cnes presentation 2015
TRANSCRIPT
UrartuandItsPredecessorsintheCaucasusDavidPeterson,Ph.D.
Classical&NearEasternStudiesUniversityofMinnesotaTwinCi@es
May1,2015
TheMoDaGroupandResearcher,CAMASLaboratory
• TheArmeniankingdomwasestablishedbytheOron@dDynasty,ca.600BC
• ReacheditsmaximumextentunderTigranestheGreat(r.95-66BC)
• WasmadeaRomanvassalfollowingPompey’sinvasionin66BC,andbecameRome’sprincipalallyinAsiaMinor
Maximum extent of the kingdom of Armenia
Background:MountAraratfromtheeast(2009).
Armenian Kingdom
Coin of Tigranes I British Museum
Inscribed Argishti Metropolitan Museum
Aerial view of Erebuni fortress Inscription of Argishti Erebuni Museum
Urartu• 9th-6thcenturiesBC• Erebunifoundedin782BC
byArgish@• in1sthistorically
recordedstateintheCaucasusi
Before Armenia - Urartu
Erebuni
“BythegreatnessoftheGodKhaldi,Argish@,sonofMenua,builtthismightystrongholdandproclaimeditErebuniforthegloryofBiainili(Urartu)andtoins@llfearamongtheking'senemies.Argish@says:Thelandwasadesert,beforethegreatworksIaccomplisheduponit.BythegreatnessofKhaldi,Argish@,sonofMenua,isamightyking,kingofBiainili,andrulerofTushpa.”
Israelyan,Margarit(1971)Էրեբունի:Բերդ-ՔաղաքիՊատմություն(Erebuni:The
HistoryofaFortress-City),p.9
Background:MountAraratfromtheeast(2009).
Inscription of Argishti from Erebuni, ca. 782 BC
Urartu – Van (Tushpa), eastern Turkey
Vanfortress,Turkey
Urar@anar@factsfromtheVanarea Erebuni
Van(Tushpa)
• Archipelagiccentersofauthorityonelevatedplains• Poli@calculturepredicatedonviolenceandmilitaryheroicsoftheking• Centersonmarginsofplainsforsurveillanceoflargeplotsofarableland• Mul@plefor@fiedcenterssituatednearbyinanintegratedgoverningnetwork• Authorityexercisedfromcentersthatgatheredpoli@cal,economic,and
religiousins@tu@onsinacompact,coherentbuiltenvironment
Urartu
Neo-Assyrians
Urartu(yellow)in715-713BC,duringthereignofRusaI.
Urartian political authority (Smith and Thompson 2004)
HelmetanddetailfromTeishebaini(KarmirBlur,Armenia)withroyalinscrip@onofSarduriII(ca.685-645BC)dedica@ngittothewargodKhaldi.
• 400 hectares, LBA II-EIA I, 13th-9th cen BC • Salvage of 160 burials 1987-89 (unpublished) • American-Armenia investigations 1990-1993
Site Plan R. Badaljan et al., Archaeological Investigations at Horom in the Shirak Plain in North-West Armenian, 1990. Iran 30: 31-48, 1993
T1
T2
Burial plans R. Badaljan et al. Preliminary Report on the 1992 Excavations at Horom, Armenia. Iran 31: 1-24, 1993
Horom, Shirak Plain, western Armenia
HoromAr@k
GegharotLoriBerd
Erebuni
Late Bronze Age-Early Iron Age centers and necropolis sites in present-day Armenia, in relation to Erebuni.
Aghavnadzor
Metsamor
Samples• 50,copperandbronze
Implements:banding,wire,adagger,and22arrowheads
• Ornaments:clothingplaques,rings,pins,hammeredshee@ng,pommels,andpendants
• Setinmetallographicepoxy,groundandpolished
Sample Heterogeneity
Horom: Analysis of Copper and Bronze Artifacts
• Analysiswith5cer@fiedcopperandbronzestandards(B10,B12,51.13-4,71.32-4,SRM-494)
LaserAbla@onICP-MS
EDSelementmaps• Phasingin@nbronzes• 500micrometerraster
pagernselectedforabla@on
• Antimony (Sb) was part of the bronze technology
• Association between color and artifact category/function Implements – Cu+As (silvery color) Ornaments – light colored, complex alloys (Sb)
• Comparison with arc optical emission spectroscopy (OES)
Results
oi.uchicago.edu
Tsaghahovit Plain, northern Armenia
Project ArAGATS, directed by Ruben Badalyan, Adam T. Smith, Lori Khatchadourian, Ian Lindsay Map A. Smith, R. Badalyan & Pavel Avetisyan, The Archaeology and Geography of Ancient Transcaucasian States, v. 1, University of Chicago Oriental Institute, 2009
oi.uchicago.edu
Gegharot
• 11 Late Bronze-Early Iron Age (pre-Urartian) fortresses mapped in the Tsaghahovit Plain
• Intensive excavations at Gegharot (Urartian, pre-Urartian, Early Bronze Age levels)
Shrine(westernterrace)
11
i'CE/-"1"
"
""
"" "
• 2 Mitannian seals recovered from LBA levels in 2006 (15th-14th century BC)
Gegharotfortress
Project ArAGATS
Map A. Smith, R. Badalyan & Pavel Avetisyan, The Archaeology and Geography of Ancient Transcaucasian States, v. 1, University of Chicago Oriental Institute, 2009
Armenia and Karabagh 2009-2012 Geoarchaeologicalresearch
• 200oresamplesfrom55areasin14minedeposits,chemicalandPbisotopeanalysis
Reconnaissanceandevalua@onofarchaeologicalsitesforcon@nuingresearch
• Drmbon,Navzran,Drjahovit,Hankavan,Fioletovo,Margahovit,Koghb
“Early southern Caucasian political tradition” (Smith and Thompson) • Mul@-centered(mul@-regional?)politysituatedonelevatedplains• Poli@calculturepredicatedonviolenceandmilitaryheroicsoftheking• Centersonmarginsofplainsforsurveillanceoflargeplotsofarableland• Mul@plefor@fiedcenterssituatednearbyinanintegratedgoverningnetwork• Authorityexercisedfromcentersthatgatheredpoli@cal,economic,andreligious
ins@tu@onsinacompact,coherentbuiltenvironment• “Poli@calcontroloversubjectpopula@onsandeconomicproduc@onwasthrust
outwardsfromthefortresscentresthroughabroaderre-orderingofthelandscapefocusedontheconstruc@onoflarge-scaleirriga@onnetworksandmilitaryoutposts.”
!
!
Period! Approximate!Dates!BCE!
Iron!I!Iron!Ib! 10008800!
Iron!Ia! 115081000!
Late!Bronze!Age!
LB!III! 130081150!
LB!II! 140081300!
LB!I! 150081400!
Middle!Bronze!Age! 240081500!
Early!Bronze!Age! 350082400!
• Horom• Kohl2008,onlinephotos?• Triale@-Karashamb
Karashamb goblet, ca. 23rd-21st century BC
P. Kohl, The Making of Bronze Age Eurasia, Cambridge University Press, 2007
EarlyBronzeAgeMetalworkfromVelikent,Daghestan,ca.2850BC
Rings
Bracelets
Scarcity Lightnessincolor
SilverCopper+SilverTinbronzeArsenicbronzeCopper
CopperandCopperAlloysfromVelikent,Daghestan(NorthCaucasus)
Funding Agencies ² American Councils for International Education / National Councils for Eurasian and
East European Research ² US National Endowment for the Humanities ² Office of Research, Faculty Research Committee and Humanities and Social
Sciences Research Committee, Idaho State University ² College of Arts and Letters, Idaho State University
Research Centers / Institutes ² Institute of Geological Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, Republic of
Armenia ² Institute for Archaeology and Ethnography, National Academy of Sciences,
Republic of Armenia ² Center for Archaeology, Materials and Applied Spectroscopy, Idaho State
University
Thank You!