Bronze Age Monuments of the Metsamor Castle

Polish and Armenian archaeologists carried out research of a large ancient settlement located in Metsamor, Armenia.

As a result of the three-season work, the team of archaeologists unearthed large quantities of pottery representing three millennia, to be precise, from the 3rd millennium BC to the 1st century AD.

Researchers also discovered gold and carnelian necklaces, obsidian arrow points, bone pins and awls, sardonyx and faience beads, bronze rings, and decorated bone elements of horse harness.

Additionally, four structures were found, the most interesting of which is an oval building with storage vessels still in their places. A few smaller objects like a stone casting mold were buried under a thick layer of ash, remains of the roof destroyed by fire.

Evidence of a violent conquest of the settlement was also revealed, including two headless skeletons of men killed in battle, a plethora of iron knives, and slingshot pellets.

The Metsamor Castle is what remains of an old fortress located southwest of the Armenian Taronik village, Armavir Province. It has been inhabited since the 5th millennium BC until the 18th century AD.

Here, excavations were carried out for the first time in 1965. The site of the Metsamor Castle is remarkable for its observatory (Neolithic stone circles dating at ca. 5000 BC) and temple complexes consisting of seven sanctuaries.