Areni-1 is a multicomponent karst cave site in Vayots Dzor province of Armenia. The extremely arid environment in the cave has led to the exceptional preservation of organic materials, including textiles, plant remains and wooden artifacts. In particular, preserved organic remains from Areni-1's Chalcolithic occupation has proven important.
Archaeological excavations at Areni-1 have shown that people used the cave fairly continuously between the Neolithic and late medieval times. The two most substantial uses of the cave are the Medieval and Chalcolithic occupations. The Medieval occupation dates between the 12th and 14th centuries AD, and includes cylindrical bread-baking ovens and a series of paved and plastered dwelling floors.

At least two Chalcolithic occupations are present within the cave, dating to the first half of the 4th millennium BC and the last quarter of the fifth. Evidence suggests that the inhabitants lived, worked and carried on ritual activities within the cave. Dwellings, hearths, stone tools and animals bones were found in parts of the cave, while at the rear of the central gallery were found three clay pots each containing the skull of a subadult.

Also identified within the Chalcolithic occupations was a complete shoe, the oldest complete specimen we have of a shoe to date, slight older than that of Otzi the Iceman.