Even Older Than Göbeklitepe, the 15,000-Year-Old Armenian Settlement of Shengavit is the Oldest Center of Human Settlement and Culture on the Armenian Highlands.
Shengavit is the name of an administrative district in Yerevan, the capital of present-day Armenia. It holds a position as one of the most important archaeological centers of the Armenian State.
Shengavit is a very old Early Bronze Age archaeological settlement, dating back approximately 6,000 years to 3000 BC. Traces of life in Shengavit go back to very ancient times; hunter-gatherers chose Shengavit as their most suitable place to live. Shengavit’s history dates back 15,000 years, even older than Göbeklitepe. It is claimed by archaeologists to be older than [date].
The Shengavite culture, also known as the “Kura-Aras Culture,” influenced an area of 1.5 million square kilometers for 1000 years. It extended from the Caspian Sea to the Red Sea, encompassing the Sinai Peninsula, Mesopotamia, the entire Caucasus, and the Persian Gulf.
The present-day Shengavite region has been inhabited since at least 3000 BC, during the Kura-Aras Culture period, which spanned from the Late Chalcolithic to the Early Bronze Age. Located on the left bank of the Hrazdan River, southwest of Yerevan, on the eastern side of what is now Lake Yerevan, it has been a subject of interest for archaeologists since 1936.
The Shengavite settlement is a well-established site of the Early Bronze Age on the Armenian High Plateau. It is a well-researched monumental site. Previously covering approximately 6 hectares, this archaeological site now encompasses 1.5 to 2 hectares and has been declared a protected site.
Information obtained from excavations at this site indicates that the settled economic system, characterized by advanced agriculture, animal husbandry, and craftsmanship, particularly sophisticated greenhouse farming and metalworking, is typical of the Kura-Araks or Shengavit culture, also known as the Early Bronze Age culture.
The artifacts found during the excavations, including barley, wheat, and corn grains, grain pits, hand mills, rakes, and sickles, along with the bones of bulls, goats, domesticated pigs, horses, donkeys, and dogs, are signs of advanced agriculture and animal husbandry.
Furthermore, two horse head sculptures and horse depictions on pottery prove that Shengavit was a center of handicrafts.
The unearthed stone-cutting tools, bone needles, and ropes prove that the inhabitants of Şengavit were also skilled in stonework and textile production. Excavations in Şengavit in the 2000s revealed copper smelting furnaces, ore processing tools, and metalworking workshops.
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