In the course of today's work, the survey team completed its transects in the Nigavan quadrant, reaching the south shore of the Chili Gyol bog and documenting a bit more of Nigavan Settlement 01. This required 2 transects, during which I recorded on wall trace along the south slope of a ridge to the south Nigavan Settlement 01. I was unable to trace its entire length, but it appears to measure over 250 m in length according to our Pleides imagery. It is unclear how this feature may relate to the settlement itself, if at all.
I also coordinated photography of Nigavan Settlement one with Salpi and got an updated impression of the site. There are approximately 4 primary room blocks at the site, with numerous outlying buildings and pieces of isolated architecture that appear to also be associated. Most of the rooms are built up against and into hill slopes, giving them a slanted and/or slightly subterranean appearance.
With the quadrant completed, we moved to perform some reconnaissance of other local settlements, comparing them to Nigavan Settlement 01. We examined Tsaghkahovit Settlement 01, west of Shenkani Village, and found significantly different architectural forms consisting of circular architecture in contrast to the rectalinear architecture of Nigavan Settlement 01. It is a much more diffuse group of buildings, but certainly suggests a different period or function. We will check on Mirak Settlement 01, recorded by ICL in 2014, as soon as we are able to reach it, south of Mirak.
We also checked on the Mirak church, the LB/LM fortress in Mirak, and one burial cluster just south of the village recorded by ICL in 2016. The church has been excavated in recent years by Gagik Sargsyan, around its perimeter, and this has impacted the adjacent, contemporary tombs: human remains are eroding out of the baulks on the north side of the building.