Our work today included additional survey walking and collections in the northwestern portion of the inter-ridge bay north of Aparan. In the morning we begin by walking transects up the ridge that hosts the bay's westernmost planned forest (transect 7). Site and burial densities were quite low here, and the landscape was rather disturbed by extensive forrest furrowing and terracing. We then crossed east (transect 8) across the contour lines of the neighboring ridge, effectively completing the entire north-central portion of the bay. Materials were also low to non-existent in frequency here.
Then, before lunch, we walked a fallow and recently tilled barley field--very difficult walking over dirt clods! We collected very limited surface materials (obsidian and one sherd) and recorded no burials or architecture of note. However, on the road down to the fallow field we encountered several paved cromlechs in the flats--a small cluster that should be examined further.
The rest of the day was spent walking N-S transects in the hay fields, crossing the broadest portion of the bay. Some isolated burials were indeed identified here, but the poor visibility in this massive portion of the survey area prevented my productive identification and collection. Numerous stone walls constructed from fieldstone clearing bounded the farming plots here.
Tomorrow we plan to finish work in this bay and perhaps begin work west of Aparani Berd and the Kasakh,