Arkaim: A frame without a picture

Arkaim was a fortified settlement in the Bronze Age that has gained wide popularity in Russia as a mystical "place of power." At every summer solstice, it attracts up to 15,000 pilgrims, tourists, and vendors, while others come to rest, dance, have fun, or look at the others.



However, everything excavated by archeologists has now been reburied, nothing of the original structure is now to be seen, and visitors can tour only a reconstructed house and part of a defensive wall some distance from the original site.



It’s as if a crowd gathered to view a picture frame and imagined a famous painting. Everyone sees a different picture, depending of their beliefs and value systems.



This project was photographed by Roman Makhmutov, renowned Russian-American award-winning documentary photographer. See Makhmutov's work at roman.makhmutov.com