Everything Old Is New Again: Considerations for Re-examining the Previously Excavated Material of Hellenistic- and Roman-Period Armenia

Summary

This is an abstract from the "The South Caucasus Region: Crossroads of Societies & Polities. An Assessment of Research Perspectives in Post-Soviet Times" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Throughout the twentieth century, archaeological investigations into the Hellenistic and Roman periods in Armenia sought to understand the ancient kingdom’s place in the broader Mediterranean sphere. The projects often worked to identify cultures and cultural influences in the material record, disentangling evidence of external influences from the material culture that expressed the identity of the local people. Through examinations of large sites like the ancient capitals of Artashat and Vagharshapat or the settlement and fortress of Garni, scholars debated the degree to which the material data reflected Greco-Roman or Near Eastern influences, and argued about the persistence of Armenian culture. In the twenty-first century, the question of Armenia’s place in the Mediterranean remains an intriguing puzzle, while the further development of archaeology as a discipline allows us to explore the puzzle from different perspectives. This paper will discuss what happens when we ask new questions of previously-excavated material, and how those questions can help place Armenia in the Mediterranean sphere using the lens of the political relationship between Armenia and the Roman Empire.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)   •
• The South Caucasus Region: Crossroads of Societies & Polities. An Assessment of Research Perspectives in Post-Soviet Times

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 23954