Systemizing the Past

Dedicated to Pavel Avetisyan, a leading modern Armenian archaeologist with wide international recognition, 36 contributions take the reader to the fascinating world of Caucasian archaeology. The volume demonstrates the essential role of the region in shaping the prehistoric cultural landscape of the Ancient Near East.

Systemizing the Past takes the reader to the fascinating world of Caucasian archaeology demonstrating the essential role of the region in shaping the prehistoric cultural landscape of the Ancient Near East. It is dedicated to Pavel Avetisyan, a leading modern Armenian archaeologist with wide international recognition, whose contributions are notable for their integration of present-day theoretical approaches, application of scientific methodology, and multidisciplinary research and stand out for their scientific value, raising Armenian archaeology to an international level. The volume touches on issues of special interest to Pavel Avetisyan, among them fieldwork reports, and various problems of prehistoric archaeology, from the early farming societies of the Neolithic/Chalcolithic periods to the complex societies of the Bronze and Iron Ages. Questions regarding the chronology and periodization of Armenian and Caucasian archaeological traditions; theoretical problems concerning the formation and development of complex societies in the Armenian Highland and the Caucasus, demonstrating the features typical to regional shifts within the common Near Eastern context; as well as various topics dealing with ceramic typology, burial rites, sacred landscapes, chronology and periodization, transformation of social environments and culture sequences, palaeodemography, ‘World-System’ theory and its main concepts (such as borderland, marginal zone, and frontier) are also considered in the volume. Various contributions dedicated to the fundamental archaeological problems of the region gradually shift the research perspective to meta-levels of understanding the past.

Foreword 'Axe-Bull': An Iron-Age Iconic Anagram - Levon Abrahamian Armenian Standing Stones as an Object of Archaeological Study - Hayk Avetisyan, Artak Gnuni, Levon Mkrtchyan and Arsen Bobokhyan Neolithization of Armenia: General Trends and Patterns of Development - Ruben Badalyan and Armine Harutyunyan Groups of Three Deities in Middle and Neo-Assyrian Times - Felix Blocher Water Management in Ancient Armenia: Problems and Perspectives - Tork Dalalyan, Roman Hovsepyan, Levon Abrahamian, Arsen Bobokhyan and Boris Gasparyan The Archaeological Site of Garni, Armenia. Pre-Arsacid Archaeological Evidence and an Urartian Inscription of Argisti on a Vishap - Roberto Dan, Arsen Bobokhyan, Onofrio Gasparro, Boris Gasparyan, Artur Petrosyan and Mirjo Salvini The Kurtan Belt - Ruben Davtyan and Michael Herles Achaemenid Habitats in Beniamin II (Shirak, Armenia) from the End of the 6th Century BC to the End of the 4th Century BC - Stephane Deschamps, Francois Fichet de Clairfontaine and Felix Ter-Martirossov New Findings on Urartian Rock-Cut Tomb in Mazgirt/Kalekoy Fortress - Serkan Erdogan Dalarik-1: A New Lower Paleolithic Cave Site in the Republic of Armenia - Boris Gasparyan, Artur Petrosyan, Phil Glauberman, Ani Adigyozalyan, Hayk Haydosyan, Soseh Aghaian, Makoto Arimura, Ellery Frahm, Samvel Nahapetyan, Dmitri Arakelyan, Jennifer Sherriff, Teo Karampaglidis, Masha Krakovsky and Ariel Malinsky-Buller The Tuspa Mound Columned Hall - Bulent Genc and Erkan Konyar Climate Change and the Transition from the Early to the Middle Bronze Age in the Armenian Highland - Yervand Grekyan A Prehistoric Aggregated Cell Structure at 2850 m asl on Mount Aragats, Armenia - Pavol Hnila, Alessandra Gilibert and Arsen Bobokhyan Ceramic Technology at the Kura-Araxes I and II Site of Khizanaant Gora, Shida Kartli, Georgia - Mark Iserlis and Raphael Greenberg Inscribed and Seal-Impressed Clay Finds from the Urartian Fortress of Cavustepe - Kenan Isik and Rifat Kuvanc Iron Age Pottery from Metsamor. New Observations Based on Assemblage Discovered in 2019 Season - Mateusz Iskra and Tigran Zakyan Urartian Priestesses, How Important They Were? Some Observations of the Iconographic Features - Krzysztof Jakubiak Getahovit - 2 Cave in the Middle Ages - Irena Kalantaryan and Astghik Babajanyan Shaft Hole Axes of Stone and Metal from the Checon Settlement of the Maikop-Novosvobodnaya Community - Sergey N. Korenevsky and Aleksandr I. Yudin Hatti and Isuwa: Anatolians in the Upper Euphrates Valley - Aram Kosyan The Fortress of Aramus in the Early Iron Age - Walter Kuntner, Sandra Heinsch and Hayk Avetisyan Woven Traces: Notes from the 2017 and 2018 Excavation Seasons at Masis Blur - Kristine Martirosyan-Olshansky and Alan Farahani New Evidence from the Necropolis of Karashamb: Excavations of the Tomb no. 444 - Varduhi Melikyan and Artak Hakhverdyan Who were the Caucasian Owners of the Mitannian Cylinder Seals? - Goderdzi Narimanishvil and Nino Shanshashvili Archaeological Prospection in the Ararat Valley - Drilling into the History of Ancient Artaxata, Armenia - Nikolaas Noorda, Achim Lichtenberger, Cornelius Meyer, Torben Schreiber and Mkrtich Zardaryan A Middle and Late Bronze Age Settlement in Armenia: The Aggregated Cells of Arteni - Berengere Perello, Christine Chataigner, Olivier Barge, Irena Kalantaryan, Karen Azatyan, Roman Hovsepyan and Aurelien Creuzieux 'Axe-Bull' - Order of the Thunder God - Armen Y. Petrosyan Overlooking the River Hrazdan Valley: The Fortified Site of Tghit in the Tsaghkunyats Mountains, Kotayk Region, Armenia - Artur Petrosyan, Roberto Dan, Priscilla Vitolo, Onofrio Gasparro and Boris Gasparyan From Landjik to Dvin: Armenian Evidence of Decapitation from Prehistory to the Mediaeval Era - Daniel Thomas Potts Reconstructing the Lifeways of the Kura-Araxes - Mitchell S Rothman Middle Bronze Age Ceramics in Macro and Micro Perspectives - Karen S. Rubinson Monitoring Heritage At Risk: Caucasus Heritage Watch and the Armenian Monuments of Nagorno-Karabakh - Adam T. Smith, Lori Khatchadourian and Ian Lindsay Tigran the Great and Mithradates Eupator: Two Parallel Kings of Kings? - Giusto Traina Modelling of Bronze and Iron Age Monuments at the Northwestern Slopes of Mount Aragats based on a Case Study of Lernakert - Benik Vardanyan and Levon Mkrtchyan The Early Medieval Complex of Agarak - Nora Yengibaryan and Lilit Ter-Minasyan Women in Urartian Rituals - Nora Yengibaryan, Foreword ;

‘Axe-Bull’: An Iron-Age Iconic Anagram – Levon Abrahamian Armenian Standing Stones as an Object of Archaeological Study – Hayk Avetisyan, Artak Gnuni, Levon Mkrtchyan and Arsen Bobokhyan Neolithization of Armenia: General Trends and Patterns of Development – Ruben Badalyan and Armine Harutyunyan Groups of Three Deities in Middle and Neo-Assyrian Times – Felix Blocher Water Management in Ancient Armenia: Problems and Perspectives – Tork Dalalyan, Roman Hovsepyan, Levon Abrahamian, Arsen Bobokhyan and Boris Gasparyan The Archaeological Site of Garni, Armenia. Pre-Arsacid Archaeological Evidence and an Urartian Inscription of Argišti on a Vishap – Roberto Dan, Arsen Bobokhyan, Onofrio Gasparro, Boris Gasparyan, Artur Petrosyan and Mirjo Salvini The Kurtan Belt – Ruben Davtyan and Michael Herles Achaemenid Habitats in Beniamin II (Shirak, Armenia) from the End of the 6th Century BC to the End of the 4th Century BC – Stéphane Deschamps, François Fichet de Clairfontaine and Felix Ter-Martirossov† New Findings on Urartian Rock-Cut Tomb in Mazgirt/Kaleköy Fortress – Serkan Erdoğan Dalarik-1: A New Lower Paleolithic Cave Site in the Republic of Armenia – Boris Gasparyan, Artur Petrosyan, Phil Glauberman, Ani Adigyozalyan, Hayk Haydosyan, Soseh Aghaian, Makoto Arimura, Ellery Frahm, Samvel Nahapetyan, Dmitri Arakelyan, Jennifer Sherriff, Teo Karampaglidis, Masha Krakovsky and Ariel Malinsky-Buller The Tušpa Mound Columned Hall – Bülent Genç and Erkan Konyar Climate Change and the Transition from the Early to the Middle Bronze Age in the Armenian Highland – Yervand Grekyan A Prehistoric Aggregated Cell Structure at 2850 m asl on Mount Aragats, Armenia – Pavol Hnila, Alessandra Gilibert and Arsen Bobokhyan Ceramic Technology at the Kura-Araxes I and II Site of Khizanaant Gora, Shida Kartli, Georgia – Mark Iserlis and Raphael Greenberg Inscribed and Seal-Impressed Clay Finds from the Urartian Fortress of Çavuştepe – Kenan Işık and Rıfat Kuvanç Iron Age Pottery from Metsamor. New Observations Based on Assemblage Discovered in 2019 Season – Mateusz Iskra and Tigran Zakyan Urartian Priestesses, How Important They Were? Some Observations of the Iconographic Features – Krzysztof Jakubiak Getahovit - 2 Cave in the Middle Ages – Irena Kalantaryan and Astghik Babajanyan Shaft Hole Axes of Stone and Metal from the Checon Settlement of the Maikop-Novosvobodnaya Community – Sergey N. Korenevsky and Aleksandr I. Yudin Hatti and Išuwa: Anatolians in the Upper Euphrates Valley – Aram Kosyan The Fortress of Aramus in the Early Iron Age – Walter Kuntner, Sandra Heinsch and Hayk Avetisyan Woven Traces: Notes from the 2017 and 2018 Excavation Seasons at Masis Blur – Kristine Martirosyan-Olshansky and Alan Farahani New Evidence from the Necropolis of Karashamb: Excavations of the Tomb no. 444 – Varduhi Melikyan and Artak Hakhverdyan Who were the Caucasian Owners of the Mitannian Cylinder Seals? – Goderdzi Narimanishvil and Nino Shanshashvili Archaeological Prospection in the Ararat Valley – Drilling into the History of Ancient Artaxata, Armenia – Nikolaas Noorda, Achim Lichtenberger, Cornelius Meyer, Torben Schreiber and Mkrtich Zardaryan A Middle and Late Bronze Age Settlement in Armenia: The Aggregated Cells of Arteni – Bérengère Perello, Christine Chataigner, Olivier Barge, Irena Kalantaryan, Karen Azatyan, Roman Hovsepyan and Aurélien Creuzieux ‘Axe-Bull’ – Order of the Thunder God – Armen Y. Petrosyan Overlooking the River Hrazdan Valley: The Fortified Site of Tghit in the Tsaghkunyats Mountains, Kotayk Region, Armenia – Artur Petrosyan, Roberto Dan, Priscilla Vitolo, Onofrio Gasparro and Boris Gasparyan From Landjik to Dvin: Armenian Evidence of Decapitation from Prehistory to the Mediaeval Era – Daniel Thomas Potts Reconstructing the Lifeways of the Kura-Araxes – Mitchell S Rothman Middle Bronze Age Ceramics in Macro and Micro Perspectives – Karen S. Rubinson Monitoring Heritage At Risk: Caucasus Heritage Watch and the Armenian Monuments of
Nagorno-Karabakh – Adam T. Smith, Lori Khatchadourian and Ian Lindsay Tigran the Great and Mithradates Eupator: Two Parallel Kings of Kings? – Giusto Traina Modelling of Bronze and Iron Age Monuments at the Northwestern Slopes of Mount Aragats based on a Case Study of Lernakert – Benik Vardanyan and Levon Mkrtchyan The Early Medieval Complex of Agarak – Nora Yengibaryan and Lilit Ter-Minasyan Women in Urartian Rituals – Nora Yengibaryan