iran 32 (1994)

IRAN Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies

VOLUME XXXII 1994

CONTENTS

Page Governing Council . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii Report of the Council . . . . . . . . . .. . . .. .. .. . iii Obituary: Professor Louis Vanden Berghe ............. v Preliminary Report on the 1993 Excavations at Horom, Armenia, by

Ruben S. Badaljan, Philip L. Kohl, David Stronach and Armen V. Tonikjan ........................ 1

Elamites and Other Peoples from Iran and the Persian Gulf Region in Early Mesopotamian Sources, by Ran Zadok .......... 31

The International Merv Project. Preliminary Report on the Second Season (1993), by Georgina Herrmann, K. Kurbansakhatov et al. 53

The Fall of al-Maddiin: Some Literary References Concerning Sasanian Spoils of War in Mediaeval Islamic Treasuries, by Avinoam Shalem ..................... 77

The Chinese Uighur Animal Calendar in Persian Historiography of the Mongol Period, by Charles Melville ............ 83

Anecdotes of a Provincial Sufi of the Dehli Sultanate, Khwaija Gurg of Kara, by Simon Digby ...... .............. 99

The Accession of Iskandar Khan, by Audrey Burton ......... 111 The Ijdza from Yidsuf Al-Bahrmni (d. 1186/1772) to Sayyid Muhammad Mahdi Bahr al-cUlfim (d. 1212/1797-8), by Robert Gleave . . . 115 James Baillie Fraser: Traveller, Writer and Artist 1787-1856, by Denis

Wright ......................... 125 British Indian Views (Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries) of

the Later Followers of the Raukaniyya Sect in Afghanistan and Northern India, by Sergei Andreyev ............ 135

Production of Sugar in Iran in the Nineteenth Century, by A. Seyf . 139 Shorter Notices

Hijji cAbbas,byJ.W.Allan ................ 145 Diz, by Mary Burkett .................. 149

THE BRITISH INSTITUTE OF PERSIAN STUDIES A Registered Charity

c/o The British Academy, 20-21 Cornwall Terrace, London NW1 4QP ISSN 0578-6967

STATEMENT OF AIMS AND ACTIVITIES 1. The Institute has an establishment in Tehran at which British scholars, men and women of learning versed

in the arts, friends of Iran, may reside and meet their Iranian colleagues in order to discuss with them subjects of common interest; the arts, archaeology, history, literature, linguistics, religion, philosophy and cognate subjects.

2. The Institute provides accommodation for senior scholars and for teachers from British Universities in order that they may refresh themselves at the source of knowledge from which their teaching derives, the same service is being rendered to younger students who show promise of developing interests in Persian studies.

3. The Institute, whilst concerned with Persian culture in the widest sense, is particularly concerned with the development of archaeological techniques, and seeks the co-operation of Iranian scholars and students in applying current methods to the resolution of archaeological and historical problems.

4. Archaeological excavation using modern scientific techniques as ancillary aids is one of the Institute's primary tasks. These activities, which entail a fresh appraisal of previous discoveries, have already yielded new historical, architectural, and archaeological evidence which is adding to our knowledge of the past and of its bearing on the modern world.

5. In pursuit of all the activities mentioned in the preceding paragraphs the Institute is gradually adding to its library, is collecting learned periodicals, and is publishing ajournal, Iran, which appears annually.

6. The Institute arranges occasional seminars, lectures and conferences and enlists the help of distinguished scholars for this purpose. It will also aim at arranging small exhibitions with the object of demonstrating the importance of Persian culture and its attraction for the world of scholarship.

7. The Institute endeavours to collaborate with universities and educational institutions in Iran by all the means at its disposal and, when consulted, assists Iranian scholars with technical advice for directing them towards the appropriate channels in British universities.

MEMBERSHIP OF THE INSTITUTE

Anyone wishing to join the Institute should write to the membership Secretary, Miss Mary Totman, 63 Old Street, London EC1V 9HX. The annual subscription rates (lstJanuary-31 December) are as follows:

Full membership (U.K. only) ?25 Member not receiving journal ?8.00 Full membership (Overseas) ?30 or $60 Student membership ?7.50

COPIES OF IRAN

Full members of the Institute receive a post free copy of the current issue of the journal Iran each year. Copies of Iran may be obtained from the Publications Secretary, Miss Mary Totman (address as above) at

the following prices: Current issue-single copies purchased by non-members ?30 or $60 each-to UK addresses

post free -to overseas addresses plus postage & packing

Back numbers-please see publications list inside back cover Those ordering from overseas may pay in US dollars or by sterling draft drawn on London, by interna-

tional money order or by Eurocheque.

IRAN Volume XXXII 1994

CONTENTS

Page Governing Council

............................. ii Report of the Council

..........................

..... ... . iii Obituary: Professor Louis Vanden Berghe. ........... ... .. .... v Preliminary Report on the 1993 Excavations at Horom, Armenia, by Ruben S.

Badaljan, Philip L. Kohl, David Stronach and Armen V. Tonikjan. ........ 1 Elamites and Other Peoples from Iran and the Persian Gulf Region in Early

Mesopotamian Sources, by Ran Zadok ................ ... 31 The International Merv Project. Preliminary Report on the Second Season (1993),

by Georgina Herrmann, K. Kurbansakhatov et al. ............... . 53 The Fall of al-Madain: Some Literary References Concerning Sasanian Spoils of

War in Mediaeval Islamic Treasuries, by Avinoam Shalem ... ....... 77 The Chinese Uighur Animal Calendar in Persian Historiography of the Mongol

Period, by Charles Melville ................... ..... 83 Anecdotes of a Provincial Sufi of the Dehli Sultanate, Khwaja Gurg of Kara, by Simon

Digby ............ ... .. .............

.. ...99 The Accession of Iskandar Khan, by Audrey Burton ...........

.... 111

The Ijdza from Yusuf Al-Bahrani(d. 1186/1772) to Sayyid Muhammad Mahdi Bahr al-cUlfim (d. 1212/1797-8), by Robert Gleave . . ... ......... 115

James Baillie Fraser: Traveller, Writer and Artist 1787-1856, by Denis Wright . . . . 125 British Indian Views (Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries) of the Later

Followers of the Raukianiyya Sect in Afghanistan and Northern India, by Sergei Andreyev ................... ........135

Production of Sugar in Iran in the Nineteenth Century, by A. Seyf .. .. . ..... 139 Shorter Notices

HaIt-jicAbbas, byJ.W.Allan....................... . 145 Diz, by Mary Burkett

.........................

149

ISSN 0578-6967

THE BRITISH INSTITUTE OF PERSIAN STUDIES (A Registered Charity)

c/o The British Academy, 20-21 Cornwall Terrace, London NW1 4QP

BRITISH INSTITUTE OF PERSIAN STUDIES (A Registered Charity)

GOVERNING COUNCIL President

*tProfessor MICHAEL ROGERS, MA, D Phil, FBA, FSA

Vice-President tProfessor ROBERT HILLENBRAND, MA, D Phil, FRSE

Honorary Vice-Presidents *Professor D. B. STRONACH, OBE, MA, FSA

SIR DENIS WRIGHT, GCMG MA

Members MrsJANET AIDIN, MA

tDrJ W ALLAN, MA, D Phil Mr DONALD ALLEN

Mr C A BURNEY, MA, FSA MrJOHN C CLOAKE, CMG, MA

MrJOHN COOPER, MA DrJ E CURTIS, BA, PhD, FSA Dr R W FERRIER, MA, PhD

MrJOHN R GRUNDON tDrJ D GURNEY, MA, D Phil

Mr DESMOND HARNEY, OBE, BSc Professor A K S LAMBTON, OBE, D Lit, PhD, FBA

Dr PAUL LUFT, MA, PhD tProfessor K S McLACHLAN, MA, PhD

Dr CHARLES MELVILLE, MA, PhD Dr DAVID O MORGAN, BA, PhD

Mr A H MORTON, MA Mr CJ S RUNDLE, OBE, MA

Professor A REZA SHEIKHOLESLAMI, MA, PhD Mr PETERJ W TAYLOR, OBE, MA

Honorary Treasurer tMrJOHN S PHILLIPS, TD, MA, FCA

Honorary Secretary tDr VESTA CURTIS, MA, PhD

Honorary Joint Editors tProfessor C E BOSWORTH, MA, PhD, FBA

tDr VESTA CURTIS, MA, PhD

Assistant Secretary Miss DIANA MORGAN

Membership and Publications Secretary Miss MARY TOTMAN

Special Adviser Mrs M E GUERITZ, MBE

Auditors PRIDIE BREWSTER, 29-39 London Road, Twickenham, Middlesex TW1 3SZ.

c/o The British Academy, 20-21 Cornwall Terrace, LONDON NW1 4QP

tMember of Executive Committee *Editorial Adviser

P.O. Box 11365-6844 Tehran,

IRAN

REPORT OF THE COUNCIL to 31st March 1993

The most significant event of the year was the appointment of new officers and staff of the Institute. Professor Keith McLachlan retired after a period of three years as President and Professor Michael Rogers was elected in his place. Professor McLachlan took over in 1989 at a crucial time when the future of the Institute had once again reached an uncertain and critical point. With his enthusiasm, positive attitude and immense knowledge and dedication to Iran, he refused to accept defeat and created a period of stability and optimism which influenced all those who worked with him.

At the same time Mrs. Mary Gueritz, our hardworking and enthusiastic Assistant Secretary handed in her resignation after more than thirty years of complete devotion to the Institute, its officers, fellows and members. Her expertise and encouragement and at the same time her love of Iran, its people and culture were unique. It was for these efforts that she was awarded an M.B.E. in 1982. Although she has officially retired as Assistant Secretary, Mrs. Gueritz has taken up a new appointment as Special Adviser and we look forward to her continuing association with the Institute. Another sad retirement was that of the Hon. Membership Secretary, Mrs. Molli Cloake, who for many years, on a voluntary basis, gave much able to assistance to Mrs. Gueritz.

Finally, thanks are also due to Professor Robert Hillenbrand whose term as Hon. Secretary came to an end but who has now taken a new position as Vice-President of the Institute. The new Hon. Secretary is Dr. Vesta Curtis. For the post of Assistant Secretary the Institute has been most fortunate to find Miss Diana Morgan. She and the Membership and Publications Secretary, Miss Mary Totman, have set up the London office and are undertaking the process of computerising accounts, publication orders and membership records. Mr. Peter Davies was appointed Hon. Covenant Secretary.

The extensive work on the Institute building in Tehran has continued under the supervision of Dr. Georgina Herrmann and the Treasurer, Mr. John Phillips. Their task has been made even more difficult by the need to direct the work from London. Nevertheless, the roof has now been replaced, the Assistant Director's flat has been made habitable and work is well advanced on the plumbing and rewiring. In Tehran, Mr. Manouchehr Bayat and Mr. E. J. Andrews, Technical Supervisor of the British Embassy, gave them invaluable advice and support.

The year also witnessed visits to Iran by a number of members and fellows, including Dr. James Allan, Keeper of Eastern Art at the Ashmolean Museum, who attended a conference, on carpets, in Tehran. Mr. Allan was able to travel in Iran and also look at the reserve collections of the Iran Bastan Museum in Tehran. Awards for study visits and projects in Iran were also made to Dr. John Gurney and Mr. Kamran Safamanesh to undertake jointly "A Survey of Qajar Architecture of Public Buildings in Tehran" and to Professor Keith McLachlan to continue a project on qanats and traditional water provision, begun in 1991.

Grants for travel to Iran were given to Dr. Vanessa Martin to study "Aspects of Modern Shi'ism, Particularly the Relationship Between the 'Ulema and the State in the Mid-Twentieth Century", to Dr. Richard Tapper and Dr. Susan Wright to attend an international conference in Isfahan on "Nomadism and Development" and to Miss Susan Bull to study "Fatima as a Role Model for Women in Iranian Shi'ism".

Mr. Paul Mitchell, Ms. Sophie Godrick and Ms. Mariam Imani received grants to clear the library and sort out the many boxes of sherds, thus enabling the building contractors to continue with their work.

Dr. Javad Golmohammadi and Dr. Michael Harverson took up the grants that had been awarded to them during the previous financial year and visited Iran.

A travel grant for work outside Iran was given to Ms. Elaine Wright to study in the Topkapy Saray in Istanbul "The role of the Pir Buda Qara Qoyunlu and the Evolution of Fifteenth Century Manuscript Illumination". Also a special grant was given to Miss Jennifer Scarce towards the cost of a Day Conference at SOAS in November on "Language of Dress in the Middle East".

Grants from the Institute's own funds aimed at promoting work in Central Asia were given to Dr. Georgina Herrmann (for the International Merv Project) and to Dr. Vesta Curtis (to attend the

iii

Third International Merv Conference in Turkmenistan and for travel to Bukhara in Uzbekistan). The summer lecture entitled "Fops, Floozies and Farangis; the Late Work of Rizayi cAbbasi" was

delivered by Dr. Sheila Canby, Assistant Keeper of Oriental Antiquities of the British Museum. The Annual Lecture was given by Dr. James Allan on "'Alams and Artisans; the Tradition of Steelworking in Iran". A large audience enjoyed the lecture and particularly appreciated the slides taken by Dr. Allan during his recent visit to Iran. This followed the Thirtieth General Meeting at the British Academy on Wednesday 18th November 1992. The resignations of Professor Ilya Gershevitch, Dr. Clare Hill and Mr.John Hanson were accepted with regret. Other members due to retire in rotation were re-appointed. These were Professor Michael Rogers, Professor Robert Hillenbrand, Mr. John Cloake and Dr. Vesta Curtis. Dr. David Morgan, a former member was wel- comed back to the Governing Council and Mr. John Cooper was invited to join as a new member. We learned with great sadness of the death of Michael Browne, Q.C., on 1st April 1992. He was a member of our Council from 1966 until 1988 and gave valuable advice to the Institute on legal matters.

Once again, a successful series of monthly lectures was held at SOAS on Thursday evenings in cooperation with the Centre of Near and Middle East Studies. Under the general title of "Iranian Art and Archaeology", talks were given by Dr. Barry Flood, Dr. Eleanor Sims, Mr. Marcus Frazer and Miss Teresa Fitzherbert.

For help of various kinds the Governing Council wishes to express particular thanks to the staff of the Middle East Department of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, to Mr. David Reddaway, the former Charge d'Affaires, to Mr. E. J. Andrews, Technical Supervisor in Tehran, for his advice and help with the building and to the British Academy for its support and financial assistance. Thanks are also due to Mr. Manouchehr Bayat, BIPS' financial supervisor in Tehran and Mr. Houman Kordmahini, caretaker of the Tehran Institute. We are also grateful to Mrs.Janet Aidin for her legal advice.

MICHAEL ROGERS President

VESTA CURTIS Hon. Secretary

iv

OBITUARY

LOUIS VANDEN BERGHE (1923-1993)

It is sometimes said of. great scholars that they do not just make contributions to their subject, they change its shape. In such a league was Prof. Dr. Louis Vanden Berghe, doyen of Iranian archaeologists, who died in Gent on 17th September 1993 aged 69 years. He was Professor of the Archaeology and History of Ancient Near Eastern Civilisations at the University of Gent, and also Professor of the Archaeology and History of Ancient Iran at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles, as well as being Director of the Iranian Section of the National Museum in Brussels.

He was born on 24th December 1923 in Oostnieuwerke in West Flanders, between Bruges and the French border, and studied Near Eastern archaeology and the history of art at the University of Gent and Oriental languages at the Universities of Brussels, Amsterdam and Leiden. This linguistic training later stood him in good stead, and amongst his many achievements was a remarkable fluency in modern Persian. Having obtained his doctorate in 1950 with a thesis about prehistoric painted pottery, he became an assistant in the University of Gent in 1951, rising to professor in 1957 and being given a chair in 1965. During an extremely productive career he produced about 150 books, catalogues and papers, with the emphasis throughout being on Iranian archaeology and history. His first major task was to give some structure to a subject which was still in the 1950s in a state of some disorder. To this end, his Archeologie de l'Iran Ancien appeared in 1959. This is a masterly survey of Iranian archaeology, first by region and then by period, going from prehistoric to Sasanian times. It has well stood the test of time and the numerous discoveries made in the 1960s and 1970s, and containing as it does a wealth of information it is still widely consulted. Shortly afterwards he was instrumental in establishing, together with R. Ghirshman, a newjournal devoted to Iranian archaeology. The first volume of Iranica Antiqua appeared in 1961, and largely as a result of Vanden Berghe's energy and drive it still continues. Further evidence of his determination to introduce order and discipline into the subject can be found with his Bibliographie analytique de l'archeologie de l'Iran Ancien (Leiden 1979), supplements to which appeared in 1981 and 1987 covering the years 1978-1985.

Vanden Berghe is perhaps best known for his archaeological work in Luristan. Between 1965 and 1979

v

he led an expedition sponsored jointly by the University of Gent and the Musees Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire in Brussels that for fifteen seasons worked in the Pusht-i Kuh, the western part of Luristan. More than 30 cemetery sites were investigated, varying in date between the Chalcolithic period and Iron III. Particularly productive sites were Parchineh, Bani Surmah, Kalleh Nisar, Kutal-i Gulgul, Bard-i Bal, Tattulban, Camzi- Muimah and War Kabud. A monograph about War Kabud appeared already in 1968, and preliminary reports about the other sites appeared with commendable speed, usually in the French journal Archedologia or in Iranica Antiqua. The contribution that Vanden Berghe has made through his work in Luristan has been immense. This remote and mountainous region is poorly known archaeologically, and there has been only a small amount of scientific research here. Apart from Vanden Berghe's work, the few scientific projects include the Holmes Expedition to Luristan, that resulted in the 1938 excavation of E. F. Schmidt at Surkh Dum-i Luri in the Pish-i Kuh, and Clare Goff's excavations at BabaJan. It is known that the many "Luristan bronzes" in collections around the world come from this area, but practically nothing is known about the culture which produced them. Vanden Berghe's work has gone some way towards remedying this deficiency with the discovery of about a dozen canonical Luristan bronzes.

It would be wrong, however, to think that Vanden Berghe's work in the field was restricted to Luristan. Among many projects we might cite, for example, his survey of the Mary Dasht Plain in the 1950s and his brief excavations at the necropolis of Khurvin which resulted in a book published in 1964 (La Nicropole de Khuirvin). He also discovered an ancient road connecting Firuzabad and Siraf, an Achaemenid tomb at Buzpar in Fars and many "chahar taqs" (fire temples). His versatility is demonstrated by the description of an early Islamic castle at Puiskafn in Fars (La Decouverte d'un chdateau-fort du dcbut de l'dpoque islamique a Puskan (Irdn), Iranica Antiqua Supplement IV, Gent 1990). He also recognised the importance of promoting the subject, and to this end he was an indefatigable organiser of exhibitions. For example there were major exhibitions about Luristan in Munich (1981), Gent (1983) and St. Petersburg (1992), and an exhibition about Urartu in Gent (1983). These were all accompanied by attractive and informative catalogues. Mention should also be made of an exhibition of photographs (by Erik Smekens) of Iranian rock reliefs organised in Brussels in 1984 (Reliefs Rupestres de l'Iran Ancien, Brussels 1984). This was followed in the next year by ajoint publication with Klaus Schippmann on Les Reliefs rupestres d'Elymaide (Iran) de l'dpoque parthe (Gent 1985). Several of these reliefs were discovered by Vanden Berghe himself.

During his lifetime many honours came to Vanden Berghe and he was much respected. In his own coun- try he was a corresponding member (1962) and a full member (1968) of the Academie Royale des Sciences, Lettres et Arts de Belgique, becoming President in 1973. Abroad, honours included being a full member of the Deutsches Archfologisches Institut (1973), an honorary fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London (1980) and a fellow of the Explorers Club of New York (1978). Much prized was his honorary doctorate from the University of Tehran, awarded as early as 1964. In some ways Louis Vanden Berghe lived life to the full. His consumption of alcohol was legendary and he was seldom without a large cigar. Yet at the same time he was a lonely person, and for much of his life lived in a hotel near the main railway station in Gent. From there he journeyed sometimes to his home village in West Flanders. The drawbacks to this solitary lifestyle were, however, largely offset by the devoted help and support of a number of friends and former students including Ernie Haerinck, the late Christiane Langeraert-Seeuws and latterly Alexandre Tourovets. It was one of these colleagues, Dr. Haerinck, who together with Prof. L. de Meyer edited a two-volume Festschrift in his honour in 1989 (Archaeologia Iranica et Orientalis: Miscellanea in honorem Louis Vanden Berghe) which included an informative memoir about Vanden Berghe together with a full bibliography. Happily, Haerinck has now succeeded his old teacher as lecturer in Near Eastern archaeology at Gent.

In spite of failing eyesight, Vanden Berghe continued to work right up until the end of his life. Even in his last year he organised an enormously impressive exhibition of Sasanian art in Brussels accompanied by a sumptuous catalogue (Splendeur des Sassanides, Brussels 1993). And it is gratifying for friends and admirers in Britain that he was able to attend the 1993 Lukonin Memorial Seminar in the British Museum on "Later Mesopotamia and Iran, c. 1600-539 B.C." To this event he contributed a lecture on "Excavations in Luristan and Relations with Mesopotamia", and although he could not deliver it in person he was able to introduce it, which was much appreciated. The passing of Louis Vanden Berghe leaves a major gap in the ranks of Iranian archaeologists, but his many contributions have pointed the way to others who will surely follow in his foot- steps. Above all, his commitment to the subject never faltered, and in spite of the political changes which have dominated the last 15 years he never doubted the value of studying Ancient Iran and remained opti- mistic about future prospects.

JOHN CURTIS

vi

PRELIMINARY REPORT ON THE 1993 EXCAVATIONS AT HOROM, ARMENIA

By Ruben S. Badaljan, Philip L. Kohl, David Stronach and Armen V. Tonikjan Yerevan, Wellesley, Massachussetts, and Berkeley

Collaborative American-Armenian and American- Georgian archaeological investigations on the Shirak plain of northwestern Armenia and the Djavakheti plateau of southern Georgia (see below: Appendix A) began during the summer of 1990 as the principal, regionally-focused field component of the more broadly conceived and structured International Program for Anthropological Research in the Caucasus (or IPARC). The 1990 and 1992 excavations at the site of Horom, Armenia have been reported in previous volumes of Iran (Badaljan et al. 1992 and 1993), while the 1990 and 1991 field seasons in Georgia, particularly at the Early Bronze Age site of Satkhe, have been briefly described in the Bulletin of the Asia Institute (Kohl et al. 1992). This report presents the preliminary results of the 1993 excavations at Horom1 and includes the Palaeolithic investigations and later Bronze and Iron Age prehistoric excavations in southern Georgia in Appendix A.2

On the basis primarily of surface reconnaissances and topographic mapping undertaken in 1990, the c. 45-50 ha. Horom settlement, which is centered around two dominant hills set along a north-south axis (the North and South Hills) and characterised by standing cyclopean stone architecture, was distinguished from a c. 400 ha. mapped area termed the Horom site, which consists of undulating, rocky terrain containing stone structures of uncertain date and clusters of circular stone-ringed tombs or cromlechs dating to the late second or early first millennium B.C. (Badaljan et al. 1992: fig. 3). The Horom settlement was located within the northwestern quadrant of the Horom site. This view may need to be modified in as much as additional stone structures, including possible fortifications, were recently noted to the east and southeast of the Horom settlement, and future excavations within such outlying structures may relate them to the Iron Age Urartian fortifications on the North Hill. Thus, the overall size of the fortified settlement remains unclear, and the 45-50 ha. figure could well represent a minimal estimate. At the end of the 1993 season, photographs taken from a heli- copter provided a series of aerial views of the Horom settlement and its cyclopean architecture (Pl. Ia-b).3

NORTH HILL EXCAVATIONS

Constructions of Urartian Date

While no materials of early first millennium B.C. date chanced to come to light within the restricted sounding of 1990, the results of the 1992 and 1993 excavations have made it clear that the major visible fortifications on the North Hill are to be ascribed to the Urartian period. In more precise terms the period in question is likely to have lasted for more than a century and a half, between the time that Argishti I (c. 785-760 B.C.) annexed the present- day region of the Shirak plain (cf. Badaljan et al. 1993: 15) and the moment when the kingdom of Urartu came to an abrupt end, somewhere close to 600 B.C.

The association of wheelmade, buff to red pottery of an Urartian or Urartian-related type with grey wares which clearly continue a local Late Bronze/Early Iron Age ceramic tradition is currently firmly documented from Operations Bi, B2, C2, and D1 (Fig. 5). The association was first acknowl- edged during the 1992 season (Badaljan et al. 1993: 12-23), and the work of the past summer, in Areas B2 and D1 in particular, has continued to demonstrate the strength of this connection. Above all, the recent discovery of a small cosmetic jar of a known Urartian type (Fig. 5: 19, P1. Ic), such as occurs elsewhere at Bastam, for example (Kleiss et al. 1979: 208, fig. 3, 5) in the deep fill of one of the better preserved rooms of the B2 area (Room 3 of B2 complex see Fig. 3, P1. IIa) has underlined the likeli- hood that the more intact magazines of the eighth/seventh century B.C. "border settlement" at Horom will one day serve to document the extent to which the local Iron Age wares of the Shirak plain were complemented by elements of the well- known ceramic corpus of the Urartian core area.

In the balance of this report all Horom's architectural remains of the eighth/seventh century B.C. are referred to as "Urartian". It should be under- stood, however, that this label deserves to be read in several separate ways. On the one hand, the label is used with the above-mentioned chronological con- notation and, on the other hand, it is intended to be indicative of a period of intense interaction with Urartu or of the citadel's physical incorporation-at

1

2 JOURNAL OF PERSIAN STUDIES

least at certain times, within the accepted bound- aries of the Urartian state. In other words, the present writers are acutely aware that, while the presently exposed architecture on the North Hill offers its fair share of Urartian traits, the site as a whole has so far produced remarkably few incontro- vertible Urartian artefacts. But it may also be noted before we proceed to review the work of the past season which took place in Operations A2/3, B2, and D1 that the small piece of a bronze quiver that was found on the heavily burnt roadway of the BI North-West Gate at the end of the 1992 season (Badaljan et al. 1993: 12-15 and pl. IId) was decorated in a distinctive fashion; i.e., it was marked by groups of transverse ridges in repousse (P1. Id) in a design that otherwise occurs on a group of five bronze quivers from the Urartian citadel at Kayalidere (Burney 1966: pl. 18c).

The 1992 Operations B1 and C2 were not continued in 1993, but several architectural features including a stone-covered drain extending down the central axis of the B1 North-West Gate, which were uncovered at the very end of the 1992 season, were accurately mapped. We hope to continue work in these two areas in future seasons.

Operation A2/3 (Figs. 1 and 2) Early in the 1993 season a small, exploratory

trench, only 3 x 3.5 m. in size, was opened on the flat summit of the North Hill near the presumed northeastern corner of the A terrace. The precise location of this probe, called Operation A2, was determined by the presence of stone remains that were visible inside an animal burrow. Although the exposure was limited, stone architecture was encountered, and a thick Early Mediaeval deposit was explored to a depth of 1.5 m. In the course of the work, a large, complete storage vessel of Mediaeval date was removed, and an adjoining burnt surface yielded a rich cache of well-preserved carbonised seeds.

It was subsequently decided that it would be of advantage to extend the excavation for a distance of 9 m. to the northeast down the slope of the A terrace. It was hoped that the extension, termed A3, would throw useful light on the still little examined uppermost line of Urartian fortifications and that it would also serve to reveal any subsidiary architectural features that might have been built up against the inner face of the A Wall. To begin with, work in the A3 extension proved to be a considerable chal- lenge: a nearly unbroken sequence of parallel stone faces was found to extend throughout the eastern end of the narrow trench. It was only when the outer face of the A Wall was at last exposed, in fact, that this apparent sequence of "walls" could be read

as a series of monumental steps that advance, for a distance of 6 m., up the steep slope to the line of the flat summit. While much more of the A Wall needs to be exposed in order to understand its construction in full, it does now appear that we have uncovered the point at which the A Wall turned to the north-west, in accord with the natural contours of the North Hill (Fig. 1), and that the wide series of steps very probably functioned as a socle for the now missing stone superstructure that presumably once defended the flat summit at the apex of the whole Urartian fortification system. The materials from the eroded, steeply sloping terrain of Operation A3 included, hardly against expectation, examples of Urartian red ware mixed with sherds of known (and presumed) Mediaeval date.

Operation B2: Architecture located on the B Terrace inside the Inner Face of the B Fortification Wall (Fig. 3, P1. IIa)

From the prior account of the work that was carried out in Operation B2 during the 1992 season (Badaljan et al. 1993: 15-18, fig. 13), it will be recalled that this part of the site (Fig. 3 and P1. IIa) had already revealed well-preserved architecture that was located just inside the inner face of the B Fortification Wall. Accordingly, excavations were at once resumed in Room 2, one of two adjoining rooms (Rooms 1 and 2) that had been at least partially defined in 1992. Since the floor of Room 2 had only been reached within the limits of a small test trench in the course of the previous campaign, one of our first concerns was to expose the remain- ing, available floor surface. The only feature of note to come to light in the course of this endeavor consisted of the remains of a clay walled oven (or tanur), the floor of which was still covered by a layer of ash. The flue which had been used to draw air into the oven was also detected; it could be seen to have been sunk into the top of the earth floor, near the middle portion of the room, close to Wall 2 (P1. IIb). It ought to be added, however, that such a distinctly domestic feature offers a curious contrast to the monumental walls which adjoin it; for this reason, therefore, the oven could well represent a later feature which is not to be connected with the otherwise undetermined, orginal function of Room 2.

As far as the 1993 extensions to Operation B2 are concerned, these took the form of the B2.3 trench to the south, where Rooms 3 and 4 were exposed; the B2.4 trench to the west, where a well-preserved room or corridor, Room 5, was uncovered; and the B2.5 trench to the north, where the work disclosed a number of barely sub-surface, one-to-two course

PRELIMINARY REPORT ON THE 1993 EXCAVATIONS AT HOROM, ARMENIA 3

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. .. .

Fig. 1. General topographic map of North and South Hills of Horom, showing excavation units of 1992 and 1993. The summit of the North Hill is also marked by the remains of a previously exposed, Early Mediaeval building.


wide stone walls (Features 12-16), all of which undoubtedly post-date the more deeply set rooms of the main B2 architectural complex. Indeed, the narrow walls in B2.5 (Fig. 4) are almost certainly contemporary with two other virtually sub-surface, insubstantial walls (Features 1 and 2) which were found to run above the massive, two metre and more high remains of Wall 6. In sum, then, this single part of the Horom settlement may be said to offer persuasive evidence for the existence of a later, less monumental period of occupation that was either Late Urartian or post-Urartian in date (see Fig. 7).4

It is tempting, of course, to link the thin stone walls which eventually came to be erected over the abandoned B2 complex with other examples of inferior, very often clearly secondary construction that have been noted in other sections of the North Hill. One of the more striking instances of late, secondary building activity may be said to come from the BI North-West Gateway, where the so- called guardroom represents an obvious late addition to the original fabric of the Gate (Badaljan et al. 1993: 15 and pl. IIc). In addition, it would not be at all surprising to find that the whole of the D1 complex (Fig. 8), which has for long been seen to stand outside the limits of the otherwise formidable fortification system on the North Hill (see below and Badaljan et al. 1992: 44-5), was itself representative of such a widespread, late building phase.

While the ceramics from the North-West Gate, B2.5, and D1 are clearly similar, with each containing well-fired Urartian red wares together with grey wares of the still persisting local Late Bronze/Early Iron Age tradition, Operations B2.5 and D1 are alone in also producing sherds of still another kind with either wavy-combed or pattern-burnished decoration (Fig. 6: 13, 14 and Fig. 9). Eventually, therefore, pottery of this latter type may come to serve as a valuable, separate indication of late occupation.

As for the relationship of such a late phase of occupation to the date of the fire which ravaged the North-West Gate, it is a matter of decided interest that the traces of extensive burning on the BI roadway were found to run up against the exterior of the already extant east wall of the above-mentioned "guardroom". In other words, we can be sure that at least some of the late and very largely inferior stone walling on the North Hill pre-dates rather than post-dates the time of the Gate's destruction. For the present, therefore, it may be justified to cate- gorise the more or less massive Urartian architecture on the North Hill as "Early Urartian" and those examples of clearly related, but assuredly later, local building activity as "Late Urartian."

HOROM 1993 AREA A2

0o2m

W2 1669.72

1669.76 1669.38

1670.18

W 7

1669. 52 1670.86

W5

S1670.14

W4

W3 1669.43

1669.14

1669.54

W6

UNEXCAVATED 1668.75

1668.23

1668.15 1668.43

"\,A.os Fig. 2. Operation A2/3, summit of North Hill, illustrating stepped

fortification system on summit as it turns to the north-west.


HOROM 1992-93 AREA B2/CI A

B2

0 1 2M LL 1645.00

FLOOR 1645.20

S164,

WW9 1646.10 164 3.48

,0 7 LL 6.1644.92/

1

LL 1644.03

LL 1643.27

OVEN P

1643.97 aQ ~~~1643.16 L639 1644.85 LL 164369 W4 ROOM 3

1644.16

FLOOR

1.1642.40

ROOM 2 W2ROOM 1

0L LL 1643.47 D

LIMIT OF EXCAVATION

o 0 AT UPPER LEVELS

o o~

08 w wl

d0~ E.B. TOMB 1640.96 Cl E 1642.71

A UNEXCAVATED F8

1642.87

Fig. 3. Plan of the substantial "Early Urartian" architecture in Area B2. Note also, in Area C1, certain traces of "Late Urartian" walling and the location of the Early Bronze tomb outside (and well below the level of the B Fortification Wall.


If Rooms 2-5 in the B2 area may be taken to exemplify certain of the main characteristics of "Early Urartian" construction at Horom, such features would appear to include consistent orientation, symmetrical planning, and the use of relatively heavy, skillfully built dry-stone walls (Pls. IIa-c and Fig. 3).5 With respect to two of the rooms (Rooms 2 and 3), certain of the walls were also found to retain traces of a plaster surface.

Doorways are, of course, well represented. One doorway linked the seemingly paired square rooms, Rooms 3 and 4 (Pl. IIc); another connected Room 3 with a still unexcavated room to the south (P1. IIc); and yet another provided a link between Rooms 5 and 2, at least until such time as the west wall of the latter room (Wall 4) came to be widened over the greater part of its length (Fig. 3).6 Of special interest, of course, is the perfectly preserved doorway between Rooms 3 and 4; rectangular in shape, and capped by flat stones, the doorway was given a height of almost 2 m. and a width of 89 cm. Needless to say, the doorway's all-stone frame was predetermined by the exclusive use of stone in these ground floor walls, many of which still stand to a height of 3 m. Last but not least, a still not fully defined opening at the north end of Room 5 is likely to have provided access to yet other associated rooms, including Room 1.

The number of small objects from Rooms 2-5 was not large, but the discovery in Room 3 of the above-mentioned cosmetic jar (P1. Ic, Fig. 5: 19) and a fragment of a large storage jar with a seal impression (P1. Ie) could perhaps indicate that this part of the site was occupied, at one time, by admin- istrators or, at all events, by residents of some status. Other finds of note include a winged bronze arrowhead from the north end of Room 5 which directly accords with a standard Caucasian type that was current for a period of several centuries both before and after 1000 B.C.,7 and a more perplexing object: namely, an iron door-key (Pi. IIe), also from Room 5, which looks strangely out of place in an eighth/seventh century B.C. context. That is to say that, while the key was indeed recovered from the floor of Room 5 near the later blocked doorway that led into Room 2, it has an oddly modern appearance; and, in view of the local presence of many animal holes, its actual find spot could be for- tuitous. Finally, it should be noted that Early Bronze Kura-Araxes sherds chanced to be found beneath the floors of both Rooms 3 and 5. In other words, the whole of the B2 complex would appear to have been built over a much earlier Early Bronze Age occupation-a finding which is also consistent with the discovery, in 1992, of an Early Bronze tomb in the C1 Operation (Fig. 3 and 7), beyond the outer or eastern face of the B Fortification Wall

(Badaljan et al. 1993: 4 and pl. Ia). Operation D1-Domestic Architecture on the D Terrace (Fig. 8)

Prior to excavations in the D 1 Area, it was specu- lated that the whole of the unfortified D Terrace, which is so very different in appearance from the various fortified sectors of the North Hill (Fig. 1), could have represented the remains of a separate "administrative complex" (Badaljan et al. 1992: 44-5). In the aftermath of the 1992 campaign this characterisation remained unchallenged, if only because it seemed premature to rush to conclusions on the basis of two strictly limited, local probes. Indeed, the one clear message that emerged from the 1992 excavations in this part of the site was the fact that all construction on the D Terrace could have been restricted to a

"relatively late date" within the time-frame of Horom's eighth/seventh century B.C. occupation (Badaljan et al. 1993: 21). On the one hand, the work of the 1993 season has clearly strengthened the case for such a probable late date (see page 4 above), and, on the other hand, there is now a sound case to be made for the domestic, rather than the representational-or administrative -character of those D1 structures (Rooms 1-3) that have been examined to-date.

Of the rooms in question-all of which run along the same north-south axis-Room 1 was excavated in its entirety in 1992. It is a sub-rectangular unit, 6.7 x 3.8 m. in area, with a flagstone floor and with a broad stone platform located in front of its slightly curved western wall (Fig. 8). In accord, moreover, with the less than regular character of the walls of Room 1, the corridor which leads north- wards to the next room, Room 2, consists of no more than a narrow, bent passage of irregular width.

Because of other calls on our time and resources, only about one third of Room 2's total floor area of 8 x 9.5 m. came to be exposed in 1992. The main features to emerge in the course of the excavation consisted of a large, squarish basin of pink tuff set close to the line of the west wall (Badaljan et al. 1993: pl. IIIe) and a low "double partition" (composed of two parallel rows of slim stones set on edge) which stood perpendicular to the west wall. The presence of this last fixture, and the considerable size of Room 2, suggested at the time that the room might have been subdivided into several separate "cubicles" and that, in addition, the whole space might have remained unroofed. Following the 1993 season, however, new assessments are in order. In the first place, the discovery of four sym- metrically placed stone column bases (Fig. 8, P1. IId) would seem to prove that Room 2 was roofed; and, secondly, if due account is taken of cer-


HOROM 1992-93 AREA B2

UPPER LEVELS

O 1 2M

Fig. 4. Operation B2.5. "Late Urartian" architecture excavated to the east of the B Fortification Wall and to the north of the B2 "Early Urartian" complex of Fig. 3.


tain of the present-day fixtures that are associated with the stabling of animals in the local village, there can be little doubt that Room 2 came to be used, for a time at least, to water and shelter animals. Thus, while the tuff basin, which stands on a low stone platform, almost certainly represented a suitable water container, both the original east-west partition, and a newly exposed double partition, are likely to have served as feeding troughs-presumably if the width of the doorways is kept in mind, for animals of rather modest size, such as sheep and goat.

Since the two long feeding troughs appear to have been sited in such a way as to take advantage of the presence of three of the four columns (Fig. 8), it is also possible that there was a time when Room 2 was roofed, but not yet used as an animal shelter. In this last regard it is in fact evident that Room 2 retained a rival identity right to the end. That is to say that parts of the room were supplied with a well-laid flagstone floor and that a variety of domestic activities continued to be pursued, espe- cially towards the north end of the room. Many pestle-shaped ground stones were recovered, for

example, in an area of the room where both a circular stone-lined hearth (Feature 7) and an adjacent stone table (Feature 9) were located. In addition, a small stone-lined pit (Feature 8) may have been used-again on the analogy of contemporary practices-to collect glowing coals from the nearby large stone-lined hearth.

An entry from Room 2 to the north led into the slightly smaller, irregularly-shaped Room 3. This room contained four large flat grinding stones set on a stone platform (Feature 1) in its north-eastern corner. The remains of a hearth (Feature 2), possibly for baking bread, lay immediately to the south, and to its west lay a shallow circular stone "milling" basin, similar in form-though not necessarily function-with those repeatedly uncovered on the top of the South Hill. If Room 2 housed animals, Room 3 may have functioned as a bakery. Room 3 also was connected to another room on its northern side, which will be excavated in the future. As one pro- ceeds north in this interconnected complex, the depth of deposit increases, exceeding in places 1.5 m. Noteworthy also were the remains of charred

1 4

5

6 7 8 9 10 11 18 __19

12 13 14 15 16 i

17

li Fig. 5. Ceramics from B2 Complex. Reddish-Buff and Red Wares, Urartian period.


wooden beams in the north-western section of Room 3, as well as considerable evidence for uncon- trolled burning near the hearth of Room 2. The evidence suggests that this complex may have been devastated by fire and recalls the evidence for large- scale burning from the Bi North-West Gate area.

The D1 complex, which presently appears to have a substantial domestic character, seems to have been occupied during one period, presumably in Late Urartian times. The ceramics from the area consistently include a significant component (c. 20 per cent) of fine Urartian red wares, similar to those found in the Ararat Valley to the south, as well as more numerous wares continuing the local Shirak ceramic traditions of the Late Bronze/Early Iron periods. As noted above, a few more elaborately decorated vessels (Fig. 9) from this trench together with those from B2.5 may help define the Late or immediately Post-Urartian phase at Horom.

Three radiocarbon dates taken from the 1992

excavations in the B1 and B2 areas were received from the AMS Facility of the University of Arizona: 1) sample no. AA-10194--B1 a-c, gateway: 2,520+/-55 (yr BP) or calibrated at 790-430 B.C. (1 sigma; or 800-410 B.C. at 2 sigma); 2) AA-10189-B2, locus 4, north of Feature 8: 2465+/-55 (yr BP) or calibrated at 760-410 B.C. (1 sigma; or 790-400 B.C. at 2 sigma); and 3) AA-11129-B2, TT4, level 4 (beneath the earliest floor of Room 2): 2770+/-55 or calibrated at 970-830 B.C. (1 sigma; or 1050-800 B.C. at 2 sigma). The dates are not enormously helpful for refining the Urartian chronology at Horom, since their calibrated ranges simply preclude any further subdivisions. The AA11129 date from the 1992 deep sounding beneath the eastern third of Room 2 is somewhat surprising in that it suggests that there may have been an immediately pre-Urartian occupation in this area of Horom which presumably had been totally destroyed by the construction of the B Fortification Wall and the high-standing architecture

8 9 10 11

13 14 12

Fig. 6. Examples of black, brown and grey wares from the B2 Complex. The distinctive pattern-burnished grey ware vessels (nos. 13 and 14) from Operation B2.5 appear to be restricted to a "Late Urartian" horizon.


HOROM 1992- 93 AREA CI/B2

B2

ROOM 3 ROOM 4 ROOM 5 WALL 8 IWALL9 FLOOR

CI FORTIFICATION WALL B

FLOOR .

i'

DOORWAYS

0 SECTION A - A

Fig. 7. Schematic Section of C1/B2 showing heights of Early Bronze tomb and Rooms 3-5 of "Early Urartian " period.

built against it; by itself, the archaeological evidence in the B2 area only demonstrates a much earlier Early Bronze occupation beneath the Urartian architecture (see above). The Second Millennium Occupation and the Early Bronze Occupations at Horom and Anushavan

Operations C3b/5 and E2: the Gate 6 area (Figs. 10 and 11)

The initial 1990 sounding at Horom was placed just within and west of Gate 6 in the C Fortification Wall. No distinctive Urartian materials happened to be recovered from this sounding, and for this reason the fortifications on the North Hill were initially dated to the pre-Urartian Early Iron period (Badaljan et al. 1992: 37-41), a conclusion subsequently corrected after the more extensive 1992 campaign. Additional excavations on both sides of the C Wall and to the east and west of Gate 6 were conducted in 1992 (Badaljan et al. 1993: 4-5, 19-21), and these again confirmed the absence of significant Urartian remains in this area-save, of course, for the C Wall itself. The recovery of several painted Middle Bronze sherds, and a single, surprisingly early calibrated C14 date of 1887-1693 B.C. (1 sigma-sample no. AA-7766) from the bottom of the

"Early Iron" level in the 1990 sounding suggested that occupation in this area could have extended back even into the Middle Bronze period or the first half of the second millennium B.C.

Additional work in 1993 reinforces this impression. Work began in C5 which extended 2.5 m. west of the 1992 C3b trench and 4 m. to the north. C5 ultimately was connected with C3b in order to expose a sufficient area to understand the stratigraphic relationship of the diagonally running wall, initially discovered in 1990,8 with the C Fortification Wall. Since this diagonal Wall lb ran beneath the C Fortification Wall, a small 2 x 3 m. trench E2, which was later extended into a 4 x 5 m. sounding, was placed outside the C Wall to trace Wall lb's extension farther to the south-west. Excavations in C3a in1992 did not reach the level at which this wall would have appeared (n.b., the north-eastern con- tinuation of Wall lb into the 1990 sounding is not shown in Fig. 10); nevertheless, a calibrated C14 determination from a surface-C3a, area G, locus 31 - apparently above the wall yielded a date of 1290-1050 B.C. [at 1 sigma; sample AA-10193- 2975+/-55 BP (uncalibrated); or 1370-1010 B.C. calibrated at 2 sigma]. As currently exposed, Wall lb stretches from the northern section of the 1990 sounding across the connected trenches C3a and C5; it then runs under the C Fortification Wall into the trench E2, continuing into its southern section (Figs. 10 and 11 and Badaljan et al. 1992: pl. XIIa). Thus, this massive wall of uncertain function, which extends for at least 10 m. in this area of the North Hill, clearly predates the construction of the C Fortification Wall and presumably is earlier than the calibrated date from C3a; its orientation is

z

0 0 z z >

0 0 zTI

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HO

RO

M 1992-93

AR

EA

DI

o0 2M

-642 18

O

1641474 BA

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1641.7,16A2.13

EO

BASIN

s

RO

OM

3

SCO

L 1641.28

HEA

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SE 641 26B

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81E 1641

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SE 1641

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Fig. 8. Operation DI, R

ooms 1-3.


102

3 4 5

Fig. 9. Dl Ceramics, tannish-brown incised nos. I and 2from Room 2 have only been found in this operation, also presumably of the "Late Urartian" period; no. 3 is a black painted on grey fragment.

roughly perpendicular to the wall found in 1992 in trench El further to the east which also extended beneath the C Wall. Although additional work is needed to confirm the stratigraphic relationship of these walls, a picture of a substantial earlier settlement in this area of the site, if not even an earlier fortification system, which was subsequently destroyed by the Urartian construction, seems to be coming into focus.

During the C5 excavation it became clear that the topmost portion of Wall lb had been cut away by the foundation trench for the C Fortification Wall. As was first noted in 1990, Wall lb appears to have been built in at least two phases (Badaljan et al. 1992: 36-7, fig. 4), the upper phase being partially removed by the construction of the C Wall. Most of the surfaces encountered in C3b/5 and E2 were ephemeral, although one decent plastered surface was uncovered on both sides of Wall lb in C3b/5; and, as far as could be ascertained, this surface separated the two building phases of this same wall. As before, no diagnostic Urartian wares appeared in this area. Ceramics from C3b/5 were consistently mixed: dominantly "Early Iron" local grey wares and occasional Middle Bronze painted and impressed wares were associated with the later rebuild of Wall lb; and roughly equal amounts of unmistakeable, black-burnished Early Bronze Kura- Araxes wares and the same type of "Early Iron" wares were associated with the initial construction of Wall lb (P1. IIIa and Fig. 12). Unmixed Early Bronze sherds were only found beneath Wall lb in C3b/5 at the end of the season. Besides ceramics, a stylized anthropomorphic stone head and a few horse bones were recovered from these presumably unmixed Early Bronze levels; the latter have been submitted for radiocarbon analysis. Bedrock was not reached in this operation.

The precise dating for the different phases of Wall lb is unclear, and some of the difficulty relates to the uncertainty of the "Early Iron" attribution for all the local grey ware forms. The continuity of the Bronze to Iron Age ceramic tradition on the Shirak plain may be underestimated by recourse to this ter- minology. It is true that most of the surfaces here are fleeting or ephemeral, and that there was considerable disturbance in this area associated with the construction of the Urartian fortifications. Nevertheless, the architecture, C14 dates, and ceramics from the different trenches in this area may suggest not so much that the materials are mixed, but that a substantial settlement in this part of the North Hill dates back to the first half of the second millennium B.C., overlying, in turn, a late Early Bronze occupation, dating to the middle or late third millennium B.C, as well as an earlier Early Bronze occupation.

A stone cist burial appeared just beneath the surface in the south-eastern corner of trench E2; the burial contained the remains of a young juvenile contracted on its right side with its head oriented to the north-west (P1. IIIb). Two undecorated pots (Fig. 13), including a double-handled or lugged grey ware vessel resting on the pelvis, several glass beads (including one with an "evil eye" design), an iron bracelet worn on the skeleton's arm, and a hollow-based brown obsidian arrowhead were found in the burial. Although this burial was not sealed, it clearly postdated Wall ib, which extended across E2 to the west (Fig. 11). The cist burial clearly differed in its form both from the numerous stone-ringed "Early Iron" tombs or cromlechs located east and south of the Horom settlement (see below and Badaljan et al. 1993: 8-12) and from the collective Early Bronze tomb accidently found in trench C1 at the end of the 1992 season (Badaljan


HOROM 1992- 93 AREA C3/E2

C3

Wlb E2

S0 1 2M

AJ

Fig. 10. Operation C3b/5-E2, showing diagonal Wall lb running beneath C Fortification Wall and stone cist burial to the south-east.


et al. 1993: 4, pl. Ia). While one grave does not make a cemetery, this stone cist burial may reflect the presence of additional mortuary remains in this area of the site, all of which may date to a period substan- tially later than the construction of Wall ib; i.e., to a time that was immediately pre-Urartian or Urartian.

Operation C1

Nearly the entire 1992 C1 trench was excavated down to sterile soil at the beginning of the 1993 season in the hopes of encountering additional collective Early Bronze tombs similar to that excavated in 1992. None were found, though materials recovered throughout the trench beneath the surface on which the B Fortification Wall was built were almost exclusively identified as Early Bronze Kura-Araxes wares. As mentioned above, Early Bronze ceramics also were uncovered beneath the Urartian architecture in the B2 complex immediately to the west, suggesting that this area of the Horom settlement, like the C3b/5 and E2 area to the south, was occupied during the Early Bronze period.

Two discrepant C14 dates were obtained from the Early Bronze tomb in CI: sample no. AA-10191 taken from burnt human bone-4505+/-50 BP or calibrated at 3350-3050 B.C. (1 sigma; or 3360-2930 B.C. at 2 sigma); and sample no. AA-11130 which was charcoal from the burnt surface of the tomb--

5150 +/-60 BP or calibrated at 4070-3810 B.C. (1 sigma; or 4220-3800 B.C. at 2 sigma). A late fourth millennium B.C. date for the typologically early forms of the three Kura-Araxes vessels from this tomb (P1. IIIc) is reasonable, particularly given the revised downdating for the beginnings of this "culture" (see Glumac and Anthony 1992: 203; Kavtaradze 1983); the discrepant, earlier date of the late fifth to early foutth millennium B.C. is prob- lematic. Some of the Early Bronze ceramics recovered from the B2/C1 area, as well as many from the C3b/5 area (Fig. 14), exhibit incisions and surface decorations; they are considered typologically late and should indicate a much later mid to late third millennium Early Bronze occupation of the settlement as well.

While more evidence of the Early Bronze period at Horom needs to be uncovered, particularly from undisturbed levels in different areas of the settlement, it is possible that the site may have been occupied continuously from the late fourth millennium B.C. onwards, the major difficulty, of course, being that the Iron Age levels either overlie and/or have partially destroyed strata containing the Early Bronze materials. It remains the case, however, that Early Bronze remains have been encountered beneath the Iron levels in all the operations at Horom, except for the excavations on the summit

HOROM 1992-93 AREA E2/C3

E2 -- - ----

C3 FORTIFICATION

WALL C REBUILD

TOMB O

WALL lb

SECTION A -A

O 1 2M Fig. 11. Schematic section through Operation C3b/5-E2.


4 5 6

9

7 8

10

11 12 13 14 15

16 17 18 19

20 21

22 23

24 25 2627

I I I I

Fig. 12. "Early Iron, "painted Middle Bronze, and Early Bronze Mixed Grey Ware ceramics from Operation C3b/5 (number 15- pattern burnished, numbers 24-7 black-on-red wares).


1 2_ _ -

0 C),

Fig. 13. Two light grey pots from E2 burial.

of the South Hill, and this suggests that the occupation may have been fairly substantial, larger possibly than other known Kura-Araxes settlements, such as Karnut, on the Shirak Plain and, more generally, within highland Transcaucasia.

The Early Bronze Settlement at Anushavan

Due to the difficulty of exposing the Early Bronze settlement at Horom, a 6 x 6 m. sounding was opened near the end of the season at the neigh- boring site of Anushavan, which is located to the east of Horom immediately north of the town of Artik. Characteristic Kura-Araxes ceramics, serrated flint sickles, and andiron/hearth fragments picked up during surface reconnaissance initially in summer 1990 had indicated that an Early Bronze settlement once occupied a few hectares on the southern slope of a natural hill south-east of the modern Anushavan village and a later small Hellenistic site. More surface Early Bronze remains were retrieved by walking over the site in 1993, including a double spiral-headed copper or bronze toggle pin. The sounding was placed on the second of its three terraces. The cultural deposit was very shallow and filled with loose rocks. Nevertheless, a two course wide stone wall ran north-south across the trench, and a stone cist burial (Feature 2), remi- niscent in form to the burial in E2, and containing the remains of an infant, had been placed immediately east of this wall (Fig. 15); the burial could not be dated since only one Early Bronze sherd was found beneath the skeleton, and it was unclear whether it related to the burial or to the underlying Early Bronze cultural level. Given the shallowness of the deposit, Anushavan may not prove to be the appropriate site to obtain more extensive exposure of Early Bronze remains in the Horom region, though a future sounding in a different area of the site is no doubt warranted.

THE SOUTH HILL EXCAVATIONS

Two operations were conducted on the South Hill of the Horom settlement in 1993: 1) M7, which began as a 5 x 5 m. trench placed immediately northwest of the 1992 M1/6 "horizontal exposure" on the eastern summit of the South Hill (Badaljan et al. 1993: 4-6, fig. 3) and which was expanded several times to the north, south, and west as more architecture of this complex was uncovered, yield- ing by summer's end a total excavated area together with M1/6 of 26.5 m. (E/W) x 17 m. (N/S); and 2) M8, an 8 x 2.5 m. wide trench which was placed farther to the southwest near the bottom of the southern slope of the South Hill within what appeared to be a room in order to determine whether or not this occupation, which was beyond the fortification walls of the South Hill, was contemporaneous with the M1/7 complex on the summit or later in date. The M8 room was paved with flagstones, similar to those in the M1/7 area and in the D1 complex on the North Hill, but its walls were only preserved to a height of a single course; ceramics recovered from M8 were identical with those on the top of the South Hill, a circumstance which suggests that the occupations were, in fact, contemporaneous.

Operation M1/7: The Architectural Complex on the Eastern Summit of the South Hill (Fig. 16)

A large area of interconnected architecture (c. 26.5 m. x 17 m.) has been exposed on the eastern summit of the South Hill (Fig. 16). This complex now appears to continue even farther to the west, possibly extending all the way to what appears to be the main entrance through the southern fortification walls of the South Hill. The extensive flagstone flooring and lack of evidence for roofing uncovered during the 1992 M1 excavations implied that this complex may have been an open-air forum, and the presence of numerous hollowed-out


1 7

2

8

3 ~t /k/

4I

AsI

,oo

10

11

-D.

0000 0%"

Fig. 14. Incised Early Bronze Grey Wares from Operation C3b.


stone pits or "basins" often in association with stone "tethering rings" chiselled out of adjacent rocks suggested that the complex may have been the scene of non-utilitarian, cultic activities, possibly including the sacrifice of animals (Badaljan et al. 1993: 5-6). The 1992 excavations uncovered four distinct areas within the part of the complex that was exposed; and at least two more related areas-connected to the area of the M1 excavations by a narrow corridor -were revealed in 1993.

The cultural deposit on the South Hill is relatively shallow, rarely exceeding 1 m. in depth. Clearly only a single period of architecture is preserved on the top of the South Hill, though four separate loci were distinguished while clearing to the flagstone and packed clay floor of the architecture: 1) a c. 30-5 cm. deep topsoil level containing generally elaborate "Early Iron" grey wares with handles, spouts, and burnished designs; 2) a relatively sterile deposit of loose homogeneous soil extending c. 30-70 cm. beneath the surface; 3) a culturally rich, dense mixture of clay, ash, and charcoal at a depth of c. 70-85 cm. directly above the flagstone floor; and 4) the flagstone and hard packed clay floor on which the walls and other features of the architectural complex were erected. This floor was occasionally cut through by pits which also seem to be associated with the architecture. Thus, even though it may prove possible to trace a development of the local grey wares from relatively undecorated to more elaborate forms on the South Hill, there is really evidence for only a single period of occupation.

Two main walls were excavated in M7 during the 1993 season: a slightly curved eastern wall (Feature 1) which was 1 course thick and 4-5 courses high (max. height of 1.2 m.) (Pl. IIId); and a second wall (Feature 4) composed of large stones (up to 80 cm. wide) to its west, which was 2 courses wide but only 1 course high. It was initially thought that this more massive western wall might define the western limits of the entire interconnected complex, but a series of features, such as stone basins set directly into its western face, suggest that the complex continues still farther west beyond the limits of the 1993 excavations. Several features were found in the room defined by these two walls, including more pits and stone basins. One large basin, Feature 3 (P1. IIId), is particularly noteworthy. It was carved from a large triangular-shaped bedrock stone and has a diameter of c. 28 cm. Channels were cut into the bowl of the basin for drainage and a small lip or depressed spout also was carved into it presumably to facilitate the pouring of liquids. The channels drain into a large pit (Feature 5) set immediately to its west. A surprising number of finely-made bone artefacts (P1. IIIe) were recovered from this room, including

two points which were found within a small rectangular installation (Feature 13-165 cm. N/S x 70 cm. E/W) of vertically set stones south of the large basin together with a cache of forty-five ankle (astragali) and fifty-six metatarsal bones of cattle (c. 80 per cent) and red deer (c. 20 per cent), some of which had been perforated. The purpose of this installation is unclear, though the combination of features again suggests something other than simple domestic utilisation (the casting of lots, ritual divination, or the like?). Three additional basins were set into the western face of the large western wall (Feature 4) in association with a stone-lined hearth or area of burning (Feature 15).

ANUSHAVAN 1993

0 2M

_F3 F2

Fig. 15. Wall and features from the sounding at the Early Bronze site of Anushavan; note stone cist burial (F2).

z rl 0 H 0 z H H z z

HO

RO

M 1992-93

AR

EA M

1669 43

00 M

16Q 952

A

41669 67

BASIN

S O)108

on

aa

?) o

1 0TETH

ERIN

G

Fig. 16. M1/M

7 Interconnected architectural com

plex; stone rectangular installation in the south-w

est contained bone points a

nd cache of cattle and red deer astragali and

metatarsal bones.


The architectural features and associated artefacts from the interconnected complex on the eastern summit of the South Hill are difficult to interpret. Present evidence neither confirms nor negates the hypothesis that animals may have been ritually sacrificed in this complex. Several of the bone artefacts found in Feature 13 and within the room defined by Features 1 and 4 show no evidence of use, possibly suggesting that they were fashioned within the complex. A large, worked red deer antler found south of Feature 13 also supports this interpretation. The proximity of several basins with one another, such as the three set in the western face of Feature 4, makes it difficult to conceive that all functioned as receptacles for animal sacrifice. For these, a more prosaic, industrial function may ultimately seem more reasonable. The complex remains enigmatic, and only additional clearing, possibly of the entire summit, may elucidate it.

Tombs East of the Horom Settlement

Numerous walls and surface features are spread across several hundred hectares to the east and south of the two citadel hills which define the Horom settlement. Most noteworthy and unequivo- cally prehistoric are circular rings of stones or cromlechs clustered in groups to the east and particularly south of the settlement. Two of these "Early Iron" tombs (labelled T1 and T2) were excavated in 1992 (Badaljan et al. 1993: 8-12), and four structures( T3-T6), thought to be tombs, were dug in 1993. For the purpose of defining chronological or social variety in the contents of these tombs, it was decided to sample structures from different clusters of tombs or different areas of the site. T4, which was defined by a circular ring of stones on the eastern ridge of the northern slope of the South Hill, proved to be natural and yielded no skeletal or material remains. T5, which appeared as a deliber- ately raised pile of stones and not a ringed circle, was located a few hundred meters to the northwest of T1 and T2. It was hoped that this structure might prove to be a kurgan, possibly earlier in date than the ubiquitous Iron Age cromlechs. Fragmentary human bones and potsherds were found in a pit beneath the pile of stones in T5, confirming indeed that it was a burial. These remains, however, were so sparse and badly disturbed-presumably in antiquity, that they could not be dated.

T3, a typically shaped cromlech defined by a ring of stones c. 6 m. in diameter, proved more informative, though its central burial pit had also been robbed in antiquity. T3 was located in a cluster of recognisable cromlechs west of T1 and T2 (i.e., closer to the South Hill) on the eastern slope of a small natural ridge. A large red basalt capstone had

been placed in the centre of the ring of the stones covering the central burial pit. After removing the surface vegetation and defining the ring of stones, two subsidiary rings of stones covered by smaller capstones to the east (Feature A) and south (Feature B) of the central burial pit became evident; Tomb 1, excavated in 1992, also had such an auxiliary ring of stones to its southeast (Badaljan et al. 1993: fig. 7) where it marked the presence of an additional pit containing ceramic vessels. The central capstone was split, and upon excavation it was immediately apparent that the central pit had been robbed; a few disarticulated human bones emerged, including part of the skull near the western edge of the pit. Parts of three vessels were recovered from the central pit along with nearlyl00 small beads, made primarily of carnelian, frit, and shell. Feature A contained six vessels, three of which were whole, and Feature B the partial remains of two additional vessels. Typologically, the vessels were similar to those found in T1 and T2 and presumably date to the late second or early first millennium B.C.; i.e., to the "Early Iron", pre-Urartian period (Fig. 17: 1-5).

T6 was defined by a an oval ring of stones (c. 4.9 m. N/S x c. 5.5 m. E/W) clustered together with other stone-ringed cromlechs to the west of T3 on the eastern slope of the last ridge of hills separat- ing this area of the Horom site from the South Hill. Three stones covered the central pit, two of which were removed. T6 was a cenotaph containing no skeletal remains but three vessels, two of which were complete (Fig. 17: 6-8), were recovered. The larger burnished dark grey complete vessel (Fig. 17:8) had a fragment of obsidian set in its base, a trait sometimes found on Middle to Late Bronze vessels in Transcaucasia; morphologically this vessel and the second complete vessel from T6 seemed earlier than the vessels recovered from other tombs at Horom, suggesting that this cenotaph (and others on this ridge of hills?) possibly date to the mid to late second millennium B.C.

Faunal Remains from Horom

Faunal remains from Horom are numerous and extremely well-preserved. Nearly 6000 animal bones from the 1992 and 1993 seasons were identified by Dr. Saindor Bokonyi. Eight domestic (cattle, sheep, goat, pig, horse, ass, dog, and chicken) and sixteen wild (red deer, roe deer, aurochs, Asiatic moufflon sheep, bezoar goat, wild boar, onager, badger, gazelle, red fox, hyena, brown bear, wolf, two wild birds, and one type of fish) species were represented in the Horom materials. 92.4 per cent of the identifiable remains were of domestic animals. The Shirak plain today is dominantly a cattle-breeding region, and this type of animal husbandry clearly


characterised the Bronze and Iron Ages as well; cattle constituted c. 63 per cent of the identifiable domestic forms. Caprovines were far less frequent (c. 26.5 per cent), and these were followed, somewhat surprisingly, by horse (6.7 per cent) and then pig (1.6 per cent). Red deer were by far the most numerous wild species, constituting at least 60 per cent of the hunted animals, followed by aurochs. The natural habitat for most of the wild animals is forest or forest-steppe. The large body and antler sizes of the red deer also suggest that these animals lived under favorable environmental conditions; specifically, in dense woods which probably grew throughout the plain at that time. It is noteworthy that the wild relatives of the domestic species whose

origins go back to the Neolithic (namely, cattle, sheep, goat, pig, and dog) were indigenous to the region and still lived in the area during the Bronze and Iron Ages. Horse, however, would have to have been brought into highland Transcaucasia from elsewhere, most probably from the Eurasian steppes to the north, though it is not yet known when this momentous introduction first took place. As mentioned above, domesticated horse bones from "unmixed" Early Bronze levels in operation C3b/5 have been submitted for C14 determination, and their analysis will, hopefully, demonstrate the early presence of horses in the area. Dr. B6k6nyi also observed that some of the cattle horn cores showed a circular impression near the base, such as could

1 2 3

6

5

_8

Fig. 17. Ceramic vessels from Horom Tombs T3 (nos. 1-5) and T76 (nos. 6-8); vessel no. 8 had an obsidian flake set in its base.


have been caused by the pressure of a yoke, a circumstance that would point to the use of draught oxen.

The Horom Digital Mapping Project In summer 1993 a mapping project was initiated

which began to incorporate detailed architectural drawings of the excavated areas and the visible surface architecture into a digitised map of the site compiled through the use of the AutoCAD pro-

gram. All the excavation units, including the extensive stepped fortifications uncovered in Operation A2/3 on the summit of the North Hill, were located on the base map and digitised as well. The aerial images will now be used to check and further refine the digitised model of the base map. We are now able to view the site and its architecture three dimensionally along several different, spatially significant scales of resolution. Work on this mapping project will continue in future seasons.

APPENDIX A: ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN SOUTHERN GEORGIA 1993

By Barbara Isaac, Zaal Kikodze, Philip L. Kohl, Giorgi Mindiashvili, Alexander Ordzhonikidze, and Greg White

PALAEOLITHIC INVESTIGATIONS

Three weeks were spent studying Palaeolithic and Plio-Pleistocene deposits in the field and Palaeolithic materials in the Georgian State Museum in Tbilisi. Four Plio-Pleistocene localities were surveyed: the Tsalka Basin; the Lake Paravani Basin; the Paravani (Djavakheti) Plateau-Diliska Gorge; and the Persati Plateau. It was established that sediments and volcanic rocks along the Diliska Gorge and under the Paravani Plateau offer ideal contexts for Plio-Pleistocene archaeological surveys. Mulitple extrusive rocks provide excellent dating potentials, while minor pyroclastic deposits should enhance correlation of fluvial and lacustrine facies. Sedimentary environments include floodplain and lacustrine littoral settings that would have been suitable for prehistoric occupations. Bone preservation is excellent, as may be that of plant macrofauna as well. Steep canyon and quarry exposures make exploration of these thick deposits feasible with minimal manual excavation of trenches.

Abundant lithic artefacts were found on the Persati Plateau in and on fluvial-colluvial clays in this small elevated montane basin. Faunal materials probably are not preserved here, but this site appears to contain an important record of Acheulean technology, typology, and raw material transport. Geologically, areas with intact spatial pat- terning are quite possible. Trenching will be neces- sary to define the full character of the artefact assemblages and their geological context.

Two caves were visited farther north in the area of Sachkere (Imeretia): Dzudzuana; and Ortvala. This area is strikingly similar to the Dordogne region of France and is characterised by extensive karstic activity within an uplifted Palaeozoic lime-

stone plateau. Incision of the plateau has exposed numerous caves and rockshelters. The Dzudzuana cave had only c.10 per cent of its fill removed by previous excavations. Sufficient exposures revealed the presence of Neolithic/Early Bronze materials overlying that of the Upper Palaeolithic. Interestingly, and for reasons which need to be clarified through more extensive excavations, no Middle Palaeolithic layers have yet been found.

The Ortvala rockshelter is filled by sediments remarkably similar to the eboulis rich deposits which typify the sediments from French rockshelters. These are highly calcareous loams rich in angular limestone debris derived from the walls and roof. Most of the iboulis is intercalated with zones of fine, dusty, and crumbly matrix-supported sediments containing some hearths and ashes. The so-called "transitional" industry situated between the Upper and Middle Palaeolithic layers may be particularly important. Although it has been suggested that there is an unconformity between these industrial complexes, no evidence (e.g., soil or weathering) of such a break was observed in the field.

Further exploration of both these caves should be highly informative, as should continued investigations of the earlier Plio-Pleistocene deposits further to the south. Both the Georgian State University and the Georgian State Museum have extended invitations for such collaborative field investigations, and these have been gladly accepted.

BRONZE AND IRON AGE INVESTIGATIONS

Short field seasons were conducted on the Djavakheti Plateau, of southern Georgia in 1990 and 1991 (Kohl et al. 1992), a relatively level upland


area stretching c. 40-50 km. west to east and 30-5 km. north to south. The border between Georgia and Armenia represents the watershed between the tributaries of the Araxes river flowing south into Armenia and the Kura and its tributaries, particularly the deeply downcutting Paravani river, flowing north into Georgia. While the Plateau slopes northeast to southwest, its average elevation (c. 1800 m.a.s.l.) is higher than that of the Shirak Plain, and its climate accordingly is more severe and suitable for the pasturing of sheep and goats than for cereal growing and the herding of cattle, the dominant practises today and apparently during later prehistoric times on the Shirak Plain. The Djavakheti Plateau is surrounded by high mountain ranges, the most notable of which is the metal- liferous Trialeti Range to its north. To date, the later prehistoric investigations in southern Georgia have concentrated on two sites: Satkhe, a site covering at least 7 ha. on the eastern edge of the Plateau; and Amagleba,9 a site near its northern boundary immediately south of the Trialeti Range.

Early Bronze Excavations at Satkhe The site is located on a small hill above the con-

temporary village of Satkhe, c. 8 km. northeast of the regional center of Nino Tsminda (formerly Bogdanovka), near the confluence of the Paravani River and a small stream which runs through the village. The site was initially defined by a c. 4 m. thick wall formed by two rows of boulders (generally preserved to a height of only one course) separated by rubble infill. This wall follows the natural con- tour of the hill, securing a c. 6 ha. horshoe-shaped concave depression that forms the hill's summit. Early Bronze sherds were collected from within this fortified area and to the south and west beneath the contemporary village. In 1991 a late Early Bronze vaulted stone kurgan, which had been plundered in antiquity, was excavated in a field immediately to the north of the fortification wall, but two small exploratory soundings within the fortified area revealed the presence of Hellenistic and Medieval occupations in addition to the dominant Early Bronze settlement: The 1993 excavations were directed towards: 1) determining the extent and preservation of Early Bronze remains both within the fortified area (Operation Al) and on a sloping terrace at the foot of the hill beneath the fortifications to the southeast where a villager had uncovered a dense concentration of decorated Early Bronze pots and storage jars at the end of the 1991 season (Operation Bi); 2) dating the wall by digging against its inner face and sectioning it (Operations A2 and A3); and excavating what appeared to be another small kurgan located on

the remains of an early agricultural terrace immediately east of the fortified hill (Operation C1). This last excavation determined that this raised mound of stones had simply been collected by villagers in the course of agricultural work and was not a prehistoric kurgan that would help to date the extensive terracing east of the settlement.

A 10 x 10 m. exposure (Al) was opened immediately to the northeast of where a large Kura-Araxes vessel, set on a plastered surface,10 had been recovered in 1991. Only Kura-Araxes materials were recovered from Al, although the cultural deposit which lay almost immediately beneath the surface was not well-preserved. Single courses of dry stone walls, delineating rectangular structures were revealed, and one such structure had been erected over an earlier structure, suggesting the presence of at least two distinct Early Bronze building phases in this area of the settlement. The black and brown burnished ceramics included a few incised decorated fragments, similar to those from Operations C1 anc C3b/5-E2 at Horom and other well-known Kura-Araxes sites, such as Shengavit, Mokhra Blur, and Kvatskhelebi, suggesting a date in the first half of the third millennium B.C. Unfortunately, the shallowness of the deposit and later cultural activities in this area, including its contemporary cultiva- tion by villagers, meant that the Early Bronze remains here were badly disturbed and unlikely to yield additional significant information.

Operations A2 and A3 were both small soundings set against and through the fortification wall for the purpose of determining the wall's date (Fig. 18). A2, which was located near the northeastern corner of the wall next to an internal feature or tower, contained a shallow Early Bronze deposit directly beneath the surface which continued partially underneath the wall, suggesting that at least in this part of the site an Early Bronze occupation pre- dated the construction of the wall. A3 sectioned a 1 m. wide cut through the wall at a place where excavations in 1991 had revealed a dense concentration of Early Bronze artefacts underlying Medieval constructions against its inner face. A few unidentifiable, presumably Medieval sherds were recovered from the rubble fill of this trench, and the wall itself rested on bedrock (i.e., the Early Bronze deposit did not continue here beneath the wall). Thus, the results of these operations were inconclusive. It is possible that the wall initially could have been constructed during Early Bronze times, but it is equally, if not more, likely that it dates to a much later period, an interpretation which leaves unexplained its primitive form and poor state of preservation.

Operation Bi, which began as a 10 x 10 m. trench, yielded a complex of Early Bronze domes-

24 JOURNAL. OF PERSIAN STUDIES

SATKHE 1993 TRENCHES A2

AND A3

A3 PLAN

0 1 2M

VIRGIN SOIL

A3 A3 SECTION N-S SECTION E-W

EBA BEDROCK 7/71/71 ,r ,7/7-1,7;-77/ -/77"/

VIRGIN SOIL A2 SECTION E- W

2I

I

A2 PLAN

Fig. 18. Satkhe Soundings A2 and A3 against and through fortification wall of uncertain date.


ROOM D

MROOM B

2ID

E ooo

ROOM C

ROOM D

E B. PITHOS

ROOM A

A-A

E.B. PIT

B - B ROOM D ROOM B

SATKHE 1993 AREA BI 0 1 2M

Fig. 19. Satkhe, Uperation l-Early Bronze domestic archztectural complex.


tic, rectangular or sub-rectangular structures (Fig. 19). Although found directly beneath the surface, these rooms had been covered by a deposit of wash eroding from the hill and were less disturbed than those from Al. The rooms had well-defined floors preserved to a depth of nearly 2 m. A large, nearly complete black-burnished cooking vessel or storage jar was found on the floor near the northwestern corner of Room D; behind this several Kura-Araxes vessels and deer antlers had been placed (P1. IlIf). This evidence and other Early Bronze materials recovered from this excavation suggests that the rooms of this complex had been left while still containing usable items and that the site may have been suddenly abandoned, a feature also suggested for other Kura-Araxes settlements, such as Karnut on the Shirak Plain. There was also evidence of a Mediaeval midden deposit above Room C to the east, and today this terraced area of Early Bronze structures is being encroached upon and further disturbed by the expansion of the village.

Some of the faunal materials from Satkhe were analysed by Dr. B6k6nyi, and these suggested that the Early Bronze inhabitants of Djavakheti prac- ticed a different form of animal husbandry from that of their contemporaries to the south on the Shirak Plain. Specifically, ovicaprine remains slightly outnumbered those of cattle, implying a far greater reliance on sheep and goats on the higher Djavakheti Plateau. Horse bones (Equus caballus) also were recovered, as were remains of aurochs and red deer, although the wild animals were not as relatively numerous as at Horom, possibly suggesting that Djavakheti was not as densely wooded a

iran 32 (1994)

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