Abstract

This paper presents the preliminary results of the excavations (2004-2009) of Aknashen-Khatunarkh, a Neolith­ic site in the plain of Ararat. More than 300 m 2 has been excavated of this tell, which is about 100 m in diam­eter and 3,5 m in height. The cultural layer, more than 4 m thick, was subdivided preliminarily into five hori­zons, the upper one (I) belonging to the Early Chalcolithic and the others (II-V) to the Late Neolithic. A series of 14 C dates enables dating the Neolithic horizons to the first half of the 6th millennium. On the basis of a multidisciplinary study of artefacts (obsidian chipped stone-more than 22.000 pieces, antler and bone industry, ground stone, pottery, etc) and of floral andfaunal remains, the main features of the mate­rial culture and economic life ofthis Late Neolithic settlement are brought to light. The culture represented at Aknashen-Khatunarkh has manycommon characteristics with contemporarycultures in the southern Caucasus (Shulaveri-Shomutepe culture, andKultepe of the Nakhchevan).

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