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Kalbajar is an administrative district in the west of the Republic of Azerbaijan. In
1993
the whole area was occupied by Armenia and totally devastated. 60 thousand
residents of Kalbajar were uprooted from their homes and casualties reached several
thousand.
In 1967, multiple rock carvings were discovered in Kalbajar District, at the foot of
Mount Delidagh, the Kalbajar Volcanic Highland (G.Ismayilzadeh, 1976). The largest
cluster of rock carvings was discovered at Alagel kettle, 3000 meters above sea level.
Numerous petroglyphs are located around the highland pastures and alpine meadows,
the place is also known for large blocks of black basalt. The volcanic highland area
constitutes the majority of Kalbajar’s territory. The area mainly consists of Quaternary
lava, so the major clusters of petroglyphs are concentrated at the banks of highland
lakes, some of them filling the craters of extinct volcanoes. Lakeside areas are rich with
obsidian, silicon, shale, soft porous tuff and granite. It were these rocks that have
been attracting human beings to this place since times immemorial.