 At the end of the 19th century, the Czech-Bulgarian historian and archaeologist Karel Škorpil produced the first scientific account of the sanctuary, which was then known as Apostol Tash.In 2002, Bulgarian archaeologists started excavations under the supervision of Tsonia Drazheva.Beglik Tash – an expression whose meaning is probably related to the tax on sheep collected by the Ottoman authorities until 1913, the "beglik", and a Turkish word to describe an area made of large stones, "taşlar" – is a natural rock-formation consisting of megaliths of hardened magma that erupted from a Mesozoic era volcano.