An Accidental Archaeological Find In Artsakh

In Artsakh, archaeological finds dating back to the 8th-7th centuries BC were accidentally discovered.

“During roadwork near the village of Ashan in Artsakh, a tomb and several jugs were accidentally discovered. Archaeologists of the Historical Environment Protection Service carried out further excavations, finding out that the artifacts date back to the 8th-7th centuries BC,” wrote historian Nzhdeh Yeranyan on his Facebook page.

The discovered finds were delivered to the Historical Environment Protection Service.

This is not the first archaeological find in the territory of ancient Artsakh.

In the area of the village of Nor Karmiravan, Martakert district, unique ancient jugs dating to the 9th century BC have been found as well. The 18 jugs have been discovered at the bottom of a water utility near the village.

According to Nzhdeh Yeranyan, the ancient finds indicate that these territories have been inhabited in the 1st millennium BC.

With that said, the most sensational find has been discovered in the Azokh cave in Artsakh. There, archaeologists discovered a 7,000 years old human tooth whose DNA matches that of modern Armenians.

The study involved specialists from the United States, the UK, Denmark, and Armenia. According to researchers, the find is in a very good condition thanks to the climatic features of the cave. The analysis of the tooth DNA has been carried out at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, writes the Armenian-Argentinean publication “Soy Armenio”.

The Azokh cave complex located in Hadrut district is a unique place – it has preserved numerous organic remains from different periods of history. The cave was discovered in 1960.

P.S. It is known that at that time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan announced that the European scientists who had conducted excavations in the Azokh cave were included in Azerbaijan’s “black list” since they hadn’t received excavation permission from Baku.