Castelluccia Et Al. 2012 (Kotayk Survey Project).Pdf
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Association for Near Eastern and Caucasian Studies
THE FIRST SEASON OF THE KOTAYK SURVEY PROJECT: PRELIMINARY REPORT
Manuel Castelluccia, Roberto Dan, Riccardo La Farina, Arthur Petrosyan, Mattia Raccidi
The aim of the Italian-Armenian archaeological expedition to the Kotayk marz (Kotayk Survey Project - KSP) is to conduct an extensive and detailed survey of the upper Hrazdan river basin, between the modern towns of Charentsavan (to the south) and Lchashen (to the north). The project involves collaboration between the Italian “Institute of Ancient Mediterranean Studies” of the National Research Council (CNR - ISMA) and International Association of Mediterranean and Oriental Studies (ISMEO), and the Armenian Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia.1 13th to September 17th 2013 and focused upon the region around Charentsavan, Fantan, Kaghsi, Jrarat and Solak.2 the territory was undertaken using a remote sensing technique, which led to the a careful review of the past literature concerning the area (which is, unfortunately, not voluminous). A precious source of information, however, was found to be the National List of Monuments of the Republic of Armenia, an inventory of all known sites of cultural interest organized according to the municipality in which they are located.
intensive survey; each site was recorded with regard to GPS coordinates and altitude and the general features were described. The collected items were all photographed and
THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES totally unknown, dating from the Paleolithic to Medieval periods. For three of these, named KSP 006, KSP 016 and KSP 022, topographical maps were also prepared. 1 The authors would like to thank profoundly for their help (in alphabetical order): Dr. Pavel Avetisyan, Dr. Raffaele Biscione, Dr. Yervand Grekyan, Dr. Ara Petrosyan, Prof. Adriano Valerio Rossi, Dr. Paola Santoro, Dr. Marie Claude Trémouille. 2
AJNES VII/2, 2012, p. 28–35 The First Season of the Kotayk Survey Project
Stone Age At many sites Stone Age artifacts were found, mostly of obsidian. A total of 26 artifacts were selected from the survey and excavation on the sites this year. Site KSP 009 lies on a hillside 2.5 km north-east of Charentsavan and contained debris, nuclei
Some obsidian tools were collected from the section of a low hill cut by construction work, 1.5 km north-west of Fantan, on the right side of the modern Yerevan- Sevan highway (KSP 010). Various obsidian tools were also recovered from KSP 016, a site that consisted mostly of Bronze and Iron Age levels. A few stone artifacts belonging to these periods were also found in KSP 001, near the abandoned village of Avazan, and KSP 015, several kilometers north-east of Fantan.
Early Bronze Age/ Middle Bronze Age The Transcaucasian Early Bronze Age is characterized by the “Kura-Araxes” culture with its distinctive pottery; sherds of this type were collected in four sites. KSP 006, located a few km north-west of Hrazdan, is a vast burial-ground containing cist- graves and cromlech kurgans, stretching along the right bank of the Marmarik river. It was partially excavated by A. Mnatsakanyan in the 1950s.1 The pottery collected from the excavated area he dated to the Early and Middle Bronze Age. A cist-grave had been discovered and destroyed during construction work in the rear part of a private house 1 km south of Jrarat, also on the right bank of the Marmarik river (KSP 007). According to Prof. F. Ter-Martirosov the grave dated to the Achaemenid period,2 but the pottery collected, black-slipped sherds without any distinctive features (shown to us by some villagers), dates most probably to the Early Bronze Age. A small quantity of pottery dating to the Early Bronze Age was recovered from KSP 020, a site standing on a rocky spur of the River Hrazdan gorge, 2 km west of Solak. This was a large settlement composed of many stone-built structures. All the visible buildings, however, are dated with the medieval period. The largest amount of Early-Middle Bronze Age pottery, evidence of a substantial settlement in this period, was found at site KSP 022, which stands on a rocky spur on the River Hrazdan gorge, opposite the Late Bronze-Early Iron Age fortress and necropolis of Karashamb. In the western part of the site lie the remains of huge cyclopean retaining walls (Tab. XII/1), while in the eastern section several stone- built structures are clearly visible despite the presence of high vegetation. Much of the pottery collected from both site and hillside dates to the Early and Middle Bronze Age. According to a local villager, the easternmost part of the rocky spur was used in Soviet times as a basalt quarry. Finally, a group of three excavated cromlechs (KSP 019), not yet published, yielded material dating to the Middle Bronze Age.
1 Mnatsakanyan, Tiratsyan 1961: 69ff.; Mnatsakanyan 1965: 95f.; Khanzadyan 1967: 18. 2
29 Manuel Castelluccia et al.
Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age Five sites showed clear evidence of Late Bronze Age-Early Iron Age occupation. Finds of this period come from the area of the cemetery located in the southern part of Jrarat, on the right bank of the River Marmarik (KSP 006 and KSP 007). Late Bronze Age-Early Iron Age pottery is also known from a burial-ground located in the western part of the village of Kaghsi (KSP 012), near the railway.1 It was discovered during construction work in Soviet times and some test excavations were carried out there by A. Mnatsakanyan. Pottery from this period also comes from the surface of KSP 016 “Area B”, which is described in detail below. Although no unambiguously Late Bronze-Early Iron Age pottery was discovered in KSP 022, it is plausible that the cyclopean walls of this site date mostly to this period, since cyclopean fortresses with such masonry are typical of this epoch. Moreover, another site which might date to the Bronze Age is KSP 014. It is located on the top of a hill south-east of the medieval village of Vaghaver and consists of a single possible cromlech with a diameter of approximately 15 m.2 Nearby, other stone structures are visible, perhaps belonging to some funerary complex. Unfortunately, the area seems to have been affected by the action of some large mechanical device. At another site (KSP 023), the remains of a possible cyclopean fortress were seen in the garden of a private house in the village of Solak. The owner of the house informed us diagnostic pottery was recovered from either site.
Middle Iron Age Only one site has yielded pottery and architectural remains clearly belonging to this period, which corresponds in Armenia to Urartian rule over the lands of the River Araxes and Lake Sevan basins. The site, named KSP 016, lies on a hill on the eastern side of the modern Yerevan-Sevan highway, 3.5 km south-east of Solak. It is distinguished by the presence of numerous visible stone-built structures covering the hill. Moreover, other buildings could be seen at the base of the high ground. Near these, two early-medieval khatchkars were found. The most important architectural survival on the site is a square-shaped construction located on the top of the southern hill named Area A. It is a stone-built structure (27 × 27 m) whose limits were clearly recognizable, especially along the eastern side. The building is delimited by straight walls made of large basalt blocks. The western perimeter wall still features two corner buttresses and two median buttresses. A single median buttress is also recognizable in the southern large amount of pithos
1 Khanzadyan 1967: 18. 2 In the Armenian highland large kurgans are typical of the Middle and Late Bronze Age. In the Iron Age mounds and graves are generally smaller. It is, however, risky to propose a date on the base of size alone, since several differences and peculiarities are attested. 30 The First Season of the Kotayk Survey Project their decoration with triangular impressions is very similar to that found on material unearthed in the Urartian center of Karmir-blur and other places.1 Trial excavations were performed in this site (these are described below).
Hellenistic/ Roman period Pottery from this period was recovered only in two sites. A few Hellenistic pottery sherds were collected from KSP 016, while Roman pot fragments were found on a low the only archaeological evidence obtained from this site (KSP 008). The hill is now covered by a modern cemetery and thus the possible presence of ancient structures was
Medieval period As expected, most of the sites showed traces of medieval occupation. Of the nine sites belonging to this period, the biggest is KSP 013, an abandoned medieval village named both Vaghaver and Tezkharab, located 4 km south-east of Fantan (Tab. XII/2). The village covers a surface of approximately 20 hectares. Many of the structures are still clearly visible, with walls built of big stone blocks. Near the village there are two separate cemeteries, while in the center of the village there is a small church which is still in use. At the eastern edge of the village there is a water reservoir named “Aghgyol”, closed by at least two stone-built dams. The numerous sherds recovered mostly date to the 12th -14th century AD. Another important site is KSP 021, located on a rocky spur overlooking the River Hrazdan gorge, 2.3 km north of Alapars. Here there is a large settlement containing many stone buildings that are still clearly visible (Tab. XIII/1). Most of the pottery collected dates to the medieval period. In another large settlement (KSP 020) located just south of the previous, a detailed surface pottery collection yielded a huge amount of fragments, mostly belonging to the medieval period. A medieval cemetery located around a ruined church lies about 500 m north-east of the Early Bronze Age-Early Iron Age burial ground KSP 006. The cemetery dates from 4th to 20th century AD (Tab. XIII/2). Many khatchkars were recorded during the survey. Some of them (9th-11th century AD) are located around a modern church, in the western part of the village of Kaghsi (KSP 011). Inside the church other fragmentary khatchkars are present. Three complete between Alapars and Bjni (KSP 018). At least seven fragments of an Old Armenian inscribed stone slab are located on an isolated hill (KSP 017), on the left side of the road between Alapars and Solak (Tab. XIV/1). Here there is also a fragmentary khatchkar (11th- 12th century AD). According to local villagers the name of the hill is “Khachi Tumb”. Khatchkars and inscribed stones lie around a small square structure, probably the ruins of a chapel. At least three fragmentary khatchkars (8th - 9th
1 Kroll 1976: 140 (Typ. 71b). 31 Manuel Castelluccia et al.
Inside the village of Avazan (formerly Ozanlar) foundation walls of unknown date could be seen (KSP 004). The pottery probably dates to the late medieval period. For some sites it has so far proved impossible to establish a precise date. Two of these, KSP 001 and KSP 005, lie outside the abandoned village of Avazan and have yielded only a few scattered potsherds, of which none is diagnostic. The same situation was registered for other two sites located 1.5 km south-west (KSP 002) and 1.5 km south (KSP 003) of the village of Alapars, in the western part of the Charentsavan Plain near a hill known locally as “Sangyar”, where a little scattered pottery was collected and no traces of buildings were visible. The last undated site is an abandoned stone-built complex in an area today used as pasturage, 6.5 km south-east of Solak and 5.5 north-east of Fantan. These structures were covered by thick vegetation and thus no pottery was collected; perhaps these were shelters for shepherds.
Test excavation in KSP 016
Four trial trenches were dug in site KSP 016, which was selected for its important architectural remains and pottery that strongly suggested Urartian occupation. Trench I (2 × 2 m) was excavated inside the building remains at the junction of one inner wall with the main eastern perimeter wall. The masonry walls were built with a rubble fill; the large, rough external blocks contained a fill of loose stones and earth. The eastern outer wall has a total width of 2 m, with a buttress 2.30 m wide that projected about 50 cm from the main wall (Tab. XIV/2). The inner wall is 1.45 m wide and built with the same construction technique. Most of the layers in the associated stratigraphic sequence is related to the collapse of the walls, cm thick layer of ash and carbonized wood fragments. Various samples were taken for radiocarbon analysis. These fragments probably are related to the destruction
A further three trenches were dug outside this structure. Trench II (2 × 2 m) was excavated on the southern slope of Area A, in order to better understand the large amount of pithos fragments discovered there during the survey (Tab. XV/1). Pithos fragments were only found in the surface soil, and are decorated with a big rounded triangular impression or with one or two applied ribs cut by sub-circular impressions, similar to those discovered in several Urartian sites. At the moment it is not clear where these sherds came from, but the physical similarity with the post-destruction layers of Trench I could point to their provenance from the top of Area A. Part of a collapsed structure made of stone- blocks was discovered in the bottom layers of the trench.
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Area A, while Trench IV (2 × 1 m) was located in the middle of Area B (Tab. XV/2). In both trenches the “natural” deposit was reached, but they yielded no archaeologically useful information.
Manuel Castelluccia University of Naples “l’Orientale’ Strada di Madriolo 42 33043, Cividale del Friuli Italia
Roberto Dan University of Naples “l’Orientale’ Via Riccardo Grazioli Lante 5 00195, Roma Italia
Riccardo La Farina University of Naples “l’Orientale’ Via A. Cirrincione 41, 90143 Palermo Italia
Arthur Petrosyan Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography NAS RA Charents Str. 15, 375025, Yerevan Armenia
Mattia Raccidi University of Naples “l’Orientale’ Via I Maggio 19, Borgo San Lorenzo 50032, Firenze Italia
33 Manuel Castelluccia et al.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Mnatsakanyan A. A., Tiratsyan G.A. 1961, Novye dannye o material’noj kul’ture drevnej Armenii (New Information about Material Culture of Ancient Armenia), LHG 8, 69-83 (in Russ.).
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35 TABLES ______LIST OF TABLES
Table I Table XIII 1-2. Arshaluis 1. 1. KSP 021, wall on the western edge. Table II 2. KSP 006, two khachkars. 1-2. Arshaluis 2. Table XIV Table III 1. KSP 017, two slabs with 1-2. Arshaluis 3. Old Armenian inscription. 2. KSP 016, Area A, Trench I, Table IV northern wall seen from the 1-2. Diktash 1. south. Table V Table XV 1-2. Diktash 2. 1. KSP 016, A pithos fragment Table VI from the surface of the site. 1-2. Diktash 3. 2. KSP 016, KSP 016, wall from Area B. Table VII 1-2. Maghalner 1. Table XVI 1. The inscribed brick of Table VIII Aššur-na ir-apli II, Obverse. 1-2. Lchashen 2. 2. Reverse side of the brick.
Table IX Table XVII 1. Climate zones of the Geghama Mountains. 2. Alikelle. Table X 1. Landscape types of the Geghama Mountains. Table XVII Table XI 1. Modern agricultural zones 2. Tülintepe. around the Geghama 3. Museum of Van. Mountains. 4. Museum of Van. Table XII 1. KSP 022, cyclopean wall. 2. KSP 013, view of the village from the south. 162 Table XII Castelluccia et al.
1.
2.
174 Table XIII Castelluccia et al.
175 Table XIV Castelluccia et al.
176 Table XV Castelluccia et al.
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