · No machine-readable author provided. Acer GER~commonswiki assumed (based on copyright claims). — CC BY-SA 2.5 · george k. 1981 — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Darko Nikolovski — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Darko Nikolovski — CC BY-SA 3.0
Kokino is a Bronze Age archaeological site on the summit of Tatićev Kamen, at about 1,010 to 1,030 metres, some 30 kilometres from Kumanovo and 6 kilometres from the Serbian border. It was discovered in 2001 by the archaeologist Jovica Stankovski, director of the museum in Kumanovo. The wider site covers about 30 hectares. Its oldest finds date from around the 19th century BC, with signs of settlement until the 7th century BC; most finds are from the Middle Bronze Age, pottery, stone mills and moulds. Vessels filled with offerings were found in cracks in the rocks, so the place is seen as a «holy mountain». The researchers who found it present it as a «megalithic observatory» whose rocks mark sunrise at the solstices and equinoxes, though that reading is still debated among scholars. The site is open and free, reached by a short path from the car park, and the summit gives a wide view over the surrounding hills. It is about an hour and a half by car from Skopje, the last stretch on country roads.
And the sunrise marks.
Offering vessels.
Over the hills.
Tatićev Kamen summit, Staro Nagoričane municipality, about 30 km from Kumanovo
Its discoverers present it as a megalithic observatory marking sunrise at the solstices and equinoxes, but that reading is still debated by scholars.