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U.S. ARCHAEOLOGISTS RETURN TO SHENGAVIT PRESERVE
Armenian Weekly
April 12, 2012
The Cambridge-Yerevan Sister City Association (CYSCA) is launching
a fundraising effort to help support the ongoing research
into 4th-2ndmillennium B.C. history and culture at the Shengavit
archaeological site in Yerevan. Archaeologist Dr. Mitchell S. Rothman,
head of the department of anthropology at Widener University in
Pennsylvania, plans on returning to Armenia with a group of American
archaeologists and students this summer.
Excavating at Shengavit. Photo courtesy of Dr. Mitchell Rothman.
There, at the Shengavit Historical and Archaeological Culture Preserve
in Yerevan's Shengavit district, his team, with Armenian colleagues,
will continue the work begun last summer. Namely, they will work to
uncover the story of the ancient society that was present at the
site from the 4th millennium B.C. This was before the formation
of Armenia and other nations in the region, although it is widely
believed the society living there at the time must have played a part
in the genesis of the Armenian people.
The Shengavit site
Excavations at Shengavit reveal at least 4 layers of civilization
during a period extending up to 2,000 years. At the site are
foundations for dwellings, some of them round, with hearths, pottery,
remains of seeds, and animal bones, as well as tombs. A small museum
displays some of the artifacts found at the site, with many more
artifacts on display at Armenia's State History Museum in the center
of Yerevan. Urartian tombs from a later period were found not far
from the Shengavit site in Yerevan.
The site was initially excavated in 1936 by Armenian archaeologists.
This was the first site that exhibited what is often called "Shengavit
culture" or "Kura-Arax" culture. This culture had contacts throughout
much of the Middle East, as far as Mesopotamia and Palestine, and as
far west as Malatia in western Armenia (Anatolia). But there are still
many questions that archaeologists and historians seek to answer:
The U.S. archaeologists want to establish a more precise chronology
for the site using advanced dating techniques and to evaluate the
evolution of Shengavit's social structure. They then hope to publish
a full history of Shengavit.
Significance
When asked about the significance of the Shengavit site, Rothman
provided the following comments to CYSCA Board member Joseph Dagdigian:
"The site of Shengavit in the hills above the Ararat Plain is one set
of remains of an ancient culture called variously Kura Araxes, Early
Transcaucasian, Karaz, Pulur, Shengavitian, etc. Its full time period
is still much under debate, but probably it starts somewhere around
3500 B.C. and ends 2500-2200 B.C. The homeland of this culture is in
the southern Caucasus, the current countries of Georgia, Armenia, and
Azerbaijan, along with a section of current northeastern Turkey from
Erzurum through Kars provinces. To fully understand the importance
of this culture, its place in its contemporary world is essential
to comprehend. Its beginning is co-terminus with the establishment
of the first states in southern Mesopotamia and the founding of
the first international trading system, which covered an area from
the Persian Gulf to the north Caucasus from modern western Iran
to the Mediterranean Sea. In the north Caucasus this is the time
of the earliest Maikop Cultures. Its end is near the time of the
founding of the first territorial empire of the northern Mesopotamian
Akkadians, and the dominance of mobile pastoralist societies known for
their kurgans (stone tombs) in Eurasia. This culture shared strong
traditions, represented in part by unique black burnished, handmade
pottery, often bearing incised or raised designs. First at about 3500
B.C., migrants bearing these markers of identity appeared in the Upper
Euphrates River valley (Malatya), and after approximately 3000 B.C.
spread across the Taurus and Zagros mountain fronts and down into the
North Jordan Valley in modern Israel. The nature of the Kura Araxes
societies are unique and different from either the Mesopotamian or
Western Iranian ones to the south or the Maikop ones of the north."
"Earlier scholars believed that these people were simple village
farmers and herders. Recent research at Shengavit, particularly the
work of the Armenian American team jointly directed by Drs. Hakob
Simonyan of the ROA Ministry of Culture and Mitchell S. Rothman
of Widener University, are suggesting that although they are
not comparable to Mesopotamian cities, they were becoming more
sophisticated, based in part on metal production. The work at
Shengavit, of another Armenian American team (Drs. Ruben Badalyan of
the Institute of Archaeology and Adam Smith of Cornell University)
in the Aragats area, and of teams in neighboring countries is just
beginning to unravel the changes in social structure and inter-regional
relationships that occurred over the span of the Kura Araxes Period."
Preservation
The Shengavit site is in dire need of preservation for future
generations of archaeologists, students, and curious visitors. The site
is run by a dedicated staff of three individuals headed by Vladimir
Tshagharyan, an experienced architect and archaeologist who has for
many years worked on protecting and preserving Armenia's archaeological
and architectural heritage. The site, however, receives no operating
expenses from the government even though the small museum building
needs structural reinforcement, water and sewage connections, rest
rooms, running water, a new roof to protect priceless artifacts in
the museum building, and other necessary improvements to facilitate
research by professional archeologists as well as visits by the
general public.
CYSCA support
CYSCA has undertaken a project to support the Shengavit Historical
and Archaeological Preserve in partnership with Tshagharyan, who was
a participant in CYSCA's "Community Connections" program in Cambridge
in 2003.
Those with access to Google Earth can get a satellite view of the
Shengavit site by typing in Shengavit's coordinates (40 09'24.99"N,
44 28'36.99"E). From the satellite one can see Yerevan Lake to the
northwest and the large adjacent hospital; the small building is the
Shengavit Museum. The foundations of the ancient settlement structures
are also clearly visible.
For more information, including how you may help, call CYSCA's
president Cheryl Shushan at (617) 484-7024 or Joseph Dagdigian at
(978) 772-9417, or visit www.cysca.org.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Armenian Weekly
April 12, 2012
The Cambridge-Yerevan Sister City Association (CYSCA) is launching
a fundraising effort to help support the ongoing research
into 4th-2ndmillennium B.C. history and culture at the Shengavit
archaeological site in Yerevan. Archaeologist Dr. Mitchell S. Rothman,
head of the department of anthropology at Widener University in
Pennsylvania, plans on returning to Armenia with a group of American
archaeologists and students this summer.
Excavating at Shengavit. Photo courtesy of Dr. Mitchell Rothman.
There, at the Shengavit Historical and Archaeological Culture Preserve
in Yerevan's Shengavit district, his team, with Armenian colleagues,
will continue the work begun last summer. Namely, they will work to
uncover the story of the ancient society that was present at the
site from the 4th millennium B.C. This was before the formation
of Armenia and other nations in the region, although it is widely
believed the society living there at the time must have played a part
in the genesis of the Armenian people.
The Shengavit site
Excavations at Shengavit reveal at least 4 layers of civilization
during a period extending up to 2,000 years. At the site are
foundations for dwellings, some of them round, with hearths, pottery,
remains of seeds, and animal bones, as well as tombs. A small museum
displays some of the artifacts found at the site, with many more
artifacts on display at Armenia's State History Museum in the center
of Yerevan. Urartian tombs from a later period were found not far
from the Shengavit site in Yerevan.
The site was initially excavated in 1936 by Armenian archaeologists.
This was the first site that exhibited what is often called "Shengavit
culture" or "Kura-Arax" culture. This culture had contacts throughout
much of the Middle East, as far as Mesopotamia and Palestine, and as
far west as Malatia in western Armenia (Anatolia). But there are still
many questions that archaeologists and historians seek to answer:
The U.S. archaeologists want to establish a more precise chronology
for the site using advanced dating techniques and to evaluate the
evolution of Shengavit's social structure. They then hope to publish
a full history of Shengavit.
Significance
When asked about the significance of the Shengavit site, Rothman
provided the following comments to CYSCA Board member Joseph Dagdigian:
"The site of Shengavit in the hills above the Ararat Plain is one set
of remains of an ancient culture called variously Kura Araxes, Early
Transcaucasian, Karaz, Pulur, Shengavitian, etc. Its full time period
is still much under debate, but probably it starts somewhere around
3500 B.C. and ends 2500-2200 B.C. The homeland of this culture is in
the southern Caucasus, the current countries of Georgia, Armenia, and
Azerbaijan, along with a section of current northeastern Turkey from
Erzurum through Kars provinces. To fully understand the importance
of this culture, its place in its contemporary world is essential
to comprehend. Its beginning is co-terminus with the establishment
of the first states in southern Mesopotamia and the founding of
the first international trading system, which covered an area from
the Persian Gulf to the north Caucasus from modern western Iran
to the Mediterranean Sea. In the north Caucasus this is the time
of the earliest Maikop Cultures. Its end is near the time of the
founding of the first territorial empire of the northern Mesopotamian
Akkadians, and the dominance of mobile pastoralist societies known for
their kurgans (stone tombs) in Eurasia. This culture shared strong
traditions, represented in part by unique black burnished, handmade
pottery, often bearing incised or raised designs. First at about 3500
B.C., migrants bearing these markers of identity appeared in the Upper
Euphrates River valley (Malatya), and after approximately 3000 B.C.
spread across the Taurus and Zagros mountain fronts and down into the
North Jordan Valley in modern Israel. The nature of the Kura Araxes
societies are unique and different from either the Mesopotamian or
Western Iranian ones to the south or the Maikop ones of the north."
"Earlier scholars believed that these people were simple village
farmers and herders. Recent research at Shengavit, particularly the
work of the Armenian American team jointly directed by Drs. Hakob
Simonyan of the ROA Ministry of Culture and Mitchell S. Rothman
of Widener University, are suggesting that although they are
not comparable to Mesopotamian cities, they were becoming more
sophisticated, based in part on metal production. The work at
Shengavit, of another Armenian American team (Drs. Ruben Badalyan of
the Institute of Archaeology and Adam Smith of Cornell University)
in the Aragats area, and of teams in neighboring countries is just
beginning to unravel the changes in social structure and inter-regional
relationships that occurred over the span of the Kura Araxes Period."
Preservation
The Shengavit site is in dire need of preservation for future
generations of archaeologists, students, and curious visitors. The site
is run by a dedicated staff of three individuals headed by Vladimir
Tshagharyan, an experienced architect and archaeologist who has for
many years worked on protecting and preserving Armenia's archaeological
and architectural heritage. The site, however, receives no operating
expenses from the government even though the small museum building
needs structural reinforcement, water and sewage connections, rest
rooms, running water, a new roof to protect priceless artifacts in
the museum building, and other necessary improvements to facilitate
research by professional archeologists as well as visits by the
general public.
CYSCA support
CYSCA has undertaken a project to support the Shengavit Historical
and Archaeological Preserve in partnership with Tshagharyan, who was
a participant in CYSCA's "Community Connections" program in Cambridge
in 2003.
Those with access to Google Earth can get a satellite view of the
Shengavit site by typing in Shengavit's coordinates (40 09'24.99"N,
44 28'36.99"E). From the satellite one can see Yerevan Lake to the
northwest and the large adjacent hospital; the small building is the
Shengavit Museum. The foundations of the ancient settlement structures
are also clearly visible.
For more information, including how you may help, call CYSCA's
president Cheryl Shushan at (617) 484-7024 or Joseph Dagdigian at
(978) 772-9417, or visit www.cysca.org.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress