COCEV KAMEN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE (ЛОКАЛИТЕТ КАМЕН ЛОКАЛИТЕТ ЦОЦЕВ)

Located at 481 m above sea level, the Cocev Kamen site (pronounced tso-tsev ka-men) consists of a rocky mass that appears to fall in the middle of a peaceful valley. This choir houses a cave decorated with traces of Neolithic rock paintings. While the place was inhabited in prehistory, local scholars suggest that the «stone of Tsotsé» was a theater (which would make it the oldest in the world), a sacrificial place and/or an astronomical observatory. All these assumptions are presented as very serious by the Skopje authorities, which even intend to have the site classified as UNESCO's World Heritage Site. But no international archeological study worthy of the name has supported such assumptions. Only a few fragments of pottery in Antiquity and Middle Ages have been discovered in the vicinity. As with the supposed «Kokino Megalithic Observatory», near Kumanovo, there is the greatest reservation about the merits of local «scientists». The place is intriguing and beautiful at sunset. So once again, you have to form your own opinion on the spot.

Go there. From Kratovo, take the road leading to Kumanovo, and after 5 km turn left to cross the Kratovska Reka River. After 6.5 km, you pass Filipovci (Филипои И). Continue on 3.5 km and just before Sekulica (С e кулица), turn right on the small road that passes 3 km further by Vakuf (Gu. Then go on 7 km and turn left to take the path that passes under Cocev Kamen and takes 3 km further leads to Konjuh (Копух). Before reaching this village, turn left and a 2 km path takes you to the site. End on foot by one of the two trails on 300 m.