Hn BC 04 was located below the northeast and east slopes of Hnaberd fortress (map quad B3i).
These burials were set on a broad elevated plateau bound by a mountain drainage on the east and Hnaberd fortress on the west. In 1998, the burials were bordered on the south by a modern reservoir; however this reservoir burst in the spring of 2000 flooding much of the village of Hnaberd and undoubtedly damaging the burials of Hn BC 04. Sadly, although one of the largest burial clusters in the immediate area of Hnaberd, a revisit to the site in 2006 discovered that a massive bulldozing project has destroyed the entire site. The point of this bulldozing was not entirely clear but may have been related to an effort to rebuild the reservoir. The matter has been referred to the Commission for the Preservation of Historical Monuments of the Republic of Armenia.
Hn BC 04 covered an area 500m north-south and 360m east-west, hosting no less than 105 burials. It includes several different varieties of cromlechs (including paved, mounded, and standard), as well as a small number of kurgans (see features 1, 4). In addition to the discrete "free-standing" cromlechs, several densely packed lines, or "ribbons" of paved cromlechs were also noted (feature 2). Furthermore, distinctive sub-clusters of cromlechs also appear to be visible within the area, however this may well be due to submergence of intervening constructions due to local erosional conditions. Unfortunately, even prior to the more recent bull-dozing at the site, several cromlechs in 1998 already showed evidence of looting (features 1 and 3).
Feature 1 (plate XIIIa): is a very large robbed kurgan or mounded cromlech, 16m in diameter. The two large capstones (2.97m x 1.34m and 2.8m x 1.4m) have been shoved aside, most likely by heavy machinery, and the surrounding area is littered with small tuff and basalt cobbles. A circumferential ring built of medium to large shaped basalt blocks is now visible, however, it is unclear whether the disturbed cobbles once covered this element of the construction. The chamber is 1.8m x 4.83m with walls built of worked basalt slabs.
Feature 2: is a ribbon of 19, densely packed, paved cromlechs, 26m long, that meanders southwest to northeast. The individual burials, where distinguishable, appear to be between 1.25 and 2.0m in diameter. All of the burials were constructed of medium, unworked basalt blocks.
Feature 3: is another looted cromlech at the site and the only area that yielded surface materials. The tomb appears to have been a paved cromlech as the remains of several medium sized blocks are visible strewn about the surrounding area, but no large capstones are present. The surviving outer circle appears to have been 5m in diameter, encircling a stone-lined chamber measuring 1m x 2m. The chamber is defined by worked basalt slabs on all four sides. The recovered materials included 20 diagnostic sherds classified as Group B according to the ArAGATS system. This places the burial in the last phase of the Late Bronze Age or possibly in the opening years of the initial Early Iron Age. This would date the burial towards the end of the Tsaghkahovit Plain's 2nd millennium BC occupation, just prior to the Early Iron Age hiatus.
Feature 4: is an intact kurgan, 10m in diameter and 0.8m tall, constructed of tuff and basalt cobbles. No outer ring is visible.
Feature 5 (plate Xa): is a very well-preserved spiral cromlech 8.2m in diameter. Built of large basalt blocks, the spiral appears to begin on the southern edge of the construction and move inward to the center in 3 concentric rings. At the center, part of a large flat capstone is visible.
In addition to the surface features described above, two cromlechs from Hn BC 4 were excavated in 2000.
Tomb 1 (fig. VI.21, 23) was a large budding cromlech. The primary circle of stones is 6.8m in diameter constructed of a single ring of medium to large unworked basalt blocks. Inside the ring, a paving of basalt plinths frames a stone lined chamber (a) oriented NE-SW. It was lined on three sides by large basalt slabs with natural flat faces and on the fourth side (SW) by a wall of smaller unshaped stones. The chamber measured 2.2m long, 1m wide and 1.5m deep. The chamber contained the remains of a human skeleton, however what remained was in a terrible state of preservation. We were unable to determine the sex, age, position or even the number of individuals interred. Several bone fragments appeared to come from a small mammal, possibly part of the grave inventory, but the condition of the bones did not allow for a certain evaluation. Chamber A included a small wire spiraled bronze ring, 2 small tubes of bronze, 60 beads made of carnelian and paste, and 5 ceramic vessels (fig. VI.23). Chamber b was a small ancillary construction, or dromos, built into the southern side of the outer ring. This chamber was also stone-lined, measuring 1.06m long, 0.4 m wide and 0.52m deep. It was also constructed using a similar basalt slab construction to outline the chamber walls. There were 6 ceramic vessels located in this small chamber concentrated against the NE wall (fig. VI.23).
Tomb 2 was a mounded cromlech composed of two circumscribed stone rings built of large unworked basalt blocks (fig VI.21). The tomb is slightly elliptical, measuring 8.5m (N-S) and 6.45m (E-W) in diameter. From the bottom of the slope on which the cromlech was located, the superimposed mound of stone cobbles (tuff and basalt) and earth rose 1.6m above the surrounding ground surface. Below the mound was a second circumscribing ring surrounding 5 basalt capstones. The chamber was a rectangular pit with rounded corners that measured 1.44m E-W and 3.12m N-S. The burial contained three skeletons, one adult male, one adult female and one adolescent male. The adult male, 25-30 years old, lay on his right side facing east with legs flexed and hands raised in front of the face. His skull rested on the skull of the second skeleton, an adolescent male, age 14-16 years. This skeleton lay in a similar position on its on the right side with legs and arms flexed. The cranium was toward the north, facing west. The third skeleton, lying in the southern half of the pit, was that of an adult female, age 25-30. The skeleton was found in three large segments. The head and six vertebrae had been separated and placed upright on the pelvis of the adolescent. The arms of the skeleton were in place, except for the left humerus that had been placed just west of the skull. The sixth lumbar vertebrae was cut and the lower lumbar, pelvis and legs were separated from the rest of the body and placed on their left side in the southernmost part of the pit. The legs were flexed. The grave inventory included several bones of sheep and 6 ceramic vessels (fig. VI.22).
The excavation of two burials in this cluster was reported in Avetisyan et al. 2000 as Hnaberd cemetery A, tombs 1 and 2. In preparing this monograph all the cemeteries were re-named for consistency and so Hnaberd cemetery A is now Hn BC 04.
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