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At the citadel at\u00a0Gegharot<\/a>, we initiated operations T15 (75m2<\/sup>) and T17 (50m2<\/sup>) on the western edge of the summit. On the western terrace, work continued in T02E and a new operation, T-16 (75m2<\/sup>), was set just to the north. \u00a0Artifacts found within a midden in T-15 include a shattered Late Bronze Age pithos, a square carved tuff object (perhaps an idol or threshing stone), and an intriguing ceramic statuette that appears to depict a horned human figure with a cloak (or skin) covering its head and shoulders (height 6.6 cm).\u00a0In addition, T02E produced two clay stamps, one circular and one square, with embossed stylized swastika motifs on their bases. T-17 appears to belong to the Early Bronze Age and the enlargement of operation T02E in 2005 to the west, toward the outer edge of the upper terrace, uncovered a Kura-Araxes level directly underneath the southwestern corner of the Late Bronze Age shrine.\u00a0Excavations at Gegharot also included Gegharot Kurgan 1 on the northern slope of Mt. Vardablur. The western chamber contained sheep and goat skeletons, ribs and vertebrae of a large mammal, and 22 ceramic vessels and suggests a date from the MBA-LBA transitional period.\u00a0At the bottom of the central chamber was the articulated skeleton of a 35-45 year old male on top of the partially preserved fragments of a child’s skeleton, horse skulls, ceramic vessels diagnostic of the Late Bronze I (Lchashen-Metsamor I) assemblage, a wide bronze ritual blade,\u00a0 bronze and obsidian arrowheads, and beads.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.aragats.net\/files\/image\/GKCentChambr3.jpg\")
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Excavations at Tsaghkahovit continued in the\u00a0Southern Lower Town\u00a0<\/a>with the large scale expansion of the initial exposures of the lower town with operations SLT 4 and 5.\u00a0Thus far, remains of three distinct constructions, Structures 1-3, have been uncovered within the SLT complex offering a rare glimpse of domestic life during the Late Bronze Age and subsequent reuse of the site during the Middle Iron Age.\u00a0The range of Lchashen-Metsamor horizon forms from the settlement excavations represent the full spectrum of domestic processing and consumption In 2005, excavations continued at the multi-component sites of Gegharot and Tsaghkahovit, expanding to include the Middle Iron Age at Tsaghkahovit and a kurgan at Gegharot. At the citadel at\u00a0Gegharot, we initiated operations T15 (75m2) and T17 (50m2) on the … Read more ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.aragats.net\/files\/image\/SLTceramics2.jpg\")
\u00a0activities including jars, bowls, cookpots, cups, pithoi, bread moulds, and fragments of thick clay ovens. Several samples were submitted for AMS dating and\u00a0INAA<\/a>analysis.\u00a0Additionally, a series of eight test trenches\u2014WSJ (6 x 2 m), WSC (4 x 2 m), WSC2 (5.3 x 4 m), WSE (4 x 3 m), WSK (7 x 2 m), WSL (8 x 3 m), WSAR (2 x 2 m), WSM (3 x 3 m)\u2014were laid across the\u00a0west settlement<\/a>\u00a0area, which previous test excavations indicated dated to the the mid-1st<\/sup>\u00a0millennium BC.\u00a0Broadly speaking, the excavations testified to a single-occupation in the west settlement. Cultural deposits consisted of packed clay floors, as in WSL, WSK, and WSC, and well-made, basalt flagstone floors, as in WSC2 (3.0 m x 1.5 m) and WSM (3.0 m x 2.5 m).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"