Reviving Ara the Handsome Exploring the Protohistoric, Urartian, Orontid, and Medieval Armenian heritage of Aralesk/Kalecik in Van, Turkey

Examining the Late Medieval Village from the Case at Ambroyi, Armenia

Within the framework of the French archaeological mission ‘Caucasus’, in a previous paper we have presented new geochemical analyses on geological obsidians from the southern Caucasus (Armenia, Georgia) and eastern Turkey. We present here the second part of this research, which deals with provenance studies of archaeological obsidians from Armenia. These new data enhance our knowledge of obsidian exploitation over a period of more than 14 000 years, from the Upper Palaeolithic to the Late Bronze Age. The proposed methodology shows that source attribution can be easily made by plotting element contents and element ratios on three simple binary diagrams. The same diagrams were used for source discrimination. As the southern Caucasus is a mountainous region for which the factor of distance as the crow flies cannot be applied, we have explored the capacity of the Geographic Information System to evaluate the nature and patterns of travel costs between the sources of obsidian and the archaeological sites. The role of the secondary obsidian deposits, which enabled the populations to acquire raw material at a considerable distance from the outcrops, is also considered.

Arapgir in Eastern Turkey has recently embarked upon an ambitious renovation project in order to attract visitors. Through the restoration of its architectural heritage and promotion of specific cultural and natural assets, the municipality is “giving a direction” to the town and simultaneously reinventing its identity to promote tourism. This article analyzes heritage production in Arapgir and describes the absence-presence of the town’s Armenian past within this broader push. I discuss in the end the simultaneous exposure and erasure of Armenian heritage in Turkey today by examining Arapgir’s restored Armenian cemetery.

Introduction On 14 August 1901, Mary Louise Graffam, a shy teacher from the National Cathedral School for Girls in Washington, D.C., left Boston for a new life as an educational missionary for the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) in Ottoman Turkey. She embarked on what promised to be a fairly conventional missionary career as the head of Female Education in the Near Eastern mission post of Sivas, an established American mission station. Little did she know that she would be thrust, instead, into the horrors of twentieth-century warfare and would become a first-hand witness to genocide conducted by a government against a portion of its own people. The story of Mary Louise Graffam deserves to be told at the beginning of a new century replete with possibilities for the development of new forms of evil. As the only American to stay with Armenians at her mission in eastern Turkey throughout the First World War, Graffam occupies a unique position in history. Her commentary provides a direct and powerful testimony about the history of modern genocide. Surprisingly, no serious account, let alone major biography, of Graffam has ever appeared, despite the existence of numerous unpublished documents, oral and written histories in Armenian, scattered primary source materials as well as general works on the Armenian Genocide and missionary history that mention her heroic resistance to the massacres.

The research on the use of obsidian in the Mediterranean is extensive but this concerns almost exclusively the exploitation of volcanic glass from prehistoric and Bronze Age contexts. The consumption of obsidian during the Roman imperial period in contrast has only occasionally received attention. Never a comprehensive account on what the Romans made in vitrum obsianum has been set up, nor have the sources exploited by them been examined. The aim of the present paper is to provide a concise overview on the current knowledge regarding the use of obsidian during the Roman imperial period and to offer an introductory outline on potential research. The ancient writers inform us about the use of volcanic glass to create exclusive vessels, gemstones, mirrors and sculpture, but also about the creation of black appearing man-made glass initiated as a cheap and easier workable substitute. The archaeological data however propose a more complex story with the occurrence of obsidian chunks in early Roman secondary glass workshops, and the bulky use of obsidian in late Antiquity to produce tesserae for the creation of wall and vault mosaics. Within the Mediterranean three source areas have been recognized that have been responsible for the supply of obsidian in Antiquity: various Italian and Greek islands (Pantelleria, Lipari, Sardinia, Melos, Giali…) and eastern Turkey (Cappadocia, Lake Van district). For a more detailed research to establish the specific obsidian sources used by the Romans and define their distribution networks, the characterization of the obsidian architectural material offers many opportunities. Obsidian can be clearly discriminated from man-made glass by means of non-destructive chemico-physical analyses. A simple device such as portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF) can be used to determine the chemical obsidian of an object enabling a comparison with known glass/obsidian compositions. Raman spectroscopy is another useful technique to distictively seperate glass from obsidian and is applicable for in-situ measurements in museums and archaeological sites by means of a portable Raman spectrometer.

This article presents a re-evaluation of an important Urartian archaeological site called Ašotakert/Yeşılalıç, located in eastern Turkey. The site is notable for its religious building, which is important for comprehending the evolution of Urartian religious architecture. This paper is divided into two parts, the first devoted to an assessment of the archaeological site of Yeşılalıç, and the second an attempt to explain the religious buildings identified there in terms of the Urartian religious architectural tradition, of which the main stages of development are outlined.

In recent years, mitochondrial diversity of goats has been extensively studied, in order to shed light on domestication processes. There are limited studies on genetic diversity and demographic history of Anatolian goat breeds, and these studies have focused only on modern goats. Until today, no research has been conducted on DNA analysis of ancient Anatolian goats. In the present study, seven ancient DNA samples of goat remains from Van‐Yoncatepe archaeological site in Eastern Anatolia, Turkey, dating 1000 BC, were successfully extracted and amplified for the first time. A 230‐bp fragment of mitochondrial DNA Hypervariable Region 1 of the samples was analyzed. All of the ancient sequences belonged to haplogroup A, which is the most widely distributed and frequently encountered haplogroup in modern goats. The results also pointed out that Anatolian ancient goats might have contributed to the genetic structure of modern goats in the Near East, the Mediterranean Region and South‐Southeastern Asia. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This article describes an Urartian stele base discovered in 2010 in eastern Turkey, during an epigraphical survey directed by Prof. Mirjo Salvini around Lake Van as part of the activities of CNR – ICEVO. During work in the region between 20 July and 9 August, 2010, several new archaeological sites and inscriptions were discovered, including the Urartian stele base discussed below. On 7 August 2007 an Urartian stele was discovered in the village of Bulutpınar, 25 km north-west of Patnos in Ağrı province, at the north foot of Bulutpınar Dağı (2024 m) (Figure 1). The basalt stele bears an inscription of Argišti II (713-? BC), one of the few inscriptions currently known for this Urartian king (Figure 2). The content of the inscription was published by Mirjo Salvini shortly afterwards, first in 2008 in the ‘Corpus of Urartian Text’ and later republished in 2010 with further remarks on the content of the text.

The Uruk Expansion, which took place during various phases throughout the 4th millennium BC, also developed in Northern Mesopotamia. In the area of Birecik, in eastern Turkey, on the edge of the Euphrates, various archaeological sites have been discovered, showing different phases of expansion of the Uruk culture. We focus this study on the Surtepe site, a 8 ha settlement, where we have distinguished a possible Late Calcolithic 5 ritual building, in a phase that we consider Terminal Uruk within the chronology of this Mesopotamian culture

Narli Plain in eastern Turkey is a 26,500-ha irrigation area brought into a single irrigation scheme between 1975 and 1978. Soils are clay loam and clays. Field observations have shown that compaction limits root development in some areas. To evaluate this, 15 soil profiles were sampled in fallow land after wheat in a rotation that involved cotton, wheat, sugar beet, and maize. Soil structure was measured using bulk density, porosity, and penetrometer resistance. Structure was described using soil thin sections with image analysis and scanning electron microscopy. Soil profiles were ranked on quality. This identified three structural groups; well structured, moderately poorly structured, and very poorly structured. Well structured soils at all depths had densities that were usually less than 1.25 Mg m -3 and were always less than 1.4 Mg m -3 , which equated with macroporosity greater than 18% and 10%, respectively. Poorly structured soils had densities always greater than 1.44 Mg m -3 , and commonly greater than 1.5 Mg m -3 , equating with a macroporosity of 9% and 5%, respectively. These values, together with data on pore sizes and morphology, correspond with acceptable versus limiting porosity. An intergrade between these limits described moderately poorly structured soils. The degree of compaction was best explained by considering its spatial distribution. This showed that the most severe compaction occurred within 2 km of the river, near the principal town, and between an archaeological site and the river. This land has been used for 3000 to 4000 years. In contrast, well structured soils occurred in the southwest away from the main settlement and on land reclaimed from marshland in 1958 and cultivated for about 40 years. Land not belonging to these groups has been cultivated for about 400 years and is located further from the river and the settlement than the severely compacted soils and has a moderately poor structure. Poor correlations were found between soil structure and clay mineralogy and calcium carbonate. Clay content was significant but accounted for only 21% of the variation. The role of organic matter was clearer despite small but statistically significant numerical differences between moderately poorly structured soils together with very poorly structured soils (0-40 cm), compared with well structured soils. The more poorly structured soils had a mean organic matter content of 1.45% compared with 2.1% for well structured soils (0 to 40 cm). Thin sections suggested that the soil structure in compact soils had been produced by tillage, partial or total aggregate collapse, and from shrink-swell activity rather than nonplant biota. This is interpreted by the presence of vughs, planar voids, and curvo-planar voids that partially isolate former peds. Biopores and microaggregates comprising coprogenic fragments are rare. A sequence of steps for the formation of severe compaction is suggested with possible remedial actions identified. This work demonstrates that an holistic approach to soil management is required to remediate compaction and that this should take into account the historical aspects of agricultural development and good practice in machinery management.

Factor V Leiden (FVL) is the most common monogenic disorder that causes activated protein C (APC) resistance, creating hyper-coagulation. The mutation shows an uneven geographic distribution, significantly high in European populations. The mutation is believed to have originated approximately 20 000 years ago probably from a geographic region close to Anatolia. This fact makes it noteworthy to search for the mutation in ancient populations that once lived in this area. One of these civilizations, Urartu was centered around Van Lake in Eastern Turkey. The archeological remains from the excavations of the region are dated back to 1000 BC. Teeth, taken from the excavations of Van Yoncatepe fortress, were taken into DNA analysis considering all the precautions for ancient DNA analysis. Multiplex STR (Short Tandem Repeats) analysis were performed both to determine the gender of the samples and to conclude that the samples are preserved from modern DNA contamination. After getting an 80% amplification success for amelogenin, a melting curve analysis using lightcycler was performed to determine the FVL genotype of each sample. Of the 60 samples, 1 gave a positive amplification result for FV gene and was found to be heterozygous. To date, the age of this mutation was estimated based on statistical calculations using haplotype frequencies; here for the first time, we report FVL in an ancient population of 3000 years.

This paper presents the preliminary results of a laser scanning survey carried out at the archaeological mound site of Arslantepe, located in eastern Turkey. The Italian Archaeological Expedition in Eastern Anatolia has largely brought to light its long history spanning from the 6th millennium BCE to the Byzantine period. The most outstanding evidence unearthed so far is a group of remarkably well preserved monumental buildings erected during the final centuries of the 4th millennium BCE, when the economic and political centralization reached its climax. Recently, the whole area became an open-air museum protecting the archaeological structures from climatic stress and enabling visitors to have a glimpse of the monumental complex as it was. The laser scanning survey was aimed at aiding the interpretation of the archaeological features through extremely accurate measurements as well as to provide the researchers with structural and condition monitoring of the surfaces overtime. Given the ever-changing plastic shape that mud-brick buildings take on over the time, this survey turned out to be an interesting challenge for testing laser scanner technology, since it is not easy to connect to any regular design.

The article sets off from a manifest tension that affects sites of Armenian heritage in contemporary Eastern Turkey. This tension emerges from a generalized program of genocide denial on the one hand and strategies of heritagization and commercialization on the other. Ethnographically, the article zooms in on three Armenian religious sites that are partially listed as cultural heritage, but have never been the object of conservation measures. All three have recently become folded into fantasies of “faith tourism”, visions of commercialization with a view to profit from Armenian pilgrims and tourists. The article examines the historical and political texture that gives shape to and conditions local moral universes around the question of inhabiting this necropolitical landscape. Broadly speaking, it finds that local residents have no qualms about commercializing these Armenian material remains. This means, in turn, that we cannot assume that the question of a moral embedding of sites of traumatic pasts necessarily acquires urgency. The central question guiding the article is thus not what moral challenges and responses appear when sites of traumatic heritage become targeted for commodified consumption, but what constellations of heritage and capital underlie a moral disposition that takes the form of a generalized indifference. Research into the history and present life of these three non- or not-yet-heritagized sites reveals, I argue, complex arrangements of land, capital, and heritage.

I study the medieval Armenian monuments—churches, monasteries, fortresses, palaces, and more—in what is now eastern Turkey (what many call western Armenia). For me, this region is at once the most beautiful, and most painful, place on earth. I am the grandchild of survivors of the Armenian Genocide of 1915–22, in which Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire suffered mass deportation and extermination: a crime that still goes unrecognized by the Turkish state. Scholars have characterized the Armenian monuments in Turkey as physical traces of their lost homeland. While my scholarship addresses these sites as historical and architectural/artistic phenomena, that work does not often capture the moods and emotions I feel when I am there. I hope to offer here a sense of the more personal dimensions of firsthand work with the buildings and their landscapes.

The management of cultural heritage in Morocco is considered as a lever for local development. It constitutes an economic and social challenge of great value. Also, it is at the heart of the debate on tourism development and raises many questions about its preservation and valorization. This article is part of the implementation of a database of the historical heritage of Rabat city (Capital of Morocco) using the Geographic Information System (GIS), which will allow access to information and therefore the protection of this heritage. Indeed, only a rigorous inventory and periodic inventory of the cultural assets allows us to know its extent, assess its importance and specificity, prevent threats to archaeological sites and remains, and ensure the management of research. This systematic study consists of collecting and managing archaeological, textual, iconographic, and photographic information and documentation to create an archaeological database or thematic maps, and to provide a 3D view of these assets. Also, to evaluate the carrying capacity at the archaeological site of Chellah. Through our methodology, we have established an exhaustive inventory of the monuments and sites of Rabat city. Each site has been described, to evaluate its potentialities and historical phases, as well as an inventory of sites and heritage protection areas including adobe buildings.