Blogs from Mount Aragats, West, Armenia, Asia

After visiting the Haghpat monastery again we set off for Ahtarak,which is back towards Yerevan. Another day and of course more monasteries and churches, Saghnosovank and then Hovhanovank monasteries were onteh drive. These were in sight of each other but a big gorge away, both in stunning settings. The first pretty inside the second built right on the edge of the gorge. Just outside the town of Ashtarak is Muhinj, or Saint George's church, a lovely stripy church with bands of red and black brickwork, this time in a garden setting. The last church of the day was my favourite, a tiny 9th century church of Saint Mary, known for its lovely frescoes inside. Two elderly ladies sitting there trying to chat with us but no common language! Opposite is a delightful cafecalled Pascal and Diodato, ... read more

It had been a tough walk. In fact it had been one of the most difficult one-day walks of my life. It began inauspiciously when our 5am taxi ran out of fuel halfway up the extinct volcano. For some reason he tried to chug the ancient Lada – the only car to be seen in in Armenia – up the rest of the steep winding road using the fumes in the carburettor. Finally we drew to a standstill, although it was hard to tell as we had been progressing at less than walking speed anyway, as a potentially lift giving minibus crawled up the road behind us. We paid our driver anyway; out of sympathy because I had no idea how he would get back to civilization. However, I didn’t have that much sympathy as he ... read more

Well into Week 5, I'm finally getting around to writing about Week 4-- life on Project ArAGATS is growing hectic because we have less than a week left in the field, and so much left to do-- not to mention final trench reports to write, artifacts to catalog, C14, and dendrochronology samples and ceramics to pack so they can be shipped back stateside for analysis... but all is good-- for archaeological excavations (and academics in general...) this last minute cramming is nothing unusual. In any case, I'm getting ahead of myself, and details about Week 5 will have to wait until my next entry. After a wild week 4 in T27; with the final count at forty-four complete (though some fragmented) ceramics removed, two bronze arrowheads, two obsidian arrowheads, and over twenty grinding stones and mortars, ... read more

After a busy , but fantastic week, I'm squeezing in a few minutes to write this blog entry before dinner, data processing, email checking, and last, but certainly not least, bed. I'm also not holding up to my promise to write once a week -- but I hope to post twice this week to make up for it. (One final caveat: I didn't get around to posting this on Sunday (7/18) when I wrote it, and I'm finally posting it on Tuesday (7/20), that's why dates may seem a bit off.) After finishing the week up in the field, last Saturday (we work Monday through Saturday, and have Sunday off, which is reserved for field trips, and general mental well-being), we ventured off to visit three sites north west of Aparan and the Tsaghkahovit plain where ... read more