Today is the fourth day of fieldwork for the 2013 Project ArAGATS excavations. We are working at three sites this year: Gegharot Fortress, the Gegharot Kurgans, and the town at Tsaghkahovit. The Gegharot fortress excavations are off to a quick start thanks to an operation on the east citadel that we closed at the end of the 2011 season just as things were getting interesting. As we suspected, after just a bit of cleaning, we appear to be moving into a well-preserved Late Bronze Age deposit reminiscent of other destruction levels that we have encountered on the site. Here is our first small find from the operation–a fitting testament to destruction.
A Late Bronze Age Obsidian Arrowhead from Gegharot Operation T34
At the Gegharot Kurgans, we are cleaning a relatively large burial adjacent to the tomb we excavated in 2005. These excavations will serve as pilot research for Hannah Chazin’s planned dissertation research on the circulation of animals in the Late Bronze Age regional political economy.
At Tsaghkahovit, work is concentrating this year in Precinct C in the shadow of the fortress hill.
We will continue to post updates on the progress of our work throughout the field season.