peopleofar \u2013 Ancient Cave Dwellings of Armenia \u2013 Ancient Cave Dwellings of Armenia<\/p>\n
MARCH 2, 2014 \u2013 Archaeology \u00bb Ancient Cave Dwellings of Armenia:<\/p>\n
Armenian Highland is distinguished with countless ancient cave dwellings, dating far back into history of human settlement. Discoveries in the Areni cave complex in Armenia yielded phenomenal finds such as the discovery of the world\u2019s oldest leather shoe (5,500-year-old), oldest wine making facility (6,100-year-old), a straw\u00a0skirt dating to 3900 BC,\u00a0singes of animal domestication and even a well preserved human brain.\u00a0There is almost every kind of cave in Armenia, there are man made caves and even caves of hydrothermal origin, which are very rare in the world. These hollows originate when lava from the inner core of the earth mixes with hot springs, creating caves.\u00a0\u00a0We also know that people themselves created caves.\u00a0Elaborate\u00a0and often architecturally magnificent, monastery complexes with entire villages, carved out of rock, are found in abundance on the Armenian plateau.\u00a0Armenians used caves as\u00a0fortresses,\u00a0places of worship<\/a>, as housing, as storage facilities and as shed for the animals.\u00a0Because of minimal airflow, these caves are warm in winter and cool in summer.\u00a0Armenian cave-dwellings were well known to the ancient classical writers.\u00a0Xenophon during his journey in Armenia describes an Armenian village as follows:<\/p>\n \u201cTheir houses were under ground, the entrance like the mouth of a well, but spacious below; there were passages dug into them for the cattle, but the people descended by ladders. In the houses were goats, sheep, cows, and fowls, with their young; all the cattle were kept on fodder within the walls.\u00a0There was also wheat, barley, leguminous vegetables, and\u00a0barley-wine,\u00a0in large bowls.\u201d[1]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Living in caves was common\u00a0during the entire Armenian history. Such caves were used as dwellings in Armenia until the 1960s. Today, in the villages of Tegh and Khndzoresk in the Syunik marz, caves are still used as cellars and cow-sheds.<\/p>\n Mr. Curzon in his\u00a0Armenia<\/em>\u00a01842 (cf. Taylor\u2019s N.) gives a detailed account of the construction of these cave houses in Armenia.<\/p>\n \u201cFirst a site is selected on the side of a gently sloping hill. Then a space as large as the proposed house is excavated. This is divided off into quarters for the stock and rooms for the family by walls and rows of wooden columns, eight or nine feet high. Over these large branches of trees are laid, with a thick layer of smaller branches and twigs on top. Then a large part of the earth taken out in the excavation is spread above, and a layer of turf completes the roof. The houses are now entered through door-ways on the lower side, which is built up four or five feet above the grade of the slope.\u201d[2]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n