The fortress of Gegharot (plate IIb) is located on a rounded hill just east of the modern village of Gegharot, on the north side of the Yerevan-Spitak road. The site is 7.95km north (bearing 358°) of Tsaghkahovit fortress and 11.8km northeast (bearing 34°) of Hnaberd fortress (map quads E4c and D4o).
The fortress of Gegharot sits atop a high outcrop on the northeastern edge of the Tsaghkahovit Plain atop a terminal spur of the Pambak Range. The site (as defined by the surface materials) covers an area of approximately 3.43 ha, but the fortification walls circumscribe only the 0.36 ha citadel (maps 27, 41). The citadel is highly eroded, with weathered bedrock visible at a number of places.
The fortress hill and the surrounding territory are composed of the Gegharot granite intrusion of the lower Cretaceous age. Dikes of granite-aplite, diorite, and gabbro composition break through the intrusion. These dikes are 1.5-2.0km long and 0.10-2m wide. Within the contact zone of the Gegharot intrusion, calcareous skarns and hornfels have developed and there is evidence of over-crystallization and silification of rocks. The western slope of Gegharot fortress has a grade of 25-29% and is almost completely eroded with a soil level of approximately 0.5m except where subsurface architectural remains have contributed to the buildup of deeper deposits (geological description by A.
Karakhanyan and Georisk).
At its base, the west slope is cut by a sharp escarpment created by modern construction of Gegharot village exacerbated by continuing erosion. Evidence from accidental finds in the village and our 2002 investigations indicate that this construction activity has destroyed part of the Early Bronze Age site, disturbing both settlement and mortuary features. To the west, the salvage excavations conducted by Martirosyan and later Esaian (see above) indicate that the expansion of the modern village has also intruded on the territory of a Late Bronze Age cemetery to the west of the modern road (M3).
The constructions known from the site at present were made primarily from the local granite of the Gegharot intrusion and in small part from basalt (which may have come from the Kolgat massif on the western edge of the plain). Additionally, a very small percent of the building material at the site comes from limestone deposits found locally in contact with the Gegharot granite intrusion. Only the top course of the fortification wall is visible from the surface. While this circumferential wall remains preserved to a height of several courses on the north end of the citadel, on the south end much of the wall has been destroyed. The layout of the walls suggests the presence of a gateway on the northwest side of the site as well as several possible buttresses.
The surface remains recovered from Gegharot (figs. VI.3-8, 32) include a large basalt grinding stone as well as a large quantity of fragmentary ceramics (n=522). Examination of the total corpus of ceramic remains from the site indicated 62% of the materials were broadly classifiable to Group A (LB/I1) with 3% more specifically indicative of the LB III phase; 31% of the ceramics were attributable to the Early Bronze Age, including a group of decorated sherds diagnostic of the Kura-Araxes III phase. The remainder of the ceramic materials were classified to Group J (I2b-I3a). The Early Bronze Age remains at the site were concentrated primarily, but not exclusively, on the northern and eastern slopes. The Group J materials were concentrated on the eastern side of the hill and may relate more to Gegharot Settlement than the fortress. The archaeological complex at Gegharot was first identified by Martirosyan (1964: 23) who recorded scatters of Early Bronze Age surface materials, a cyclopean fortress, and a cemetery. However, only the cemetery became a focus for more intensive research. In 1956, Martirosyan (1964: 89-93) excavated five Late Bronze Age burials and in 1960, Esaian investigated three more (unpublished). See Avetisyan et al. 2000, Badalyan et al. 2003, and Smith et al. 2004.
The archaeological complex at Gegharot was first identified by Martirosyan (1964: 23) who recorded scatters of Early Bronze Age surface materials, a cyclopean fortress, and a cemetery. However, only the cemetery became a focus for more intensive research. In 1956, Martirosyan (1964: 89-93) excavated five Late Bronze Age burials and in 1960, Esaian investigated three more (previously unpublished). See also Avetisyan et al. 2000, Badalyan et al. 2003, and Smith et al. 2004.
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