ARMENIAN STONE AGE ARTEFACTS SHOW HUMAN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION 325,0

[Yervant1]

ARMENIAN STONE AGE ARTEFACTS SHOW HUMAN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION 325,000 YEARS AGO

International Business Times UK
Sept 25 2014

By Hannah Osborne
September 25, 2014 19:30 BST

Stone Age artefacts discovered at a site in Armenia have shown how
innovative humans were in terms of technological development 325,000
years ago.

Published in the journal Science, researchers studied thousands of
stone artefacts from the Nor Geghi 1 site in Armenia. The area is
unique as it has been preserved between two lava flows dating from
200,000 to 400,000 years.

The archaeological material was found in layers of floodplain sediments
and ancient soil between the lava flows.

Analysis of the artefacts, by researchers at the University of
Connecticut, showed that human technological innovation occurred
intermittently throughout the Old World, rather than spreading from
a single origin.

Their finding challenges long held theories of how human technology
developed - that it spread as human populations moved. Experts thought
more advanced technology was invented in Africa and spread to Eurasia
replacing older tools in the process.

Tools from the Stone Age.(Creative Commons)

Researchers found two types of technology at the site. Biface
technology, such as hand axes, is associated with the Lower Paleolithic
era, while the more advanced Levallois technology, a stone tool
production method, is thought to have come from the Middle Stone Age
in Africa and the Middle Paleolithic in Eurasia.

The tools found suggest simultaneous use of both biface and Levallois
technology - a surprising discovery: "The co-existence of the two
technologies at Nor Geghi 1 provides the first clear evidence that
local populations developed Levallois technology out of existing
biface technology," the authors said in a statement.

Daniel Adler, lead author of the study, said: "The combination of
these different technologies in one place suggests to us that, about
325,000 years ago, people at the site were innovative."

Researchers believe the shift from biface to Levallois technology was
gradual and intermittent, and that it occurred independently within
different human populations who had shared technological ancestry.

Adler said their findings suggest Stone Age people were flexible and
variable in terms of their technology - highlighting the "antiquity
of the human capacity for innovation".

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/armenian-stone-age-artefacts-show-human-technological-innovation-325000-years-ago-1467232

[Yervant1]

STONE AGE SITE CHALLENGES OLD ARCHAEOLOGICAL ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT HUMAN TECHNOLOGY

Science Codex
Sept 25 2014

Posted By News On September 25, 2014 - 6:39pm

The analysis of artifacts from a 325,000-year-old site in Armenia
shows that human technological innovation occurred intermittently
throughout the Old World, rather than spreading from a single point
of origin, as previously thought.

The study, published today in the journal Science, examines thousands
of stone artifacts retrieved from Nor Geghi 1, a unique site preserved
between two lava flows dated to 200,000-400,000 years ago. Layers of
floodplain sediments and an ancient soil found between these lava
flows contain the archaeological material. The dating of volcanic
ash found within the sediments and detailed study of the sediments
themselves allowed researchers to correlate the stone tools with a
period between 325,000 and 335,000 years ago when the Earth's climate
was similar to today's.

The stone tools provide early evidence for the simultaneous use of
two distinct technologies: biface technology, commonly associated
with hand axe production during the Lower Paleolithic, and Levallois
technology, a stone tool production method typically attributed to
the Middle Stone Age in Africa and the Middle Paleolithic in Eurasia.

Traditionally, Archaeologists use the development of Levallois
technology and the disappearance of biface technology to mark the
transition from the Lower to the Middle Paleolithic roughly 300,000
years ago.

Archaeologists have argued that Levallois technology was invented
in Africa and spread to Eurasia with expanding human populations,
replacing local biface technologies in the process. This theory
draws a link between populations and technologies and thus equates
technological change with demographic change. The co-existence of
the two technologies at Nor Geghi 1 provides the first clear evidence
that local populations developed Levallois technology out of existing
biface technology.

"The combination of these different technologies in one place
suggests to us that, about 325,000 years ago, people at the site were
innovative," says Daniel Adler, associate professor of Anthropology at
the University of Connecticut, and the study's lead author. Moreover,
the chemical analysis of several hundred obsidian artifacts shows that
humans at the site utilized obsidian outcrops from as far away as 120
kilometers (approximately 75 miles), suggesting they must also have
been capable of exploiting large, environmentally diverse territories.

The paper argues that biface and Levallois technology, while distinct
in many regards, share a common pedigree. In biface technology, a mass
of stone is shaped through the removal of flakes from two surfaces
in order to produce a tool such as a hand axe. The flakes detached
during the manufacture of a biface are treated as waste. In Levallois
technology, a mass of stone is shaped through the removal of flakes in
order to produce a convex surface from which flakes of predetermined
size and shape are detached. The predetermined flakes produced through
Levallois technology are the desired products. Archaeologists suggest
that Levallois t echnology is optimal in terms of raw material use and
that the predetermined flakes are relatively small and easy to carry.

These were important issues for the highly mobile hunter-gatherers
of the time.

It is the novel combination of the shaping and flaking systems that
distinguishes Levallois from other technologies, and highlights its
evolutionary relationship to biface technology. Based on comparisons
of archaeological data from sites in Africa, the Middle East, and
Europe, the study also demonstrates that this evolution was gradual
and intermittent, and that it occurred independently within different
human populations who shared a common technological ancestry, says
Adler. In other words Levallois technology evolved out of pre-existing
biface technology in different places at different times.

This conclusion challenges the view held by some Archaeologists that
technological change resulted from population change during this
period. "If I were to take all the artifacts from the site and show
them to an archaeologist, they would immediately begin to categorize
them into chronologically distinct groups," Adler said. In reality, the
artifacts found at Nor Geghi 1 reflect the technological flexibility
and variability of a single population during a period of profound
human behavioral and biological change. These results highlight the
antiquity of the human capacity for innovation.

Source: University of Connecticut

http://www.sciencecodex.com/stone_age_site_challenges_old_archaeological_assumptions_about_human_technology-142394

[Yervant1]

LEVALLOIS TECHNIQUE RETHINK: STONE AGE TOOLS NOT AFRICAN INVENTION

Science 2.0
Sept 25 2014

By News Staff | September 25th 2014 02:24 PM

A new discovery of thousands of Stone Age tools has provided a major
rethink about human innovation 325,000 years ago - and how early
technological developments spread across the world.

The researchers found evidence which challenges the belief that a
type of technology known as Levallois - where the flakes and blades
of stones were used to make useful products such as hunting weapons
- was invented in Africa and then spread to other continents as the
human population expanded.

They discovered at an archaeological site in Armenia that these types
of tools already existed there between 325,000 and 335,000 years ago,
suggesting that local populations developed them out of a more basic
type of technology, known as biface, which was also found at the site.

http://www.science20.com/news_articles/levallois_technique_rethink_stone_age_tools_not_african_invention-145703

[onjig]

I think thoses are wild guesses as to the date. If carbon dating was used, I've read of 6mo old calf dated to 2 million years.

 

But, happy they found tools, not sure when we lost them.

[Yervant1]

ARMENIAN SITE CHALLENGES ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT STONE AGE TECHNOLOGY

Daily Digest News
Sept 28 2014

By Justin Beach, Daily Digest News
September 28, 2014

Many archeologists believe that Levallois technology was invented
in Africa and then spread to Eurasia during a mass migration roughly
300,000 years ago. This view is so pervasive that it is generally used
to mark the transition from the Lower to the Middle Paleolithic era.

However, tools found at a site in Armenia demonstrate that the
technological shift more likely happened independently, in a variety
of human groups at different times rather than spreading en mass
during the migration from Africa.

The site Nor Geghi 1, in Armenia, is preserved between two lava flows
which occurred roughly 200,000 to 400,000 years ago. Ancient floodplain
sediments between the lava flows contain a variety of archeological
materials from the Paleolithic era. The dating of volcanic ash within
the sediments show that the artifacts date from a 10,000 year period
between 335,000 and 325,000 years ago.

Examples of both biface and, the more advanced Levallois technology
are among the tools found at the site.

"The combination of these different technologies in one place
suggests to us that, about 325,000 years ago, people at the site were
innovative," said Daniel Adler, associate professor of Anthropology
at the University of Connecticut and the study's lead author, in
a statement.

Biface technology involves chipping away pieces from a stone, in
this case obsidian, to create a tool such as a hand axe. In biface
technology the pieces chipped away are discarded. The Levallois
technique demonstrates more efficient use of materials by exercising
greater control over the chipping process. The chips removed using
the Levallois technique were generally of a size and shape to be
useful for other purposes.

"If I were to take all the artifacts from the site and show them to
an archaeologist, they would immediately begin to categorize them
into chronologically distinct groups," said Adler.

However, a comparison of the tools along with similar tools from
Africa, the Middle East and Europe demonstrates that the technological
evolution was intermittent and gradual and occurred independently
in a variety of populations, rather than all at once because of a
demographic shift.

The research from Adler and his colleagues can be found in the
September 26 edition of the journal Science.

http://dailydigestnews.com/2014/09/armenian-site-challenges-assumptions-about-stone-age-technology/

[onjig]

Ok! 8,000 to 10,000 give or take couple days.

[Yervant1]

Stone Cup Discovered at Bottom of Lake Sevan

Lragir.am
Country - 25 July 2015, 15:35


The sixth French-Armenian scientific expedition in Lake Sevan has
found a stone beaker from the bottom of the lake, said Vahe Melkonyan,
member of the Armenian Center for Underwater Explorations and Diving
exploring the bottom of Lake Sevan on July 15-23, in a news conference
on July 24.

`This stone vessel was retrieved from a depth of 18.5 m, before the
use of ceramic cups people used cups curved in soft stone. We are
going to introduce it to experts for a detailed study,' Vahe Melkonyan
said. He suggests that since this cup is found at a depth of 18.5 m,
possibly there was no water at one time.

This year the members of the expedition found a camel's scull at the
depth of 8.4 meters near Shorzha, which the second scull found at the
bottom of the lake.

Introducing these ancient objects, the founder of the Armenian Center
for Underwater Explorations and Diving Stepan Kojayan said their
expedition, in cooperation with the National Academy of Sciences, is
helping Armenian scientists to study the bottom of Lake Sevan and its
biochemistry.


http://www.lragir.am/index/eng/0/country/view/34444#sthash.k8UdtDie.dpuf

[Yervant1]

ANCIENT MUSICAL INSTRUMENT DATING BACK TO 2ND MILLENNIUM BC FOUND IN TEGHOUT

by Karina Manukyan

Tuesday, October 13, 02:12

The archeological excavations in Teghout are still underway. Pavel
Avetisyan, Head of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of
the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, has told ArmInfo that
this year traces of an ancient settlement have been found. Articles
made of treated bones have been found at the excavation site.

"The articles have holes and they are currently being restored. To all
appearances, the matter concerns wind instruments. If it is really
so, it means we have found such an ancient musical instruments for
the first time. It dates back to late 2nd millennium BC - early 1st
millennium BC," said Avetisyan.

If the archeologists' guesses are confirmed, the fragments of the
musical instrument will be sent for analysis and date specification.

The excavations in Teghout have been conducted since 2009 with
the financial support of Vallex Group. More than 20 archeological
discoveries have been made over the past few years. A medieval smeltery
has also been discovered. It demonstrates that the Teghout mine was
developed as early as hundreds of years ago.

http://www.arminfo.am/index.cfm?objectid=496AF9D0-712E-11E5-94900EB7C0D21663

[Yervant1]

RACE AGAINST TIME: ARCHEOLOGISTS DIG AT KARMIR BLUR SITE BEFORE ROAD CONSTRUCTION BEGINS

Hrant Galstyan

10:54, October 11, 2015

Many Fossils at Uratian Burial Site May be Buried Forever

A new road designed to bypass the western portion of Yerevan will
be constructed atop the Karmir Blur (Red Hill), a famous historical
landmark in Armenia.

Excavations at the site have uncovered a burial mound dating back
to the Urartian period. If the entire site isn't excavated before
the end of this year, many priceless artifacts may be lost forever;
buried under the new roadway.

A study of the 2,700 year-old burial site is important because
information gained might add to our knowledge of Teishebaini, the
city-fortress built by Rusa II in the first half of the 7thcentury BC.

Experts say that there are few ancient cities where the fort and
burial mound have been preserved. "This is unique because we have
both a living city, the fort, where residents once lived, and the
dead city, the necropolis, where those residents were buried. This
reveals the ethnic make-up of Karmir Blur," says Hakob Simonyan,
who heads the excavation team.

The graves can shed new light on Urartian burial rites at the time.

Simonyan argues that the fact that the heads of the dead were placed
in women's pelvises shows that people of the time believed in rebirth.

Another new discovery for all of the Near East, according to Simonyan,
is the burial of new born children.

Weapons, ornaments and ceramic vessels have been unearthed at the
burial mound. Despite the fact that the graves belonged to common
urban residents, their burials were accompanied by the sacrifice of
slaves. "Given that Urartu was an empire, it had a diverse ethnic mix.

We have to see which were the dominant ones since there are master
and servant and master and slave in the graves," says Simonyan.

He says the position of women was important since the most luxurious
graves belonged to them. In the graves, the bodies of women are
positioned on the left, those of men, on the right.

Archeologist Levon Mkrtchyan shows me one of these mounds where
they found bracelets, bronze earrings and glass beads; some of which
have retained their color. The twelve skeletons found here are still
being cleaned. Later, they will be measured, photographed and sent
to the laboratory.

Armenia, however, doesn't have a laboratory equipped to perform
extensive studies. Some of the remains will be sent overseas, to
different labs for DNA testing. This will show what links, if any,
connect the people of Urartu and present-day Armenia. Some teeth
have already been sent to a lab in Copenhagen. "They have told us the
most important, that DNA material remains. We've sent a second batch
to UCLA. We are thinking of sending some to China as well. There is
so much anthropological material here that we can send samples to
various institutions," says Simonyan.

Simonyan noted that the summer heat and speed which with they are
working hasn't been kind to the fossils or iron. "The bones need
dampness and the metal, dryness. All this needs to be taken into
account. But in this rush to work, it's overlooked. Here, we are
trying to collect everything in the best condition, and the rest we
will try to restore at the lab," says restorer Yelena Atayants.

The archeologists sift the dirt lifted from the burial mounds in
order not to miss a thing. "There are some beautiful beads, so many,
in fact, that it will take months to string them all together. We do
it all with love. If we excavate too fast, many things would be lost,"
says Atayants.

The 15 meter wide by 1.3 kilometer long stretch of road, which will
pass through the burial site and above the Hrazdan River, will wind up
at the Argavand Highway. The road is a component of the Sustainable
Urban Development Investment Program (SUDIP) - Project 1, which has
been financed with a loan from the Asian Development Bank.

According to the SUDIP website: "This project derives from a request
from the Yerevan Municipality (YM) to ADB to define a strategic plan
to improve urban transport in Yerevan aligned with the urban master
plan of Yerevan city."

The paradox is that construction of the very road threatening to bury
the site revealed the burial mound in the first place."It must be
said that the roadway, in addition to destroying some of the site,
also led to such an important scientific find," says Simonyan.

Preliminary excavations at the citadel site were conducted in 1939 by a
team led by Boris Piotrovsky, who served as director of the Hermitage
Museum from 1964 until 1990. Over the years, one part of the site was
covered with industrial and household waste. Another part, including
a section of the burial mound, was buried under the Shengavit cemetery.

Mikayel Badalyan, Director of the Erebuni Museum-Reserve, says that the
road will forever limit the expansion of the cemetery, He also points
out that due to the road, many will learn about the historical site.

Nevertheless, the museum director believes that the burial vaults must
be reserved and the excavation site displayed. "If at all possible,
I believe that it would be preferable implement some alternative
methods, perhaps overpasses or small bridges, and that the burial
site remain underneath. Today, it is a widely accepted practice,
at burial sites, to create their copies at the site and to display
them aesthetically to visitors and the public at large."

Mikayel Badalyan, Director of the Erebuni Museum-Reserve, looks at
a map of Karmir Blur showing the planned roadway

Anna Malikoyan, a public relations specialist at the Yerevan
Development PIU, Sustainable Urban Development Investment Program,
says that the issue of constructing overpasses was raised during
discussions but that no official proposal was ever made. Overpasses
would increase costs by two times," she says.

Vardan Karapetyan, an architect at Yerevan Development PIU, says that
the only viable alternative at the site remains the road, as planned
for. "At the discussion phase, the roadway was placed as close as
possible to the cemetery in order to impact Karmir Blur as less as
possible. This was the optimal solution."

Preventative (rescue) archeology, which is being implemented to the
burial mound at Karmir Blur, seeks to save the archeological material
when the area is to be used for construction or other purposes.

Mikayel Badalyan believes that the example of Shirak Street is an
important precedent for preventative archeology. "Sadly, in Armenia,
such preventative archeology is little employed when construction
takes place," he says.

Anthropologist Armen Martirosyan, who is participating in the Karmir
Blur excavations, adds that the practice is employed in a number of
countries where development and history collide. He proposes that a
small portion of the burial vaults be preserved, instead of postponing
construction of the road. This will useful to form an understanding
regarding Urartian burial rites.

"The main challenge is that we be granted enough time to complete all
the excavations. Now, we are working quickly but very attentively,"
says Martirosyan, adding that the time allotted isn't enough to
unearth all the burial mounds. He says it would take another six to
eight months to do a complete job.

Yelena Atayants says that it requires one to two months to excavate one
large burial mound. Working quickly risks destroying the intactness
of the fossils and negatively impacts the health of the workers. "We
will get it done, but at the cost to our health," she says.

The Yerevan Municipality rules out any postponement of the roadway
construction that is to begin in early 2016.

Excavation leader Hakob Simonyan says, "We can't perform the
impossible, but we'll do our best."

Their "best" will be to save some tens of fossils dating back to the
Iron Age and send them to museums. We will probably never know what
Simonyan meant by "the impossible".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Di0FvD_1B8U

http://hetq.am/eng/news/63073/race-against-time-archeologists-dig-at-karmir-blur-site-before-road-construction-begins.html

[ED]

you know I grew up around Karmir Blur? it was fun times. childhood memories

[Yervant1]

Oct 9 2022

THIS INCREDIBLY PRESERVED 4,000 YEAR OLD WAGON MADE OF JUST OAKWOOD, UNEARTHED IN ARMENIA.

October 9, 2022

Made of oak, they are the oldest known wagons in the world. Now on display at the History Museum of Armenia

Over a dozen rich burials have been excavated in Armenia. The most spectacular were those excavated at Lchashen on the borders of Lake Sevan where a more than a dozen almost complete four-wheeled and two wheeled wagons, as well as two wheeled chariots with spoked wheels were uncovered. Two of these wagons form a spectacular display in the National Museum in Armenia.

The four solid wheels are made from three planks of oak, while the interior is covered by a covering of withies. In his chronology (Timeline of the Development of the Horse, 2007) Beverley Davis describes these wagons as follows: “Primitive wagons dating from this time (2000 BC) have been found in excellent condition in Armenia. These are the oldest known wagons in the world.” The wagons have also been included in Prof Stuart Piggott’s classic book “The Earliest Wheeled Transport”.

https://www.thearchaeologist.org/blog/this-incredibly-preserved-4000-year-old-wagon-made-of-just-oakwood-unearthed-in-armenia