Archaeological Sites

Past, present, future… All people have their past, present and future and no matter how attractive or disgusting these realities seem to them, they exist and it’s regardless of their efforts to deny or accept them. So is with every single thing, no matter it’s breathing or not. And so is with countries and states. They have their past, present and future. And if the present is somehow clear to us and the future is vague, then the past is where people can delve into and uncover things of which they might not have least notion. That’s where historical sources stretch out a helping hand. The other way to explore the past is archaeology.

In a broader sense, archaeology is a science that studies the human activity in the past, and it’s perhaps one of the primary sciences that help understand the development of human activity throughout the years and centuries, their relations and creations. Especially those territories and areas are in the limelight of archaeology, which were inhabited in the ancient times. In this regard, Armenia, the history of which dates to thousands of years ago, is of utmost interest to archaeologists, and it could be even said, that is a real treasure for them because it has lots of things to recount to not only archaeologists but also the entire humanity.

Proper and on-site excavations have been held in Armenia since the 20th century and much more detailed excavations were conducted after Armenia became an independent republic (1991; before that Armenia was under foreign rule and since 1920 was a Soviet Union state). Excavations have revealed various medieval ruins, chapels, bridges, churches, fortresses and so on. Probably one of the most striking findings was the 5500-year old shoe found in Areni village, which proved to be older than the leather shoe found on Otzi the Iceman (the natural mummy of a man who lived in 3300 BC; it was found on the border between Austria and Italy), for four hundred years older than the one found at Stonehenge, and for thousand years older than the ones found at Great Pyramid of Giza. The same village has other surprises as well. It’s where a winery was found. It was concluded that this winery is for thousand years older than the one discovered in the West Bank.

Have you heard about the British Stonehenge? What if there is an even older Stonehenge in Armenia, which is believed to be the prototype of the British one and also to have a tight connection with it? No matter how unrealistic this sounds, it exists and it’s called Karahunj. Until today there is no any agreed upon assumption as to how it was built, how those huge stones were erected or what purpose they were used for. But with all this vagueness it is suggested that the Armenian Karahunj was built around 7,500 years ago. It means that it’s 3,500 years older than the British Stonehenge, which has a history of 4000 years only.

While these discoveries might seem surprising to many people who are not aware of the Armenian heritage, Armenian people and Armenian country, those who are aware will simply smile and even make expressions like, “Ah, Armenians, it’s again them” and suchlike. This is what makes every Armenian make a proud face and perhaps that is the reason why most of them walk their noses high in the air. Note that the manner Armenians walk has nothing to do with their friendly attitude and hospitality, those are two different sides of the coin.