La M.A.C. communique à l’ICAANE !

Présentation des travaux de la mission au 13e ICAANE (International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East)  à Copenhage, les 22-26 mai 2023. 

Section 1. Near Eastern Archaeology in the field and in the lab : a. Field Report 

In search of the EBA in the Armenian highlands: report on the recent excavations in Haghartsin and Voskeblur

Bérengère PERELLO¹, Ruben BADALYAN², Levon AGHIKYAN², Armine HARUTYUNYAN² 

1. CNRS, UMR 5133, Archéorient, Lyon, France
2. Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Armenian National Academy of Sciences, Armenia

The “Caucasus Archaeological Mission”, a joint Armenian-French project has been excavating two Early Bronze Age sites, Haghartsin in the Tavush region since 2019 and Voskeblur in the Ararat Valley since 2020.

Both sites have yielded occupations of the Kura-Araxes period (3500-2500/2600 BCE) and more specifically of the second phase known as KA II (2900-2500/2600 BCE). They belong to two distinct cultural complexes, as defined by the ceramic assemblages (Badalyan 2014): the “Ayrum-Teghut” complex for Haghartsin, and the “Shresh-Mokhrablur” complex for Voskeblur. Their simultaneous excavation offers the unique opportunity of a cross-analysis of the data of the two contemporary sites placed in distinct ecological regions (Highland for Haghartsin, 1350 m and valley for Voskeblur 840 m) and at different communication crossroads: the Kura basin for Haghartsin and the Ararat plain for Voskeblur.

Voskeblur has yielded significant mud-brick architecture, as well as in situ occupation. The excavation of Haghartsin provided more tenuous indications of occupation, through pits or hearths. The paper will present the results of the 2021-2022 seasons at both sites.