BRONZE AGE SITE OF AGARAK

A few km west of Achtarak, towards Ochakan, a Bronze Age site was recently discovered during work on a high copper-coloured cliff that stands on the southern flank of the Arakadz, on the banks of the Amberd River, overlooking the village of Agarak, opposite Etchmiadzin. 5,000 years ago, animal forms were carved here, even in the maze of cellars and natural galleries. Destined to become a tufa quarry, the site was saved in the early 2000s by archaeologists, who began excavations on a 5,000 m² plateau north of Agarak. The site provides valuable insights into the civilization that developed in the region before Ourartou. The site, which had a religious vocation, was continuously populated, as shown by the foundations of a city orbiting in the orbit of the Hittites. Objects have been found there, including pottery belonging to the Koura-Arax culture (between 2900 and 2700 BC), coins dating from Ourartou (700-800 BC), and tombs from the first centuries BC containing coins bearing the effigy of Alexander the Great or the Roman emperors, as well as tombs from the early Christian era. Vestiges of wine-growing activity, dating back to the 4th and 3rd centuries BCE, show that the region experienced considerable economic activity until the 18th century, with fragments of ceramics from the time of the Yerevan Khanate.