The American-Armenian Project for the Archaeology and Geography of Ancient Transcaucasian Societies (Project ArAGATS) is a collaborative research program directed by Dr. Ruben Badalyan (Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Yerevan) and Dr. Adam T. Smith (Department of Anthropology, University of Chicago). Since 1998 they have been leading archaeological expeditions to the Tsaghkahovit Plain in northwestern Armenia, an elevated plateau below the north slope of Mt. Aragats. They are currently "in the field" excavating two sites, Tsaghkahovit and Gegharot, with funding from the National Science Foundation and the National Geographic Society. Over the next few weeks, the American and Armenian members of the team will be sending dispatches from the field describing the progress of their work and providing a window into everyday life on an archaeological expedition in the Republic of Armenia. This dispatch, from the excavations at Tsaghkahovit, was sent in by Ian Lindsay (University of California, Santa Barbara) and Lori Khatchadourian (University of Michigan).

It's late summer now, and the villagers of Armenia's scenic mountainous regions are already hard at work baling hay for their livestock, repairing roads, and preserving the fruits of summer for the long, hard winter ahead. In the village of Tsaghkahovit on the northern slopes of Mt. Aragats, the farmers who are assisting in our excavations come to work bearing their scythes and hoes. After a long day of excavation, they'll tend to their fields, their herds, and their families. Though technologies have changed, the demands of village life remain much the same as they did hundreds, even thousands of years ago.

The daily lives of villagers of the ancient past are the focus of our archaeological investigations at the site of Tsaghkahovit, a site located just across the plain from the citadel of Gegharot, (the subject of the last dispatch). As veterans of Project ArAGATS (Lindsay since 2000, Khatchadourian since 2003), the two of us are currently gathering material for our Ph.D. dissertations. While both dissertations will address the everyday lives of ancient communities, one is focused on the Late Bronze Age (1500-1150 BC) and one on the Yervandid era (600-200 BC). As at Gegharot, an imposing stone-walled hill fortress marks the focal point of the site. But unlike Gegharot, the fortress of Tsaghkahovit casts its shadow over a lower town, established around 1400 BC and reoccupied and expanded around 600 BC after more than 500 years of abandonment. Although half a millennium separates these two villages, we share an interest in how the ancient communities of Tsaghkahovit organized their lives and responded to political demands of the ruling classes.

Excavations in Tsaghkahovit's Late Bronze Age lower town represent the first time intensive research has been focused on the domestic life of non-elite communities from this era. After many generations on the move within nomadic herding groups, the Late Bronze Age settlers were adjusting to profound changes in their economic circumstances and the emerging political and ritual systems (reflected, for example, in the shrine at Gegharot). In the second season of excavations at the Tsaghkahovit lower town, we have established the basic form of the humble homes. The rooms contain the remains of a variety of domestic activities, including small stone mortars, stones for grinding grains, and ceramic cooking and storage pots. These items are telling us more and more about everyday life.

This season also represents Project ArAGATS's first of intensive work on Tsaghkahovit's Yervandid-era settlement. This season we are excavating small test trenches in a series of interconnected rooms whose stone architecture can still be seen on the surface today. In addition to large quantities of pottery fragments and bones, our work has revealed sophisticated masonry techniques, stone and clay floors, and even a bronze bracelet. Tsaghkahovit was a vibrant community during the Yervandid period, at a time when Armenia was part of the expansive Achaemenid empire, centered in Iran to the south.

The next dispatch from Project ArAGATS will come from team members excavating a large burial mound near the village of Gegharot. We have spent a month cleaning the burial and will be opening the central chambers this week.