The mountain terraces of Dagestan, which have been built by people for several thousand years ago, are one of the interesting sights of the region. The largest number of mountain terraces in Dagestan has been preserved in the Gunib and Dadakhan districts. They are located on the slopes of mountain ranges.
The mountain terraces of Bali, China, Peru and other regions of Southeast Asia and Latin America are known all over the world. In some countries, mountain terraces are UNESCO Cultural Heritage sites. In Dagestan, mountain terraces occupy more than 150 thousand hectares. They are located in very picturesque areas of the Caucasus Mountains, but so far, they do not have not only world, but even all-Russian fame.
Visit to the mountain terraces of Dagestan
If you want to see the mountain terraces of Dagestan, then the easiest way to do it is in the Gunib district near the Village of Chokh or in the Dadakhan district near the village of Kubachi. Many tourists come to these places. Here you can see not only natural, but also ethnographic sights.
Many tourists come to the Village of Gunib, where the events of the Caucasian War took place. It is located in a very picturesque area of central Dagestan. The Andalal Valley begins near Gunib, which stretches for 40 kilometers. All tourists come here to see the abandoned ghost-village Gamsutl and Choh village. High-altitude terraces are located next to them. Some of them are located in different places of the Andalal valley on the slopes of the mountains, but most of the terraces are concentrated near the village of Choh. A high-quality road has been laid from Gunib to Chokh and Gamsutl villages.
History of mountain terraces of Dagestan
In some sources, there are references to evidence of the construction of mountain terraces in Dagestan during the Soviet period, when the creation of collective farms began in 1930-40. Allegedly, the terraces were erected by bulldozers, which cut through the buttresses in the rock. Perhaps single terraces on gentle slopes near large settlements could be erected by bulldozers. However, there is no question that mountain terraces in Dagestan could be built by bulldozers on steep slopes in remote mountainous areas. There are no roads even for light vehicles, and it is absolutely impossible to deliver bulldozers to such high mountain slopes.
In Dagestan there are terraces that are located at an altitude of more than 2000 meters on the steep slopes of the mountains. Some of them look very ancient, and nowadays they are all abandoned. Irrigation systems (ditches and canals) that supplied water to these mountain terraces are not even noticeable. If all this had been created several decades ago, then everything should have been preserved in relatively good condition.
There are versions of scientists that mountain terraces in the Caucasus belong to the period of the Maykop culture. It is named after the Mound located near the city of Maykop. Excavations were carried out there in 1898 and for the first time evidence of an ancient culture, spread from 4 thousand BC to the Scythian period was discovered. This archaeological culture was spread throughout the Caucasus, from Taman to Dagestan.
Terraced farming is called a phenomenon of the Maykop culture, as it testifies to the sedentary lifestyle of the peoples of the Caucasus of those times, high population density and engineering skills that allowed the construction of irrigation facilities high in the mountains. Archaeologists, during excavations on these terraces, mainly found ceramics of the Maykop period there. Ceramics of the Scythian and Alan periods were found much less during these excavations.
This means that most of the mountain terraces of Dagestan are more than two thousand years old. Some scientists believe the age of some mountain terraces can reach 5 thousand years. Scythians and Alans mostly led a nomadic lifestyle and used ready-made terraces by inertia. Over time, most of the irrigation systems on the terraces fell into disrepair and their use ceased.
