The
Armenian
Highland
shows traces
of settlement from the Neolithic
era. The
Shulaveri-Shomu
culture of the central
Transcaucasus region is one of the earliest
known prehistoric culture in the area, carbon-dated to roughly 6000
- 4000 BC. Another early culture in the area is the
Kura-Araxes culture, assigned to the
period of ca. 4000 - 2200 BC, succeeded by the
Trialeti culture (ca. 2200 - 1500
BC).
Armenia
lies in the
highlands surrounding the Biblical mountains of Ararat
, upon which Noah's Ark came to
rest after the flood. (Gen. 8:4).
Excavation campaigns
The first
excavations in Armenia, undertaken
by Russian
savants in
1876, brought to light a burial-ground near Dilijan in which were
prehistoric graves. Jacques de
Morgan in 1887‑89 unearthed 576 graves around Alaverdi
and
Akhatala, on the Tiflis-Alexandropol railway line. Later on,
300 more were discovered by V. Belck near Elisavetpol (Gandzak),
and yet others were excavated by Lalayan (second in importance only
to de Morgan's) and Ivanovski. In Turkish Armenia only one tumulus,
that of Shamiramalti, near the fort of Van, has been studied so
far.
But
many ancient arms and implements have been discovered, in various
places on the plainsº and slopes, in the Valleys of Lori, on the
shores of the Lakes of Sevan and Van, in the salt mines of Koghb
(Kulp) and along the Aradzani and upper Tigris Rivers
. The oldest Neolithic relics so far found in
Soviet Armenia are large stone axes, with grooves which show that
the handles were attached by lashings. In Armavir, Vagharshapat and
elsewhere, Neolithic weapons, knives, axes, hammers, mortars for
grinding grains, saw, makhats (large needles for coarse sewing),
awls, made of stone, obsidian or bone, and pottery, some of it with
geometrical ornamentation, have been found, as well as traces of
human habitations, cremations or other mortuary disposals, fossils
of domestic animals, such as sheep, goats and dogs, and remains of
wheat and barley.
One human skeleton found on the bank of the river Zanku, with a
flint implement beside it, is believed to be that of a man of the
Palaeolithic Age. Other excavations of small circular hillocks — at
Shresh, near Etchmiadzin and at Eylar, near Erevan — underneath
which are graves, usually covered with a slab, have yielded many
Neolithic relics. Nearby were cinder beds with objects of stone,
funeral urns (proofs of the practice of cremation) and piles of
human bones.
Revue archeologique issued a report by M. de Morgan, on his
excavations, and says:
Neolithic
Huge stone placements, presumably
Neolithic, are numerous in Armenia — dolmens
(large unhewn stones resting on two or more smaller ones), menhirs
(standing stones), cromlechs (stone circles), and cyclopean walls.
The region
of Aragadz
Mountain
is a natural
museum of archaeology; and the extensive plains around the towns of
Oshakan, Parbi, Amberd and Aghtz, as well as near Shusha and
Sisian, are dotted with hundreds of Neolithic
monuments.
In megalithic fields on higher levels are found constructions in
huge blocks, composed of a number of concentric walls of decreasing
heights. Those at Kosh and Aghavnatun, which are the best
preserved, might have served either as forts or enclosures of a
sanctuary. The wall near Daylakla on a small tributary of the River
Arax, is of the same type, though inside were circular or
oddly-shaped rooms, walled with smaller stones, which might have
been dwelling places roofed with large slabs.
Almost all the excavated graves belong to Metallic eras later than
the Neolithic, probably to the later years of the Bronze Age. They
are all of similar construction, a sort of box, with four large
slabs as partitions and two more as covers, placed together without
mortar — a kind of dolmen.
In some tombs the dead are in large jars, usually sitting or
squatting, though in some cases two connected jars were used, the
limbs being in one, the rest of the skeleton in the other. Objects
found with the dead comprised ornaments, tools, broken pottery and
weapons such as daggers, swords, lances, axes, bows and arrows. Of
76 daggers found in one cemetery, seven were of iron, the remainder
of bronze. A few club-heads of stone were found, one dented ring,
which was probably used in boxing, and smaller rings believed to
have been parts of a lasso, used either in hunting or domestication
of animals.
Bronze Age
The main
object of early Assyrian incursions into
Armenia was to
obtain metals. The iron-working age followed that of bronze
everywhere, opening a new epoch of human progress. Its influence is
noticeable in Armenia, and the transition period is well marked.
Tombs whose metal contents are all of bronze are of an older epoch.
In most of the cemeteries explored, both bronze and iron furniture
were found, indicating the gradual advance into the Iron Age.
Iron Age
The Iron Age appeared in Western Asia after the twelfth century
B.C. The contents of the tombs of that era in Armenia are of two
classes, some representing a geometric style of art, the others a
new naturalistic trend. The bronze belts, displaying human and
animal figures, are the first naturalistic experiments. Some
resemblance between this style and "Hellenistic" art has been
traced, setting the date of such specimens forward to the period of
the kingdom of
Urartu, beginning in the ninth
century B.C. The bronze shields of King Rusa II of Urartu (680‑645
B.C.) and of King Rusa III (605‑585 B.C.), are excellent samples of
this naturalistic style.
References
See also
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