Scattered across Armenia’s highest mountains are giant carved stones that seem wildly out of place. Some stand taller than a two-storey building, yet none of these mysterious vishaps or dragon stones sit near known archaeological sites such as ancient villages.
Archaeologists have struggled to explain why, 6,000 years ago, people dragged these giant monuments into frozen, harsh, high-altitude terrain—often above 2,700 meters—where snow limits human activity to just a few summer months. Some argued they marked territory, while others saw them as purely symbolic or decorative. However, nobody could confirm the exact purpose these silent stones served.
A new study now reveals the clearest answer yet. The stones were built for worship, and not for decoration or as territory markers. But this wasn’t your typical pagan cult.
“The findings support the hypothesis that vishaps were closely associated with an ancient water cult, as they are predominantly situated near water sources, including high-altitude springs and discovered prehistoric irrigation systems,” the study authors note.
Taking a closer look at the giant monuments
Dragon stones come in three main typologies: Fish-shaped stones (piscis), stretched cattle-hide shapes (vellus), and hybrid forms combining both motifs. Researchers from Yerevan State University and the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography analyzed 115 vishaps across the Armenian Highlands, using a combination of GPS mapping, elevation analysis, precise stone measurements, and radiocarbon dating.
This is the first study to do so at this scale. Until now, dragon stones had never been studied in such large numbers. The researchers combined landscape mapping, stone measurements, and carving details to look for patterns that single-site studies had missed.
One detail stood out immediately. Every vishap is polished on all sides except one narrow end.
“The majority of vishaps are either collapsed or placed horizontally on the ground. However, all three typological groups of vishaps exhibit carving and polishing on all faces, with the ‘tail’ invariably left uncarved. This consistent feature strongly suggests that vishaps were originally positioned upright,” the study authors said.
Another important factor the research highlighted was location. Vishaps are almost never found far from water. They sit beside springs, snowmelt streams, volcanic craters, lakes, and prehistoric irrigation channels.
Even their elevations are not random. The stones cluster at two distinct altitude bands–around 1,900 meters and 2,700 meters above sea level–reflecting different environmental zones and seasonal movement through the mountains. Their shape followed function.
For instance, fish-shaped stones dominate the highest elevations, near natural springs fed by melting snow. Whereas Cow-hide-shaped stones appear lower down, where water was diverted for farming. This pattern closely matches how ancient herding communities followed water across the highlands.
“The findings indicate a general correlation between vishap size and altitude, thus challenging assumptions that larger monuments would be concentrated at lower altitudes. Instead, their presence at high elevations suggests significant cultural motivations, likely tied to the ancient water cult, as vishaps are predominantly located near springs as well and are represented by fish forms,” the researchers added.
Labor against logic—unless belief demanded it
If vishaps were practical markers or casual monuments, archaeologists would expect them to get smaller at higher elevations. Working time is limited in alpine zones only to summer days, and hauling multi-ton stones uphill is extraordinarily costly.
But the data show the opposite.
Large vishaps—some weighing over six tons—are just as common at high altitudes as at lower ones. Statistical analysis shows no decline in monument size with increasing elevation, directly contradicting what would be expected if convenience or efficiency were the primary concerns.
The implication is powerful: people invested enormous labor at high elevations because the location mattered. Water sources near mountain summits—where snow is born—held deep cultural and religious significance. In 2024, archaeologists discovered two infant burials beneath a dragon stone at the Lchashen site near Lake Sevan in Armenia.
As the authors argue, such sustained effort makes sense only if the stones served a sacred function, tied to reverence for water as the foundation of life.
The long-lasting bond between dragon stones and water
Radiocarbon dating from the site of Tirinkatar places at least some vishaps between 4200 and 4000 BCE, during the Chalcolithic period, making them older than Stonehenge by more than a thousand years.
The study argues that placing dragon stones at a spring was an act of reverence and protection toward life’s most critical resource.
These monuments were religious symbols, but they also appear to have been linked to early irrigation practices and natural water flow across the landscape.
Their significance did not fade with time. Later societies reused these sites, carving Urartian cuneiform inscriptions onto some stones, and centuries later adding Christian crosses and religious motifs. Belief systems shifted, but the sacred relationship between stone and water remained.
However, many vishaps are now damaged or no longer standing upright, which limits what archaeologists can reconstruct.
Today, many vishaps are damaged or no longer standing upright, limiting what archaeologists can reconstruct from the monuments alone. To overcome this, the researchers plan to combine archaeological evidence with climate and hydrological data to better understand how water availability shaped migration, cooperation, and belief in early mountain societies.
The study is published in the journal npj Heritage Science.
