Author Archives: Adam Smith

Camp Aragats, an archaeological camp for girls, kicked off its second season this year. Learning from last year’s pilot program, we expanded the camp to 15 children in order to broaden our impact, and diversified the group by opening it to girls from different towns and villages. Campers from Aparan, Gegharot and Yerevan discovered the science of heritage through hands-on sessions on excavation, architectural drawing, drone flight, ceramic restoration, zooarchaeology, bioarchaeology, paleoethnobotany, and more.

We had another fruitful season on Project ArAGATS this year, with the continued excavation of a semi-circular complex at the Early Bronze Age settlement of Gegharot, and new trenches elsewhere on the western slope that appear to have uncovered segments of a terrace walls and a rectilinear room. Meanwhile the lab team was busy studying human skeletal remains and conducting zooarchaeological and archaeobotanical research. See the Field Season 2018 page for further details.

From July 17-20, the Aragats Foundation organized an archaeological summer camp for young girls from the town of Aparan. The mission of Camp Aragats is to offer children the opportunity to experience archaeology, learn the ancient history of their region, discover the excitement of science and history, and participate in an educational activity during the summer. The pilot project, organized by Lori Khatchadourian and Armine Harutyunyan, was a great success. More photos can be found on the Aragats Foundation’s Facebook page.

Congratulations to Adam Smith and Jeff Leon, whose article “Divination and Sovereignty: The Late Bronze Age Shrines at Gegharot, Armenia” appears in the current issue (and on the cover!) of the American Journal of Archaeology.