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The research material is broad enough to warrant extensive study, yet we conclude with a few observations that are relevant and emerge from the analysis made in this study. First, let's reaffirm the claim that the main responsibility for ensuring economic security rests with the state as the most important institution of the political system, however, it is indisputable that in the process of ensuring economic security, other institutions also have their most important role and importance: investors, employers, businessmen, people. Of course, as a key institution, it is the responsibility of the state to detect, assess, and develop specific policies and actions that are aimed at preventing and neutralizing possible threats, taking into account the fact that the basis of ensuring economic security is the neutralization and elimination of threats. In this context, it is important to record the importance of healthy and purposeful cooperation of interested parties, maintaining balance in relations, which will ensure the convergence of the interests of social and professional groups with the state's actions, vision, andmechanisms used by it. Overcoming possible conflict situations in this process requires constructive cooperation, compromise, and mutual understanding, because cooperation is the preferred way for any society. As a developing country, ensuring economic security is a very important issue for RA, taking into account the problems facing ourcountry in the region, so in this context, it is important to introduce constructive interaction mechanisms between the state-economic entity-investor and their proper implementation.

We present the first ancient DNA data from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of Mesopotamia (Southeastern Turkey and Northern Iraq), Cyprus, and the Northwestern Zagros, along with the first data from Neolithic Armenia. We show that these and neighboring populations were formed through admixture of pre-Neolithic sources related to Anatolian, Caucasus, and Levantine hunter-gatherers, forming a Neolithic continuum of ancestry mirroring the geography of West Asia. By analyzing Pre-Pottery and Pottery Neolithic populations of Anatolia, we show that the former were derived from admixture between Mesopotamian-related and local Epipaleolithic-related sources, but the latter experienced additional Levantine-related gene flow, thus documenting at least two pulses of migration from the Fertile Crescent heartland to the early farmers of Anatolia., National Institutes of Health [GM100233, HG012287]; John Templeton Foundation [61220]; Allen Discovery Center program; Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group advised program of the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The newly reported dataset is described in detail in an accompanying Research Article, where we also acknowledge the funders who supported dataset generation (12). Analysis of data was supported by the National Institutes of Health (GM100233 and HG012287), the John Templeton Foundation (grant 61220), a private gift from Jean-Francois Clin, the Allen Discovery Center program, a Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group advised program of the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (D.R.).

International audience; Relationships between steppe vegetation, human practices and climate changes in the past are crucial to disentangle human development in Eurasia. In this frame, our study investigates (1) modern pollen-vegetation relationships and (2) changes in vegetation, human activity and climate in the Holocene record of Vanevan peat (south-eastern shore of Lake Sevan, Armenia), using a multiproxy approach including sediment geochemistry (XRF), pollen, Non-Pollen Palynomorphs (NPPs), and branched Glycerol Dialkyl Glycerol Tetraethers (brGDGTs). Climate reconstructions are provided by (1) water-level changes, (2) brGDGTs, and (3) pollen transfer functions (multi-method approach: Modern Analogue Technique, Weighted Averaging Partial Least Squares regression, Random Forest, and Boosted Regression Trees). Modern pollen assemblages are selected along an altitudinal transect in Armenia. They show a dominance of Chenopodiaceae in semi-desert/steppe regions while meadows steppes, subalpine, and alpine meadows are dominated by Poaceae. Past vegetation is characterized by steppes dominated by Poaceae surrounded during the Mid-Holocene (8200-4200 a cal BP) by scarce open woodlands. Humans have influenced the local vegetation, mainly through their agricultural practices present since 5200 a cal BP with several intensification steps. Our reconstruction indicates a climate shift from a cold and arid Early Holocene toward a warmer and more humid Mid-Late Holocene. An aridification trend marks the last 5000 years causing a drop in water level, which allowed humans to live and cultivate on Lake Sevan shores. Arid events are recorded at 6.2 ka, 5.2 ka, 4.2 ka and 2.8 ka a cal BP, which are commonly related to multi-centennial-scale variations of Westerlies activity (North Atlantic Oscillation). Through our temperature reconstruction, we can assign (1) the 5.2 and 2.8 ka events as being cold and probably related to a strong Siberian High, and (2) the 4.2 ka event as being warm associated with high Arabian subtropical pressures in the South Caucasus and the Near East. Our study suggests a significant impact of these arid events on the Lake Sevan shore populations and they are consistent with cultural phases in the South Caucasus, thus showing the impact of climatic variations on cultural, land use and occupation mode development in this crossroad region between Europe, Africa and Asia.

Literary and archaeological sources have preserved a rich history of Southern Europe and West Asia since the Bronze Age that can be complemented by genetics. Mycenaean period elites in Greece did not differ from the general population and included both people with some steppe ancestry and others, like the Griffin Warrior, without it. Similarly, people in the central area of the Urartian Kingdom around Lake Van lacked the steppe ancestry characteristic of the kingdom's northern provinces. Anatolia exhibited extraordinary continuity down to the Roman and Byzantine periods, with its people serving as the demographic core of much of the Roman Empire, including the city of Rome itself. During medieval times, migrations associated with Slavic and Turkic speakers profoundly affected the region., National Institutes of Health [GM100233, HG012287]; John Templeton Foundation [61220]; Allen Discovery Center program; Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group advised program of the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The newly reported dataset is described in detail in an accompanying manuscript, where we also acknowledge the funders who supported dataset generation (1). Analysis of data was supported by the National Institutes of Health (GM100233 and HG012287), the John Templeton Foundation (grant 61220), a private gift from Jean-Francois Clin, the Allen Discovery Center program, a Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group advised program of the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (to D.R.).

International audience

The year 2018 marked the 20th anniversary of the joint Armenian-American Project for the Archaeology and Geography of Ancient Transcaucasian Societies, a collaboration more parsimoniously known as Project ArAGATS. The project was originally conceived as an effort to define long-term processes of social, economic, and political change in the South Caucasus across the Bronze and Iron Ages at a regional scale. In addition to introducing methods of intensive systematic survey to the region, the work of the project has unfolded in an integrated series of excavations conducted across multiple sites and bolstered by a wide range of analytical techniques. The result has been not only new data on the ancient South Caucasus but also a new model for the practice of international collaborative research in archaeology.

International audience

International audience

The South Caucasus occupies the divide between ancient Mesopotamia and prehistoric Europe, and was thus crucial in the development of Old World societies. Chronologies for the region, however, have lacked the definition achieved in surrounding areas. Concentrating on the Tsaghkahovit Plain of north-western Armenia, Project ArAGATS's multi-site radiocarbon dataset has now produced Bayesian modelling, which provides tight chronometric support for tracing the transmission of technology, population movement and social developments that shaped the Eurasian Bronze and Iron Ages.

In a recent article I defined my concept for the periodization and chronology of the Kura-Araxes in Armenia, the main provisions of which are as follows: The Kura-Araxes sequence had a discrete character. Its periodization can be dated between 3600/3500–2900 (KA I) and 2900–2600/2500 (KA II) BC. The distinction of the Kura-Araxes phenomenon is reflected in the largely single-layered character of both early (KA I) and late (KA II) settlements: a destroyed layer demonstrates the discontinuity of certain multi-layered (KA I-II) settlements. The KA I phase represented throughout Armenia is marked by ‘Elar-Aragats’ type ceramics, which belong to a rather homogeneous complex, widespread almost all over the Armenian Highland. The homogeneity of the complex disintegrates around 2900 BC, and a mosaic of local ceramic styles follows. The KA II phase contains a series of ceramic complexes similar in basic characteristics, but stylistically rather specific. Today throughout Armenian territory there are at least three synchronous complexes, whose areas correspond to physical-geographical regions of the country: the ‘Shresh-Mokhrablur’ complex in the central part of Ararat valley, ‘Karnut-Shengavit’ to the north and east (Aragatsotn, Shirak, Kotayk, and Lori-Pambak regions), and ‘Ayrum-Teghut’ in the basins of the Aghstev and Debed rivers. Newly obtained data and my observations correspond to the above provisions. This research allows us to complement and flesh out some of them, particularly the periodization of the first period of the Kura-Araxes and a list of local variations of the KA II ceramic complexes.

Summary The South Caucasus, situated between the Black and Caspian Seas, geographically links Europe with the Near East and has served as a crossroad for human migrations for many millennia [1–7]. Despite a vast archaeological record showing distinct cultural turnovers, the demographic events that shaped the human populations of this region is not known [8, 9]. To shed light on the maternal genetic history of the region, we analyzed the complete mitochondrial genomes of 52 ancient skeletons from present-day Armenia and Artsakh spanning 7,800 years and combined this dataset with 206 mitochondrial genomes of modern Armenians. We also included previously published data of seven neighboring populations (n = 482). Coalescence-based analyses suggest that the population size in this region rapidly increased after the Last Glacial Maximum ca. 18 kya. We find that the lowest genetic distance in this dataset is between modern Armenians and the ancient individuals, as also reflected in both network analyses and discriminant analysis of principal components. We used approximate Bayesian computation to test five different demographic scenarios explaining the formation of the modern Armenian gene pool. Despite well documented cultural shifts in the South Caucasus across this time period, our results strongly favor a genetic continuity model in the maternal gene pool. This has implications for interpreting prehistoric migration dynamics and cultural shifts in this part of the world.

Bu yazının amacı, MÖ 3. binyılda Levant Bölgesinin güneyine kadar ulaşan belirli bir çanak çömlek türünün kökeni olduğu düşünülen MÖ 4. binyıl Doğu Anadolu ve Kafkas kültürlerini eldeki veriler ışığında yeniden değer­lendirmektir. Makalede çanak çömleğin petrografik analizin ön sonuçları verilmekte ve Ermenistan'da bulu­nan Apar an III ve Karnut I adlı Kur-Aras yerleşiminin buluntu topluluğu sunulmaktadır. Aparan III yerleşi­mi MÖ 4. binyıla, Karnut I yerleşimi ise MÖ 3. binyıla tarihlenmektedir. Bu yerleşimlerin Kirbet Kerak kültürü ile karşılaştırılması, Kur-Aras kültürünün belirleyici özelliklerini, toplumsal yapısı ve çevresel özellikleri açısın­dan daha yakından anlamamızı sağlayabilir.Tel Bet Yerah yerleşiminin yerel malları çarkta biçimlendirilmiştir. Buna karşılık burada bulunan ve Kirbet Kerak olarak adlandırılan kırmızı-siyah açkılı çanak çömlek el yapımıdır. Çark ve elyapımı çanak çömleğin kap biçim­leri de birbirinden çok farklıdır. Ayrıca Kirbet Kerak mallarının yüzey işlemleri aşamasında iki kere fırınlanması da, yerel mallardan ayrılan bir başka özelliğidir. Bunların yanı sıra söz konusu iki mal grubu için ayrı kil kaynakları ve farklı katkı malzemesi kullanılmaktadır. İlginç olan Kirbet Kerak mallarının yapımında bir stan­dartlaşmanın olmadığından, bunları yapan topluluğun uzun bir süre geleneklerini korumuş olduğudur. Ermenistan'da bulunan, Kur-Aras dönemiyle çağdaş olan Aparan IIIyerleşmesi çanak çömleği, MÖ 4. binyılın sonu ya da 3. binyılın başlarına tarihlenmektedir İlk Tunç I, MÖ 3500-2900 . Aparan çanak çömlek buluntu topluluğunda görülen kap biçimleri arasında açkılı kaseler, ayaklı kaseler, bezemeli çömlekler, küpler ve kapak­lar bulunmaktadır. Toplam 13 Aparan III kasesinin petrografik analizi yapılmış, beş ana petrografik grup ve birkaç tane alt grup saptanmıştır. Seçilen örnekler arasındaki farklılıklar dikkat çekicidir.Yine Ermenistan 'da bulunan Karnut I yerleşimi R. Badalyan tarafından kazılmış ve MÖ 2900-2500yılları arası­na tarihlendirilmiştir. Zengin bir çanak çömlek çeşitlemesi olan Karnut yerleşiminde elyapımı açkılı kaseler, ayak­lı kaseler, çömlekler, küpler ve açkısız pişirme kapları bulunmaktadır. Açkılı kaselerde bulunan bezemeler ustalık­la, Aparan'da bulunan örneklerden daha fazla özenle yapılmışlardır. Pişirme kapları ise daha kabaca biçim­lendirilmiştir. Karnut I'den toplam 51 açkılı kap, 3 adet pişirme kabı ve 7 seyyar ocak parçası ve bir sabit ocak petrografik olarak incelenmiştir. Dokuz alt ceşidi olan dört ana kil grubu saptanmıştır.Yukarıda sözü geçen yerleşimler arasında beş ortak özellik vardır: 1 Teknolojik yönden süreklilik, 2 Nitelikli yüzeylere verilen önem, 3 Şekil, kullanım ve mal grupları arasında genel bir uyuşmazlık, 4 Mal ve hamurda çeşitlilik 5 Pişirme kaplarının ayrı bir sınıf teşkil etmesi. Kur-Aras çanak çömleğinin temel özelliğini oluştu­ran çarkın bilinmesine karşın elde biçimlendirilme ve yüzeylerinin özenle açkılanması, uzun bir zaman dilimi ve geniş bir coğrafyada aynı şekilde görülür. Ermenistan ve Levant örneklerindeki benzerlik kuzeyden güneye gelişen yavaş bir göçün olduğu görüşünü desteklemektedir. Bu süreç kapsamında bazı öğeler, örneğin renk, biçim, bezeme değişmiş olsa da çanak çömlek gerek teknik gerekse nitelik açısından bir bütünlük göstermektedir., First results of the comparative technology of Kura-Araxes pottery and its derivatives are presented, includ­ing analyses ofKhirbet Kerak Ware and local traditions from Tel Bet Yerah Khirbet Kerak and materi­al from two sites in Armenia: the fourth millennium site ofAparan III and the third millennium site ofKarnut I . Petrographic and chaîne opératoire analysis suggests that all three industries are entirely local and share a series ofcharacteristics that set them apart from non-Kura-Araxes industries: technological conıservatism, priority of surface treatment, non-correlation of form to fabric, variability of fabric, and sepa­ration from cooking ware. These results support the contention that the spread of the tradition should be associated with migration and diaspora communities

Ermenistan'ın Neolitik ve Kalkolitik dönem kültürleri yakın zamanlara kadar yalnızca farklı höyüklerde yapı­lan küçük çaplı kazı çalışmalarından biliniyordu. 1999-2004yılları arasında Ermeni-Fransız ortak projesi ola­rak Arastashen yerleşiminde yürütülen kazı çalışmaları, tabakalanmış Neolitik ve Kalkolitik dönem dolgularıyla, MÖ 6. ve 5. binyılda görülen kültürel ve ekonomik gelişmeleri değerlendirmemize olanak sağlayan anah­tar bir yerleşim durumuna gelmiştir. Ağrı Ararat Ovası'nda, Sev Jur vadisinde, deniz seviyesinden 838 m yük­seklikte bulunan Aknashen-Khaturnarkh/Aknashen, 100 m çapı ve 3,5 m yüksekliği olan bir höyük yerleşimi­dir. Geniş çaplı yürütülen çalışmalarda 313 m2'lik bir alan kazılmıştır.Çanak çömlek üzerinde yapılan değerlendirmelere göre en üst tabaka I Kalkolitik, bunun altında bulunan taba­kalar ise II-V Neolitik döneme ait olmak üzere höyükte beş ana evre belirlenmiştir. Bunlardan en alt evreyi tem­sil eden tabaka V, sadece A açmasında ayrıntılı olarak kazılmıştır. Yapılan toprak analizleri, höyükte hem insan etki­li, hem de doğal etkenlerle oluşmuş dolguların incelenmesine olanak sağlamıştır.7 no'lu açmada hocker pozisyonunda gömülmüş olan bir çocuk iskeleti üzerinde yapılan değerlendirmelerin, gömü-tün olasılıkla Neolitik döneme ait olduğunu ortaya koyması, bunun şimdiye kadar Ermenistan'dan bilinen en eski gömüt olması açısından önem taşımaktadır.Radyokarbon ölçümleri için höyükten alınan 24 örneğin 18 tanesi Neolitik dolgulardandır Tablo 1 . Höyük­te bulunan 7000den fazla çanak çömlek parçası içinde yalnızca 9 tanesinin ithal mal olduğu belirlenmiştir. Höyük­te bulunan 22485 tane yontmataş bulgunun % 96'sı obsidyenden oluşur; çakmaktaşı ve kuvartz gibi ham­maddelerden yapılmış alet ve yonga sayısı ise oldukça düşüktür. Kaynak analizine göre yerleşimde bulunan obsidyenler 10 ayrı kimyasalın bileşimini içermekte ve obsidyenlerin büyük bir kısmının 3 ana kaynaktan temin edil­diği anlaşılmaktadır. Yontmataş aletlerin büyük bir kısmını dilgi üzerine yapılan aletler oluştururken, yongala­rın sayısı özellikle Kalkolitik dönemde oldukça azalmıştır. Özellikle alt tabakalarda çok sayıda öğütmetaşı ve bunlar ile ilişkili olarak sıkıştırılmış toprak kenarları, çakıl döşeli tabanları olan ocakyerleri bulunmaktadır. Ögütmetaşları genelde bazalt ve tüfgibi püskürük kayaçlar ayrıca az sayıda granit ve kireçtaşından da yapılmıştır. Öğütmetaşlarının yanı sıra çok sayıda vurgu taşı da bulunmaktadır. Bakır ve taştan küçük boncuklar, gerdan-çeler, delinmiş hayvan dişleri, deniz kabukları süs eşyaları arasında sayılabilir. Bakır, Neolitik tabakalarda da kullanılmıştır. Kazıda çıkan çok sayıdaki kemik ve boynuz aletlerin arasında bız ve deliciler çoğunluktadır.Hayvan kemiklerinin analizinde balıklar, sürüngenler, kuşlar ve memeli hayvanlardan oluşan 30 farklı hayvan türü belir­lenmiştir. Evcilleştirilmiş hayvanlar arasında başta keçi ve koyun olmak üzere, sığır, domuz ve köpekyer almaktadır; ancak yabani hayvanlardan da yararlanıldığı kuşkusuzdur. Tablo 8’de de görüleceği gibi bitki analizleri de zengin bir çeşitlilik gös­termektedir. Karbonlaşmış ağaç kalıntıları arasında genelde dere yataklarında yetişen ağaç türleri yoğunluktadır.Sonuç olarak, Aknashen-Khatunarkh yerleşimi, MÖ 6. ve 5. binyıllarda sadece Ermenistan değil, tüm Güney Kafkaslar için kesintisiz tabakalanmasıyla önemli bir yerleşim yeridir. Alt tabakalarda V-IV sıkıştırılmış çamurdan yapılmış yuvarlak planlı yapılar, zengin bir kemik ve yontmataş buluntu topluluğu olan ve çanak çöm­lek üretiminin ilk evrelerini tanımlamamızı sağlayan önemli katmanlar kazılmıştır. Alt tabakalardan itibaren evcilleştirilmiş bitki ve hayvan türleri bulunmaktadır. Neolitiğin son evrelerinde III-II çanak çömlek kullanı­mı artmakta, taş ve kemik aletler ise azalmaktadır. Bu dönemde göçebe yaşama geçiş olabileceğini gösteren bazı izlere rastlanılmıştır. Kalkolitik dönemde I çanak çömlekte saman katkıda büyük bir artış izlenmekte Sioni kültürünü andıran ağız, tutamak ve bezemeli parçalar bulunmaktadır. Bu sayede Aknashen-Khatunarkh çanak çömleği, Son Neolitik ve İlk Kalkolitik arasındaki geçiş evresi hakkında önemli verilere ulaşmamızı sağ­lamaktadır. Vurgulanması gereken iki önemli unsur ise: a evreler arası geçişin yavaş ve uzun sürdüğü, b bir devamlılık olsa da genel olarak bakıldığında dönemler arasındaki farklılıkların da belirgin olduğudur., This paper presents the preliminary results of the excavations ofAknashen-Khatunarkh, a Neolith­ic site in the plain of Ararat. More than 300 m2 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 of14C dates enables dating the Neolithic horizons to the first half of the 6th millennium

Since 1998, Project ArAGATS has conducted systematic investigations of the archaeological landscape of the Tsaghkahovit Plain in central Armenia. This contribution surveys the primary findings for three eras of extensive occupation of the region: the Early Bronze Age, the Late Bronze Age, and the Iron 3 (Achaemenid) period. Of particular importance to the wider archaeology of the South Caucasus are the new insights that this work has provided into the inter-relation of sites within a broad regional landscape and critical new perspectives on key problems that had long plagued efforts at building material chronologies. Additionally, our investigations have been dedicated to shedding new light on the contours ofsocial and political life in Early Bronze villages, Late Bronze Age fortified centers, and Iron 3 towns.

International audience; Excavations conducted at the site of Gegharot in north central Armenia, along the northeastern margin of the Tsaghkahovit Plain (Aragatsotn region) have produced a large quantity of well-preserved charcoals. With occupations dating to the Early and Late Bronze Age, the site has been excavated since 2000 under the supervision of R. Badalyan and A.T. Smith under the auspices of the joint Armenian-American Project ArAGATS. The examination of the wood anatomy along three sections under a reflected light microscope, necessary for the identifications of charcoals, was systematically undertaken completed with the observation of the ligneous structure on transverse sections using a stereomicroscope. This dendrological approach provides valuable data for aiding identification of which part of the tree used, recording growth ring width, estimating wood diameter, and ascertaining the state of the wood before carbonization. Different vegetational biotopes were identified from remains of the Early Bronze Age layers at the site: an open woodland with heliophilic shrubs (birch, maple, willow and Pomoideae), an open forest formation with notably oak with maple and ash trees and a wet zone with willows and ash trees. The estimated diameters of the wood used at that time did not exceed 12 cm. The wood collection from the Late Bronze Age levels indicates a pine and oak forest surrounded by open areas where birch trees and Pomoideae grew and wetlands with willow trees and elm as riparian forests. The onset of a colder and drier climate could be the cause of the disappearance of the ash trees, the appearance of oak pine forests and the reduced growth of the tree-ring width. The taxa list and the high frequency of the small diameters observed during both occupations can refer to a local woodland exploitation. According to the observation of the last ring before the bark, evidence from a single operation (T21), during the Late Bronze Age testifies to seasonal activities. Some large charcoals of pine or oak had exceptional long series of more than 60 tree-rings. The average curve built on the basis of the oak series has a length of 72 rings, the beginning of a tree-ring series building in Armenia for the Bronze Age. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.

The Late Bronze Age (ca. 1500-1200 B.C.) in southern Caucasia marked the first appearance of a radically altered regional sociopolitical tradition founded upon newly empowered elites sequestered in fortified citadels. The archaeology of the era indicates a significant break from the preceding Middle Bronze Age, when large burial mounds and a dearth of settlement sites have long suggested the prevalence of pastoral nomadism and mobile sociopolitical institutions. The patterns of social order and institutional formation that developed in the Late Bronze Age appear to have endured well into the Iron Age, exerting a profound impact upon later historical empires, such as Urartu. The investigations of Project ArAGATS are examining the rise of complex societies in Caucasia by detailing the nature of social organization and the apparatus of political authority that constituted this emergent tradition. Having completed an archaeological survey of the Tsakahovit Plain region in 2000, we initiated phase II of our investigations in 2002 with intensive excavations at Tsakahovit and Gegharot fortresses, two settlement sites with well-preserved strata from three major archaeological periods: the Kura-Araxes III phase of the Early Bronze Age, the Late Bronze Age, and the Yervandid period of the mid first millennium B.C. (sixth-third centuries B.C.). The Early Bronze Age settlement at Gegharot is notable not only for its unexpected large size, good preservation, and terraced construction, but also for the illumination it promises to shed on the terminal era of the Kura-Araxes horizon. With the discovery of stratigraphically superimposed Late Bronze Age and Yervandid occupations at Tsakahovit, continuing research at the site promises to shed light on both the initial emergence of sociopolitical complexity in southern Caucasia and the reconfiguration of local practices in the aftermath of the Urartian imperial collapse.

This article presents our current state of knowledge on the Neolithic of the Caucasus based on reviews of previous and continuing research. In this region, this period has generally been divided into two cultural stages: Early/Aceramic Neolithic and Late/Ceramic Neolithic. However, the records from Early Neolithic sites are incomplete due to a lack of radiocarbon dates and palaeoenvironmental data. Moreover, the transition from the Mesolithic of the early Holocene to the full Neolithic of the Aratashen-Shulaveri-Shomutepe culture remains obscure. Although recent research provides new insights on the domestication of plants and animals in the Caucasus, the crucial issue involving the origin and timing of Neolithisation in this region remains unsolved.

The construction of large stone fortresses across much of northern Armenia during the Late Bronze Age (ca. 1500–1150 BC) represented a shift away from centuries of nomadic pastoralism, and also marked a profound transformation in the constitution of political authority and how social orders were mediated through the built environment. To date, however, little archaeological attention has been given to Late Bronze Age (LBA) settlements located outside the fortress citadels, partly due to the difficulty in detecting them from the surface. In this report we highlight results and observations from a magnetic gradiometry survey in northwestern Armenia where we test the hypothesis that an extensive LBA domestic complex existed at the base of the fortified hill at the site of Tsaghkahovit. The study surveyed four grids in the settlement area at the base of fortress. Three test units were excavated in three of the four survey areas to test selected anomalies. Two of the test units confirmed the presence of subsurface LBA deposits, including basalt stone walls, burned features, and a storage pit, appearing in the data as large dipoles. The spatial configurations of buildings revealed by the gradiometry surveys elucidate the extent of the Tsaghkahovit settlement and the formal differentiation of domestic and institutional spaces as new architectural traditions emerge during the Middle to Late Bronze Age transition. However, targeted subsurface tests also hint at the ephemeral nature of the domestic constructions suggesting the retention of mobility among subject populations under the authority of settled fortress elites. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

SummarySeveral major migrations and population turnover events during the later Stone Age (after c. 11,000 cal. BP) are believed to have shaped the contemporary population genetic diversity in Eurasia. While the genetic impacts of these migrations have been investigated on regional scales, a detailed understanding of their spatiotemporal dynamics both within and between major geographic regions across Northern Eurasia remains largely elusive. Here, we present the largest shotgun-sequenced genomic dataset from the Stone Age to date, representing 317 primarily Mesolithic and Neolithic individuals from across Eurasia, with associated radiocarbon dates, stable isotope data, and pollen records. Using recent advances, we imputed >1,600 ancient genomes to obtain accurate diploid genotypes, enabling previously unachievable fine-grained population structure inferences. We show that 1) Eurasian Mesolitic hunter-gatherers were more genetically diverse than previously known, and deeply divergent between the west and the east; 2) Hitherto genetically undescribed hunter-gatherers from the Middle Don region contributed significant ancestry to the later Yamnaya steppe pastoralists; 3) The genetic impact of the transition from Mesolithic hunter-gatherers to Neolithic farmers was highly distinct, east and west of a “Great Divide” boundary zone extending from the Black Sea to the Baltic, with large-scale shifts in genetic ancestry to the west. This include an almost complete replacement of hunter-gatherers in Denmark, but no substantial shifts during the same period further to the east; 4) Within-group relatedness changes substantially during the Neolithic transition in the west, where clusters of Neolithic farmer-associated individuals show overall reduced relatedness, while genetic relatedness remains high until ~4,000 BP in the east, consistent with a much longer persistence of smaller localised hunter-gatherer groups; 5) A fast-paced second major genetic transformation beginning around 5,000 BP, with Steppe-related ancestry reaching most parts of Europe within a 1,000 years span. Local Neolithic farmers admixed with incoming pastoralists in most parts of Europe, whereas Scandinavia experienced another near-complete population replacement, with similar dramatic turnover-patterns also evident in western Siberia; 6) Extensive regional differences in the ancestry components related to these early events remain visible to this day, even within countries (research conducted using the UK Biobank resource). Neolithic farmer ancestry is highest in southern and eastern England while Steppe-related ancestry is highest in the Celtic populations of Scotland, Wales, and Cornwall. Overall, our findings show that although the Stone-Age migrations have been important in shaping contemporary genetic diversity in Eurasia, their dynamics and impact were geographically highly heterogeneous.

International audience; Obsidian is an essential raw material for Neolithic sites of the Ararat valley: 99% of Aknashen’s lithic industry (Chabot et al. in this volume) is made of this volcanic glass, 99% of Aratashen’s (Badalyan et al. 2007: 43), and 97% of Masis Blur’s (Martirosyan-Olshansky 2018a: 21).In order to determine the provenances of obsidians found at Aknashen, a series of analyses was carried out; they showed the multi-source character of supply, pinpointed the geographical area of the volcanoes whose obsidian was exploited, and distinguished the main sources from the secondary ones.The data from similar studies on the sites of Aratashen (Badalyan et al. 2007; Badalyan 2010; Chataigner and Gratuze 2014b) and Masis Blur (Badalyan 2010; Martirosyan-Olshansky 2018a) have shown similarities and differences in the models of obsidian procurement, but have also highlighted the dominant tendencies and the main directions of the supply network.A first group of obsidian Neolithic artefacts from Aknashen – 10 non-stratified samples – was analysed by J. Blackman via the neutron activation method (INAA) at the National Institute of Standards andTechnology (in Maryland, USA) (Badalyan et al. 2010). A second group, comprising 40 artefacts originating from horizons V-III, was analysed by Kh. Meliksetian and E. Pernicka at the Curt-Englehorn-ZentrumArchëometrie (Manheim, Germany), also by using INAA (Meliksetian et al. forthcoming). Finally, A. Juharyan (Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Armenia) studied, through portable XRF (pXRF), 118 samples from undisturbed contexts of horizon III (Azatyan and Juharyan forthcoming).In the present study, 109 samples were analysed, originating from horizons IV (40 artefacts), V (26 artefacts), VI (13 artefacts) and VII (30 artefacts). In each horizon, some contexts (UFs/Features) have been selected and, among all the obsidian artefacts of these contexts, a selection has been made in proportion to the visual characteristics (texture, colour).

International audience

International audience