Mateusz Iskra

The morphology and distribution of what is considered as a local pottery assemblage from the Iron I and Iron II phases, which in Metsamor is part of a larger cultural phenomenon designated as the Lchashen-Metsamor pottery horizon, is the subject of continued discussion in terms of its continuity and change. This presentation, expanding on previous, preliminary research (see Iskra and Zakyan 2019; 2022), considers the input of new findings resulting from an examination of the results of the most recent excavations by an Armenian-Polish team, concentrated on phases of peak development (V and IVb) and gradual decline of urban life (IVa) in the Iron Age at this fortress site in Armenia. The discussion also contextualizes current knowledge of the presence of Urartian Red Burnished Ware in the Metsamor settlement, especially during the initial phase of Urartian presence, that is, in Phase IVa.

A rich and diverse pottery assemblage from the Middle Bronze Age through the Urartian Red Burnished Ware and local "post-Urartian ware" of the Iron III period comes from occupational deposits discovered within the lower town of Metsamor during fieldwork in 2018. The stone architecture recorded in this sector functioned in the first half of the 1st millennium BC. The pottery finds thus represent periods from Iron Age I to Iron Age III, for the first time producing a detailed sequence for the previously less than satisfactorily documented Iron Age I phase. New types of pottery were also distinguished for the Urartian and post-Urartian phases. From the start of archaeological investigations in Met-samor in the 1960s, the site has played a crucial role in studies of ancient Transcaucasian ceramics in Armenia and their relative chronology, particularly in the Bronze and Iron Ages. This is because few of the excavations in Armenia have been carried out on multi-layered fortress or settlement sites, the bulk of the research concerning cemeteries. Metsamor has yielded ceramic material from both the fortress and cemetery, forming a corpus that covers a time span from the Middle Bronze Age (MBA) III through the Iron Age (IA) II periods. The study of Bronze and Iron Age pottery from Metsamor (2018 season)

The Metsamor archeological site is located in the north-western part of the Ararat plain, on the left bank of the Metsamor river, 35 km west of Yerevan. The site consists of the Cyclopean fortress and lower town located on the Large Hill (Mets Blur), “the Observatory” area situated on several free-standing rocks (Pokr Blur) and a large cemetery that extends eastward. Although most of the archaeological remains are dated to the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age I periods (15th-9th century B.C.), the stratigraphic sequence revealed in the fortress mound can be traced back to the mid-4th millennium B.C., while the latest structures were built in the 17th century A.D. The long-lasting excavations and subsequent studies carried out by the Armenian (E. Khanzadyan) and the Armenian-Polish (A. Piliposyan and K. Jakubiak) archaeological expeditions provided rich and unique information on the history and socio-cultural traditions of the southern Caucasus as well as its relationship with Anatolia and Mesopotamia during the second and frst millennia B.C. Two monographs, several feld reports and over a dozen articles constitute the results of these efforts. The second monograph, particularly important for this paper, is a study of 38 tombs (kurgans and cist graves with stone walls) in the Metsamor cemetery dated exclusively to the Middle Bronze Age (MBA) and the Late Bronze Age (LBA) periods. The
Iron Age tombs are only partially published – nine of the smaller cist graves were described in the frst volume, whereas only one kurgan (no. XI) was presented as a case study in an article. In all around sixty tombs were published by Khanzadyan, this being only fifty per cent of the total number of excavatedtombs - 119 smaller cist graves and 19 kurgans so far. Fortunately, it is possible to reconstruct unpublished graves and kurgans with their grave objects due to the fact that the bulk of the archaeological material unearthed inside the tombs as well as Khanzadyan’s unpublished archives (journals, photos, drawings etc.) are presently stored and exhibited in the historicalarchaeological museum reserve “Metsamor”. With these sources available, the accurate reconstruction of particular elements of burial traditions in Metsamor during the Bronze and Iron Age periods is facilitated.

The Metsamor site in the 2017 season was excavated in two areas. The main area was the so-called town area where several dwellings from the Early Iron Age were cleared. Evidence of violent site destruction included two human skeletons belonging most probably to victims of a sudden attack, left unburied after the town had been destroyed. The cemetery was the second investigated area. Exploration of kurgan XIX demonstrated it to have been looted. Nevertheless, some human remains and several artifacts in the form of bronze snake head bracelets were recorded inside the burial chamber.

Excavation in Metsamor in 2016 was focused on the settlement area as well as necropolis. Extended trenches uncovered a substantial part of the settlement and contributed new stratigraphic and chronological data on the three phases of occupation, especially the heavy fire that appears to have destroyed the buildings in the early 8th century BC. A unique find from this level of destruction was a necklace made of sardonyx, agate and gold beads. In the post-Urartian period, the northeastern part of the settlement was clearly rearranged. Exploration of a kurgan tomb in the cemetery showed that the tomb had been reused for the most recent burial, looted, which may have included a symbolic horse burial. The construction of the tomb, based on finds from a layer at the bottom of the burial chamber, which included several golden adornments and beads of different materials, can be dated to the Middle Bronze Age, the latest burials to the Iron I period.

The Metsamor excavation project is a Polish–Armenian effort to investigate a Bronze Age citadel site located about 35 km west of Yerevan, on a hill dominating the Araxes plain. Fieldwork started in 2013 and was aimed during the first three seasons at clarifying site chronology in the citadel as well as the northern lower town. An unbroken sequence from the Kura Araxes culture (Early Bronze Age) to medieval times was confirmed. Settlement remains of Early Iron Age buildings included an almost square structure NSB 2 and a dwelling NSB 1, furnished with a relatively large storage room. Four human skeletons, two of young men, were also recorded, suggesting they were victims of a raid on the settlement. The results of recent field observations coupled with pottery analysis postulate two destructive events, for the first time during the Urartian invasion led by Argishti I and the second one at the beginning of the 6th century BC.