The Constitution of Political Authority in Archaic Transcaucasian States, CA 1500-780 B.C.: Archaeological Investigations on the Tsakahovit Plain, Republic of Armenia

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With National Science Foundation support Dr. Adam Smith and his colleagues will conduct one season of archaeological research in the Tsakahovit plain, an elevated plateau in western Armenia. Approximately 133 square km. in extent and containing a series of fortresses and citadels dating to the second millennium BC, it provides an ideal setting for examining the factors which led to the rise and maintenance of archaic states. Bound by mountains on all sides, the Tsakahovit plain presents a geographically circumscribed region for analysis that includes a significant amount of geological and archaeological diversity within a manageable region. Archaeological investigation conducted in 1998 by Dr. Smith and colleagues indicate an intensive and extensive occupation during the Bronze and Iron Ages. Six fortresses which include both components have been documented to date and the most extensive and best preserved, the Tsakahovit fortress will provide the focus for this project. During this first season in what is envisioned as a long term effort the team will conduct a surface survey over a broad portion of the Tsakahovit plain to reconstruct large scale settlement pattern. While large fortresses are easy to locate, remains of smaller population aggregations are more elusive. The team will also record and sample clay sources from the survey areas in order to measure background geochemical variability. This will lay the groundwork for potential sourcing of ceramics and the reconstruction of trade networks. The team will also conduct subsurface survey and test excavations at three fortress sites. Chronology will be refined through continued ceramic analysis and radiocarbon dating.While anthropologists have long recognized the role of archaic states in the development of complex political systems and have ordered them into typological systems, relatively little is understood about how these entities actually functioned. How did rulers maintain their sovereignty? How did institutions create discrete spheres of administration? How was political authority constructed? Dr. Smith's research will examine these issues. The proposed investigations will take advantage of a unique opportunity for collaborative research offered by the republic of Armenia. Long a crossroads of continents, Transcaucasis offers a rich setting for forging new anthropological approaches to the study of early states.