Bronze and Early Iron Age Archaeological Sites in Armenia. I. Mt. Aragats and its Surrounding Region

At the present time, one of the most urgent tasks in Armenian archaeology is the organization of the existing information, so as to enable a critical analysis of the results obtained during 150 years of excavation in Armenia to formulate the main directions for future research in the future. The establishment of a corpus of archaeological sites is one of the most efficient forms of such organisation. The present work is the first attempt in this direction, produced by the authors within the framework of an European INTAS program: 'Geographic Information System for Armenian archaeological sites from the Palaeolithic to the 4th century A.D.'. This work pursues some fundamental objectives. The first is to attempt to fill the gap which exists in the information. Second, the authors attempt to present the data in the framework of a single division into periods and a single chronology. Finally, the table of geographic coordinates (catalogue) can serve as a base for the future cartography of Bronze Age and Iron Age sites in Armenia. The present work groups together the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age vestiges in the following regions: the volcanic massif of Aragats, the depression of Shirak, the ridge of Pambak, the valley of the Kasakh river and the northern part of the plain of Ararat. Future volumes in this series will report on other regions.