Photo for December 19, 2006.

atar, originally uploaded by nazarian.

The stacked blocks on the left hand side are atar (dried cow dung).



This is not far from Aparan, Armenia, where there are not many forests, and firewood is even more scarce than in the rest of Armenia. Atar has traditionally been used as a heating material in this region. The dung is spread under the sun, and is dried up while the sun rays kill any potential parasites. Once the atar is dry, it's collected and stacked for the winter.



In the winter atar is burnt in stoves. It doesn't smell bad.