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General Info
Site ID
Ar/Mi
Site Name
Mirak Fortress
Site Type
Fortress
Landscape
Mirak
Periodization
Late Bronze
UTM Zone
38T
UTM Easting
442835
UTM Northing
4499442
Elevation
2,072m
Association

Mirak Fortress (plate IVb) was built at the southeastern gate of the Tsaghkahovit plain, where the Kasakh headwaters race into the Aparan valley. It is 7.83km east (bearing 84°) of Tsaghkahovit fortress and 10.79km southeast (bearing 130°) of Gegharot fortress. The site lies north of the modern village of Mirak and southwest of the modern reservoir (map quadrant C6g).

Topography

The site sits atop an elevated promontory above the east bank of the Kasakh river (map 43).

General Description

The citadel wall at Mirak encloses an elliptically-shaped area approximately 140m x 120m. On the east slope of the site, a series of terraces appear to be reinforced by stone masonry walls. The citadel wall itself also appears to have served as a terracing wall and remains visible to a height of three courses on the southeast corner. The promontory is highly denuded on its western reaches, making it difficult to reconstruct the path of the masonry. But a series of basins cut into the exposed bedrock surface indicate occupation in this part of the site. The masonry is cyclopean, employing large stones (over 0.5 m in diameter) without rubble fill.

Features & Materials

Surface material densities on the site are quite light (n=9) and limited to the area within the citadel walls (fig. VI.31). No materials were recovered from the terraces. Two visits to Mirak (in 1998 and 2004) yielded a total of 6 sherds attributable to Group A (LB/I1) and 3 more specifically diagnostic of the LB III/I1a phase.

See: Avetisyan et al. 2000.

Previous Citations

Avetisyan et al. 2000.

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