Early Bronze Age Hillfort and Necropolis Unearthed in Shirak, Armenia

Archaeological excavations in an early Bronze Age necropolis discovered in the Karnut commune in Shirak Province of Armenia are carried on. In an interview to Armenpress, the head researcher of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, as well as the head of the expeditionary group Ruben Badalyan said that the group had discovered a hillfort at the site of the necropolis.

“This is a rather prospective monument. I have carried out excavations here back in 1981 before they were stopped. As a result of agricultural and construction works, the monument has been damaged,” remarked Badalyan and added that the first years of the group’s activity were directed at the preservation of the monument. According to Badalyan, the group is hoping to resume the excavations in the upcoming year. s

The hillfort discovered recently changed the conception of the monument’s size and chronology. “In spite of a relatively small object, we now deal with an about 7-8ha territory. There isn’t a lot of monuments that are investigated as well as the necropolis and the hillfort. Typically, researchers accentuate one or the other, while in Karnut, we have the opportunity to examine them as a whole,” said Badalyan.

Badalyan also noted that the group had managed to isolate a burial site of a single generation. This particular burial site featured vessels with the ornamentations of the Kur-Araxes culture, as well as bronze items. “Not far from this burial site, we discovered another one, which is not as rich and big. It has been most probably used only once,” said Badalyan.

Քառորդ դար ընդմիջումից հետո Շիրակի մարզի Կառնուտ համայնքում վերսկսվել են պեղումները