Historical Heritage of Artsakh Research Group

The task of the Department is:

1. To study the historical and cultural heritage of Artsakh.
2. From the temporal perspective - to deal with the Classical and Medieval periods, as well as the Iron Age.
3. To conduct monitoring of monuments of Artsakh.
4. The Department carries out its work in the following forms of activity: field, cameral, laboratory, museum, archive/library, office.
5. The results of the Department's work are measured by high-quality scientific publications (monographs, collections, articles), which must be relevant and innovative, using modern methods, participation and organized events (conferences, seminars, etc.), field and laboratory research, international relations, productive (attraction of foreign resources, participation of international scientific organizations), influx of personnel, defense of theses, provision of professional opinions.

 

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The past and present of the Department 

Introduction

The Research Group of the Historical and Cultural Heritage of Artsakh of the Institute was established in 2016 by the decision of the Institute's Academic Council. Since 2005, the  Artsakh archaeological expedition of the Institute (headed by Hamlet Petrosyan, Professor, Doctor of Historical Sciences) has been conducting archaeological research in Artsakh (Shushi, Handaberd Monastery, Tigranakert, Dadivank) at the invitation of the Artsakh authorities. The research group was created taking into account the work already done by the expedition and the need to include archaeological researches in Artsakh in the projects of the Institute.

The main goal of the group is to study and popularize the archaeological culture of Artsakh. The head of the group is Hamlet Petrosyan, Professor, Doctor of Historical Sciences, the members are: Tatyana Vardanesova, researer, PhD; Armine Gabrielyan, researcher, PhD; Nzhdeh Yeranyan, researcher, PhD; Ruben Hovsepyan, junior researcher, PhD; Hamazasp Abrahamyan, junior researcher, PhD student.

 

Field research in 2004-2020

The archaeological expedition of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of Artsakh having Tigranakert as the main excavation site, also carried out archaeological excavations at a number of other archaeological monuments of Artsakh (Shushi, Handaberd Monastery, Dadivank, Gyavur-Kala, Nor Maragha Fortress, jar burials of the Classical period and early medieval burials of Mardakert, Amaras Monastery, Dadivank, Surb Stepanos Monastery in Vachar, Berdashen monuments, etc.). In addition to archaeological excavations, the immovable heritage of the territory of Artsakh was revealed: archaeological sites, monasteries, churches and chapels, anthropomorphic steles, Classical period and early Christian steles, khachkars and tombstones, and Islamic monuments. Besides, professional support was provided to other excavations carried out in Artsakh.

The excavations of Tigranakert in Artsakh were the largest and longest-running archaeological project in the territory of the Republic of Artsakh. In 2005, the expedition discovered the remains of the city of Tigranakert, founded by the Armenian king Tigran II in Artsakh, and since 2006 has been conducting large-scale archaeological excavations on its territory. The monument is located on the right bank of the Khachenaget River, in the Askeran region of the NKR.

It extends on the south-eastern slope of Mount Vankasar and in the basin adjacent to this slope, near the Royal Springs (Shahbulagh). During the excavations, the upper part of the citadel of the Fortified quarter of the Classical period, a retaining wall 83 m long separating the citadel from the quarter, rocky foundations of the southern walls of the same area 450 m long, a part of the northern fortress wall up to 5 m high and about 350 m long, a part of the south-eastern fortress wall about 40 m, the first and second quarters of the Classical period, a winepress carved into the rock, a pond near the Royal Springs, an early Christian square of the Central District with two churches with a reliquary with a single eastern entrance, remains of a monumental cross-bearing stele and an early Christian cemetery were discovered.

The following monuments were partially excavated: one of the jar burial grounds (Eastern tomb field) of the Classical period, a canal about 5 km long, an early Christian rock ritual complex, the remains of the Postal Station built in the 19th century, an early Christian reliquary and the Tsitsar church. In the vicinity of Tigranakert, the Classical period fortress of Nor Maragha, the church of Gyavur-Kala, the burials of Nor Karmiravan, the jar burials of Mardakert, Ghazanchi, Nor Maragha and other monuments were excavated.

As a result of the study of Shushi in 2004-2005, a list and map of archaeological sitets of the city and its environs were compiled (it includes about 200 archaeological monuments up to and including the 18th century), including: 1 Lower Paleolithic site, 1 cyclopean fortress of the Bronze and Iron Ages, 5 burial grounds, 2 Classical period and 2 early Christian cemeteries, 6 medieval villages, about 4 dozen khachkars. Archaeological excavations of Shushi and its environs on the plateau examined 2 tombs of the 2nd-1st millennia BC, the fortress of Karkar, Shoshva Sghnakh, the old and new cemeteries.

In Dadivank, the tomb of Saint Dadi (2007) and the drainage system of the small domed church (2017) were excavated.

In 2014, studies were conducted on the chapel of Surb Grigoris in the Amaras monastery. The excavations were carried out in the eastern courtyard of the current church, in the area adjacent to the eastern wall. The main goal was to test the hypothesis that the current church was divided into two parts by the eastern wall, leaving the supposed eastern entrance outside. During the excavations, the remains of the eastern entrance, faced with hewn stones, an open vestibule, portal columns, a half-column, and steps leading to a semi-dugout hall were discovered.

The excavations have clearly confirmed that the original structure of the tomb of Saint Grigoris did indeed have an eastern entrance, which allowed us to consider the mausoleum with the eastern entrance of Tigranakert in a broader context, as well as to identify the problems of further archaeological and general cultural research of similar structures in Artsakh.

During the excavations of the Monastery of Surb Stepanos in Vachar in 2017, the mausoleum of Saint Stepanos with the eastern entrance and details of the early Christian cross-bearing stele (5th-6th centuries), the two-apse chapel built later on the reliquary, the narthex adjacent to the chapel, and the surrounding buildings (12th-17th centuries) were studied.

During the excavations of Berdashen in 2019, part of the foot of the fortress and the Pitsi-Nahatak chapel were studied. As a result of the excavations, separate parts of three semi-underground residential and economic complexes with an irregular plan with walls made of clay-bonded rubble were discovered. A mandatory component of each complex is a tonir (hearth). The materials mainly date back to the 11th-13th centuries: among them are fragments of a karas with a stamped ornament, glazed and painted using a stencil dishes, fragments of glass bracelets, and a copper coin.

Such archaeological materials are usually part of the urban culture and indicate the settlement's involvement in the economic and cultural development of the region, which is typical for settlements located on trade routes.

During the excavations of the Pitsi-Nahatak chapel, the original platform of the structure was discovered, early Christian steles, khachkars of the 12th-13th centuries, and tombstones of the 16th-18th centuries both built into the walls of the building subsequently constructed on the site, and discovered in the vicinity were studied.

The results of the study of the archaeological monuments of Artsakh by the group were published in a number of monographs in Armenian and foreign languages, with 100 or more articles, and were also presented at international conferences.

 

Research areas of the group members are:

- Medieval archaeology and culture, "Archaeological research of Tigranakert of Artsakh", medieval culture of Artsakh (carried out by Hamlet Petrosyan, Professor, Doctor of Historical Sciences).

- Medieval archaeology, pottery culture, "Medieval ceramics of Artsakh as a cultural phenomenon", medieval ceramics and glass of Tigranakert (carried out by Tatyana Vardanesova, researcher, PhD).

- Archaeology of the Classical period, culture of Artsakh of the Classical period, ceramics of the Classical period of Tigranakert, culture of jar burials of Artsakh-Utik (carried out by Armine Gabrielyan, researcher, PhD).

- Early archaeology of Artsakh, archaeological culture of the Artsakh steppe in the 2nd-1st millennia BC, studies of the landscape of Artsakh in the Bronze-Iron Age (carried out by Nzhdeh Yeranyan, researcher, PhD).

- Economic culture of medieval Artsakh, Islamic cultural heritage of the Republic of Artsakh (carried out by Ruben Hovsepyan, researcher, PhD).

- Archaeological monuments of Tsitssar of Artsakh of Tigranakert (carried out by  Hamazasp Abrahamyan, junior researcher, PhD student).