Alternate name Tsote’s Stone Height 481 m (1,578 ft) Address 1360, Macedonia (FYROM) | Type cave, rock shelter Condition 3 Material Igneous rock | |
 | ||
Location Kratovo Municipality, Republic of Macedonia Region Northeastern Statistical Region Similar Hotel Kratis, Hotel Romantik, Saint Joachim Osogovski | ||
Cocev kamen part 1 of 2
Situated in the north-east of the Republic of Macedonia Cocev Kamen (Macedonian: Цоцев Камен) is a hilltop cave site of volcanic origin near the town of Kratovo. Objects (bones) discovered near the cave suggest human presence since the Paleolithic. Authors agree that the site served as a gathering point for sacrificial rituals from the Neolithic, the Bronze age, throughout antiquity until the Middle Ages as clarified by an abundance of pottery shards, stone (flint) tools and bone fragments unearthed from the surrounding areas. Several caves and rock shelters are decorated with red figurative art work. Comparison with similar sites in Bulgaria and Italy suggest that the paintings are indeed prehistoric.
Contents
Debated remains the notion that Cocev Kamen has also been used as an (astronomical) observatory. "There are visible interventions on the stone surface everywhere, in the form of stairs, pools, thrones, and one big cave was completely rearranged, with a large part of its wall ripped off to make a fenced platform looking at the nearby hill, which contains big natural stones..." These alterations served ceremonial purposes during offerings to fertility deities.