Archeology & History Travellers
Archeology & History Travellers
In addition to the growing tourist trade, Armenia is becoming renowned in the scientific community. During the last 10 years, exciting new discoveries and opportunities for international collaboration have made Armenia a new center for archaeological research.
And Armenia’s history is nothing if it is not about the beginnings of human settlement in the Near East. Once thought to be a backwater of the region, the emergence of the country in the last 15 years has brought it to the forefront in archeological study, reshaping the accepted views of how far north the Cradle of Civilization reached.
The area was first settled roughly 1.5 million years ago.
To put it bluntly, Armenia was an open air Paleolithic factory, a mass-production facility for the tools used to fashion Stone Age civilization.
Thousands of petroglyphs on mountain top stones are traced to the Paleolithic-Bronze Ages in Armenia (12,000-2000 BC).
There was widespread settlement, mastery of pottery and elaborate burial practices in the Neolithic Era (8000-5000 BC).
Armenia has the oldest uncovered metal foundry, and the earliest known instance of forging bronze (ca. 4000-3500 BC); and the earliest known forging of iron (ca. 2000 BC). Metal foundries and their surrounding citadels were highly developed in the Ararat valley.
Ancestral Armenians were among the first to chart the night sky and create navigational maps, as witnessed by the 5000 BC Karahundj near Sissian and the 2800 BC Observatory platform at Metsamor.
The Nairi, Urartu, Assyrians, Persians and Romans all left their mark on the pre-Christian terrain, in fortresses, settlements and cities that are still being explored in active digs that welcome participants.
Excavations
A wide diversity of eras, sites and archaeological monuments cover the countryside: open-air workshops littered with flint implements; cave cities; early agricultural tells; Bronze/Iron Age and Urartian fortresses, settlements, tomb fields and petroglyphs; Hellenistic city remains and temples; early and medieval churches and magnificent monastic complexes. Excavations are as diverse as the recently discovered Bronze Age temple-city of Agarak, Bronze through Iron Age tomb field of Aghavnatun, Epipaleolithic caves in the Kasakh River Canyon and investigations of the petroglyphs in the Geghama Range.
Excavations are led by scientific professionals and include students and other interested team members. Many welcome non-scientific participants interested in the process of discovery and preservation. Students can earn credit at certain digs.
Excavations occur during the warm weather months (May-October), with many working one or two months at a time. Those facilitated by an archeology tour operator will include excursions.
Historical Focus Tours
All tours of the country include a basic overview of the country’s history and visits to the most popular historical sites, but for those looking for a specific branch of Armenian history, a number of Travel Operators (History) can arrange tailor-made historical tours of Armenia, be they pre-history, ancient history, medieval or modern in focus.
Historical Focus Tours include Prehistory (Stone Age, Neolithic Revolution, Bronze Age, Iron Age), Urartian & Assyrian Period, Hellenistic Era, Roman Era, Early Christianity, Medieval Era (Armenian Kingdom, Arab Conquests, Bagratuni period, Byzantine period, Seljuk Conquest, Georgian King/Zakarian period, Mongol era), Persian, Ottoman Russian, Soviet and modern periods.
Archeology & History Resources
INSTITUTE OF HISTORY (Ashot A. Melkonyan), 24g Marshall Baghramian Ave., Yerevan 0019, Republic of Armenia, Tel.: (+374 10) 529263, 581931 Fax: (+374 10) 569281, E-mail: history@sci.am, URL: http://www.sci.am/resorgs.php?oid=29&langid=1, is the leading institution in Armenia on history. Can lead you to professional academics who can serve as expert guides with specialties in your interests.
INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY AND ETHNOGRAPHY (Dr. Pavel S. Avetisyan), 15 Charents St., Yerevan 370025, Republic of Armenia, Tel.: (+374 10) 556896 Fax: (+374 10) 556896, E-mail: pavetisyan@sci.am, URL: http://www.sci.am/resorgs.php?oid=32&langid=1, participates in all excavations in the country, and is the fist source of ongoing and future excavations.
PROJECT ARAGATS (Ruben Badalyan), Institute of Archaeology and
Ethnography, Armenian Academy of Sciences, 15 Charents St., Yerevan 375025, Republic of Armenia, E-mail: rubbadal@hotmail.com, URL: http://acc.spc.uchicago.edu/~atsmith/Pages/Aragats.html.
PREHISTORIC SITES IN ARMENIA, URL: http://www.staff.ncl.ac.uk/pavel.dolukhanov/armenia/index.htm
WINGS OVER ARMENIA, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, 15 Charents Str., 375025, Yerevan, Armenia, Phone: c/o (3741) 56 68 96, E-mail: hayk@archaeology.am, URL: http://www.archaeology.am/index.html) is a unique project that conducts aerial surveys and photo documentation of excavation sites in Armenia, many times detecting heretofore undiscovered features and sites. The work is done from motorized-paragliders and paragliders. Contact Hayk Hakobian at Wings Over Armenia to inquire about their next expedition.
PROJECT DISCOVERY, 340 Lakewood Drive, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304 USA, tel. +(248) 593-6565, E-mail: projectdiscovery@comcast.net, URL: http://www.projectdiscovery.net.
JOUKOWSKY INSTITUTE FOR ARCHAEOLOGY AND THE ANCIENT WORLD (Susan E. Alcock), tel. (401) 863-3710, (401) 863-3188, E-mail: Susan_Alcock@brown.edu, URL: http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Joukowsky_Institute/people/alcock.html, sponsors the Vorotan Project, an international collaborative effort in southern Armenia.
ARCHAEOLOGY ABROAD, 31-34 Gordon Square, LONDON WC1H OPY, UK, Tel/fax: +44 (0)20-8537-0849, Email: arch.abroad@ucl.ac.uk, URL:
http://www.britarch.ac.uk/archabroad, provides information about ongoing excavations worldwide, including Armenia.
Links
http://www.agbu.org/publications/article.asp?A_ID=167
Archeological/Historical Tour Providers
MASSTOUR (tel./fax. 010 27 78 32), 8 Komitas, Yerevan, e-mail: info@masstours.com, URL: www.masstours.com, specialize in archeological tours and participation in archeological digs supervised by working archeologists. They also arrange an Archeological School for students from outside in inside Armenia.
ARCHAEOEXPEDITIONS (Cultural Expeditions MEC Canada Inc.). Westgate PO 35012, Ottawa Canada K1Z 1A2, Toll Free 1-866-682-0562, 613-264-0377, fax 613-264-0388, info@archaeoexpeditions.com, URL: http://www.archaeoexpeditions.com.
INFOHUB ARMENIA. URL: http://www.infohub.com/travel_packages/culture_history_armenia_181.html, provides a list of current and upcoming archeology and history travel opportunities.
ACE STUDYTOURS, URL: http://www.acestudytours.co.uk/index/l/charity
