Metsamor (Armenia): preliminary report on the excavations in 2013, 2014 and 2015. Appendix: Anthropological examination of burials from Metsamor in seasons 2013–2015

Abstract

The Metsamor excavation project is a Polish–Armenian effort to investigate a Bronze Age citadel site located about 35 km west of Yerevan, on a hill dominating the Ararat plain. Fieldwork started in 2013 and was aimed during the first three seasons at clarifying site chronology in the citadel as well as the northern lower town. An unbroken sequence from the Kura Araxes culture (Early Bronze Age) to medieval times was confirmed. Settlement remains of Early IronAge buildings included an almost square structure NSB 2 and a dwelling NSB 1, furnished with a relatively large storage room. Four human skeletons, two of young men, were also recorded, suggesting they were victims of a raid on the settlement. The results of recent field observations coupled with pottery analysis postulate occurrence of two destructive events, first during the Urartian invasion led by Argishti I and the second one at the beginning of the 6th century BC.

Keywords

• Metsamor
• Ararat plain
• Early Iron Age
• Urartian
• settlement
• fortress