The Metsamor site is the remains of an old fortress located to the southwest of the

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

n village of Taronik, in the

Armavir Province Armavir (, ), is a administrative divisions of Armenia, province (''marz'') in the western part of Armenia. Located in the Ararat plain dominated by Mount Ararat from the south and Mount Aragats from the north, the province's capital is the tow ...

. While a belief was long held according to which the city of Metsamor was destroyed by the Urartians during the Iron Age, researchers now believe it was destroyed by Scythian or

Cimmerian The Cimmerians were an Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern Iranian peoples, Iranic Eurasian nomads, equestrian nomadic people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe, part of whom subsequently migrated into W ...

nomads.

History

The central part of the site lies on a hill overlooking the Ararat Valley. Research has been conducted in the fortified

citadel A citadel is the most fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of ''city'', meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. ...

and the so-called lower town lying below it, as well as in the cemetery located about 500 m to the east. Already in the first seasons, an undisturbed stratigraphic sequence from the Bronze Age (the Kura-Arax period) to the medieval times was documented. The oldest traces of settlement date to the turn of the 4th millennium BC (

Chalcolithic The Chalcolithic ( ) (also called the Copper Age and Eneolithic) was an archaeological period characterized by the increasing use of smelted copper. It followed the Neolithic and preceded the Bronze Age. It occurred at different periods in di ...

), the youngest, to the 17th century. In the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages (15th–8th century BC), the settlement became an important religious and economic center with a developed metallurgical production. On the southern slope of the hill, a large religious complex was discovered, consisting of five small temples with clay “cascading” altars. The most famous finds include ornaments, e.g., gold necklaces and gilded belt fittings with depictions of hunting lionesses.

Excavations

Research in Metsamor has been conducted since 1965.Khanzadyan E., Mkrtchyan K. and Parsamyan E. Metsamor: Usumnasirut’yun 1965–1966t’t’. peghumneri tvyalnerov, Yerevan: Akademiya Nauk Armianskoe S.S.R. 1973 Until the 1990s, work was carried out by Armenian teams directed by Emma Khanzadyan and Koryun Mkrtchyan; in the years 2011–2013, Ashot Piliposyan headed the excavations. All the finds are displayed in the museum located at the site. In 2013, an Armenian-Polish archaeological expedition started work in Metsamor as a result of the cooperation between the Institute of Archaeology and the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology (from the

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw (, ) is a public university, public research university in Warsaw, Poland. Established on November 19, 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country, offering 37 different fields of study as well ...

) and the Service for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Environment and Museum Reservation, Ministry of Culture of Armenia. Krzysztof Jakubiak (IA UW) and Ashot Piliposyan are co-directors of the mission. Jakubiak says that Metsamor "has an important role among the settlements of the Ararat Valley."

Museum

The Museum of History and Archeology at Metsamor Site was opened in 1968. It is the repository of more than 22,000 items, almost all discovered at the site.

References

* Jakubiak K., Iskra M., Piliposyan A., and Zaqyan A. (2017)
Preliminary report on the 2016 season in Metsamor (Armenia).
Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean, 26/1 (2017) * TruszkowResearch in Metsamor has been conducted since 1965. Until the 1990s, work was carried out by Armenian teams directed by Emma Khanzadyan and Koryun Mkrtchyan; in the years 2011–2013, Ashot Piliposyan headed the excavations. All the finds are displayed in the museum located at the site. In 2013, an Armenian-Polish archaeological expedition started work in Metsamor as a result of the cooperation between the Institute of Archaeology and the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology (both University of Warsaw) and the Service for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Environment and Museum Reservation, Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Armenia. Krzysztof Jakubiak (IA UW) and Ashot Piliposyan are co-directors of the mission. ski, M., Bagi, O
Aerial survey of the necropolis and the surrounding fields at Metsamor.
Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean, 26/1 (2017) * Jakubiak K., Piliposyan A., Iskra M. and Zaqyan A
Metsamor, First preliminary report of seasons 2013, 2014, 2015.
Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean, 25 (2016) * Khanzadyan E., MResearch in Metsamor has been conducted since 1965. Until the 1990s, work was carried out by Armenian teams directed by Emma Khanzadyan and Koryun Mkrtchyan; in the years 2011–2013, Ashot Piliposyan headed the excavations. All the finds are displayed in the museum located at the site. In 2013, an Armenian-Polish archaeological expedition started work in Metsamor as a result of the cooperation between the Institute of Archaeology and the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology (both University of Warsaw) and the Service for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Environment and Museum Reservation, Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Armenia. Krzysztof Jakubiak (IA UW) and Ashot Piliposyan are co-directors of the mission. krtchyan K. and Parsamyan E. Metsamor: Usumnasirut’yun 1965–1966t’t’. peghumneri tvyalnerov, Yerevan: Akademiya Nauk Armianskoe S.S.R. (1973)

Footnotes

* *The Armenian History", by Armenia's National Academy of Sciences (1971) *"From the History of Ancient Armenia", by Dr.Suren Aivazyan *"Evolution of the World Alphabets", by Dr.Armen Melkonyan {{Prehistoric technology Archaeological sites in Armenia Megalithic monuments in Europe Former populated places in the Caucasus Buildings and structures in Armavir Province