“Renewed Excavations at Argishtikhinili: Results of the First Season of the Armenian Polish Archaeological Expedition” is a lecture to be given by Mateusz Iskra (PCMA UW) and Hasmik Simonyan (Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia/ “Service For The Protection Of Historical Environment and Cultural Museum-reservations”).
In October 2024, after a long break, archaeological work resumed at Davti Blur (Nor Armavir, Armenia) as part of a new Armenian-Polish archaeological research project. Davti Blur encompasses the western part of the ancient city of Argishtikhinili, an Urartian city-fortress founded in 774 BCE, which served as one of the main administrative and economic centers of the Urartian Kingdom in the South Caucasus during the 8th and 7th centuries BCE. The western part of the city, apart from a well-preserved citadel, is known for its extensive residential district, where the remains of large houses belonging to the local elite have been uncovered.
The new project focuses on interdisciplinary research of these residences to reconstruct the economic and social aspects of their inhabitants’ lives between the 8th and 6th centuries BCE. The lecture will present the results of the first season of research, which lasted between the 4th and 30th of October, 2024. During this season, surface and geophysical surveys were carried out, alongside preliminary geological research, test trenching, and rescue excavations.
The first season of joint Armenian-Polish research yielded many significant and often surprising discoveries. In less than a month, it was possible to identify an 8th-century BC urn burial cemetery, uncover exceptionally well-preserved sections of rooms belonging to two residences inhabited during the 7th–6th centuries BCE, and document traces of a major earthquake that struck the site.
The seminar will be held on Thursday, 23rd January 2025, at 2 pm – on the Zoom platform. To receive the link, please write to [email protected]