Artifacts of the Armenian Highlands

Traces of antique populations have been found throughout the Armenian Highlands. At sites such as Arzni and Nurnus, archaeologists discovered numerous stone instruments.  Additionally, cave-settlements were found in Lusakert, the Hrazdan Gorge, and many other locations.

The gamut of ancient artifacts of the Highlands is truly massive. The oldest stone instruments discovered are 800,000 years old. Mountain regions in the Highlands house petroglyphs depicting themes like hunting. The territory of the Armenian Highlands is also rich in agricultural and cattle-breeding artifacts: after all, the first agricultural and stock-raising settlements have been established in the territory of the present-day Shirak Province, Armenia, several thousand years ago!

In 1978, a Bronze Age settlement dating back to the 5th-3rd millennia BC was found in the territory Shengavit district in modern Yerevan. Every acre of the Highland’s land that has been suitable for sowing and cattle breeding has accommodated a multitude of small settlements.

In southern regions of what today is the Republic of Armenia, ancient settlements consisted of homes built from raw bricks on stone foundations. A typical home was round-shaped and had a diameter of 5 – 7 meters. A central pillar to supposedly support the structure is also a frequent feature of ancient houses in Armenia.

Many archaeological excavations demonstrated that ancient inhabitants of the Armenian Highlands have mastered numerous crafts thousands and thousands of years ago. As an example, in the 5th-4th millennia BC, ancient people were able to smelt copper. In the 2nd millennium BC, they would develop iron smelting techniques.

During excavations in the Areni Cave in 2008, archaeologists found the oldest known shoe with 5,500 years of age. According to experts, this shoe virtually doesn’t differ from the typical footwear of ancient Armenians.

ARMENIAN HIGHLAND

Armenian Highland