Editing Swastika (section)

====Caucasus====
[[File:Arevakhach.svg|thumb|upright 0.5|Armenian ''[[arevakhach]]'']]

In Armenia the swastika is called the "[[arevakhach]]" and "kerkhach" ({{langx|hy|կեռխաչ}})<ref name="Concise Armenian Encyclopedia p. 663" />{{dubious|date=December 2014}} and is the ancient symbol of eternity and eternal light (i.e. God). Swastikas in Armenia were found on petroglyphs from the copper age, predating the Bronze Age. During the Bronze Age it was depicted on [[cauldron]]s, belts, [[medallion]]s and other items.<ref>T. Wilson [https://archive.org/details/theswastika00wilsuoft The swastika, the earlist known symbol and its migrations], pp. 807, 951</ref>

Swastikas can also be seen on early Medieval churches and fortresses, including the principal tower in Armenia's historical capital city of [[Ani]].<ref name="Concise Armenian Encyclopedia p. 663" /> The same symbol can be found on [[Armenian carpet]]s, cross-stones (''[[khachkar]]'') and in medieval manuscripts, as well as on modern monuments as a [[Armenian eternity sign|symbol of eternity]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Epec69LGa0IC&q=symbol+of+eternity+modern+armenia&pg=PA148|title=Armenia|isbn=978-1-84162-345-0|last1=Holding|first1=Nicholas|last2=Holding|first2=Deirdre|date=2011|page=148|publisher=Bradt Travel Guides }}</ref>{{clear left}}

Old [[petroglyph]]s of four-beam and other swastikas were recorded in [[Dagestan]], in particular, among the [[Avars (Caucasus)|Avars]].<ref name="Debirov">{{cite book |surname=Debirov |given=Paruk M.  |title=Резьба по камню в Дагестане |trans-title=Stone carving in Dagestan |language=ru |url=https://instituteofhistory.ru/library/publications/rezba-po-kamnyu-v-dagestane |place=Moscow |publisher=[[Nauka (publisher)|Nauka]] |date=1966}}</ref> According to [[Vakhushti of Kartli]], the tribal banner of the [[Avar Khanate|Avar khans]] depicted a wolf with a standard with a double-spiral swastika.<ref>[[Vakhushti of Kartli]]. ''[[Description of the Kingdom of Georgia]]''.</ref>

Petroglyphs with swastikas were depicted on medieval [[Vainakh tower architecture]] (see sketches by scholar Bruno Plaetschke from the 1920s).<ref name="Plaetschke">{{cite book |surname=Plaetschke |given=Bruno |title=Die Tschetschenen: Forschungen zur Völkerkunde des nordöstlichen Kaukasus auf Grund von Reisen in den Jahren 1918–20 und 1927/28 |work=NAHCHEWORLD , Сайт истории народа Nahche |trans-title=The Chechens |language=de |date=1929 |url=https://nahcheworld.com/%D0%BA%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B3%D0%B0-%D0%B1%D1%80%D1%83%D0%BD%D0%BE-%D0%BF%D0%BB%D0%B5%D1%87%D0%BA%D0%B5-%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%87%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%86%D1%8B/ |series=Veröffentlichungen des Geographischen Instituts der [[University of Königsberg|Universität Königsberg]] Pr., 11 |publisher=Friedrichsen, de Gruyter & Co m. b. H. |place=Hamburg |archive-date=23 January 2022 |access-date=2 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220123161107/https://nahcheworld.com/%d0%ba%d0%bd%d0%b8%d0%b3%d0%b0-%d0%b1%d1%80%d1%83%d0%bd%d0%be-%d0%bf%d0%bb%d0%b5%d1%87%d0%ba%d0%b5-%d1%87%d0%b5%d1%87%d0%b5%d0%bd%d1%86%d1%8b/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Thus, a rectangular swastika was made in engraved form on the entrance of a residential tower in the settlement [[Khimoy]], [[Chechnya]].<ref name="Plaetschke" />

<gallery>
File:The petroglyph with swastikas, in Geghama mountains, Armenia.jpg|The petroglyph with swastikas, [[Gegham mountains]], Armenia, circa 8,000 – 5,000 BCE<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fundamentalarmenology.am/Article/9/180/ROCK-CARVINGS-OF-ARMENIA.html|title=Rock Carvings of Armenia, Fundamental Armenology, v. 2, 2015, pp. 1-22|first=K.S.|last=Tokhatyan|publisher=Institute of History of NAS RA}}</ref>
File:Swastika of Avars Daghestan.JPG|[[Avars (Caucasus)|Avar]] old petroglyph<ref name="Debirov" />
File:Swastika avarian Dagh.JPG|[[Avars (Caucasus)|Avar]] folk swastika
File:Armenian Khachkar with Swastikas Sanahin Armenia 1.jpg|[[Khachkar]] with swastikas and [[hexafoil]]s in [[Sanahin]], Armenia
File:Символы_свастики_на_арке_средневековой_башни_в_Чечне.jpg|Swastika on the medieval tower arche in [[Khimoy]], Chechnya
</gallery>