Archaeologists from Metsamor, an ancient necropolis in Armenia, have discovered a tomb filled with gold pendants and more than a hundred amber and carnelian beads. Dating from the Late Bronze Age (1300 to 1200 BCE), the tomb also contained the remains of a man and a woman, which appear to have been buried at the same time.
“Their death is a mystery to us, we don’t know the cause, but everything indicates that they died at the same time, because there is no trace of a grave being reopened,” said Krzysztof Jakubiak, professor of Archeology at the University of Warsaw. in a statement.
Buried in an eternal embrace, the couple were buried in a cistus, a stone-lined chamber carved into the ground. They are believed to have died in their thirties, one wore bronze bracelets, the other a pewter wire ring.
The tomb also included a wooden burial bed, an earthenware flask and a dozen ceramic vessels. According to the researchers, the beads and pendants were originally part of three necklaces, and the bottle was brought from the Syrian-Mesopotamian border.
The recently discovered “Golden Tomb” in the Metsamor necropolis in Armenia. Photo courtesy of the Polish Center for Mediterranean Archeology at the University of Warsaw.
The research project in the Ararack Valley is a joint effort of the Polish Center for Mediterranean Archeology at the University of Warsaw and Armenia’s Service for the Protection of the Historic Environment and Museums-Cultural Reserves, led by Jakubiak and Ashot Piliposian. The partnership has been ongoing since 2013, according to the Greek publication Archeology; A exposure of their discoveries open last fall at Armenian History Museum in the nearby city of Yerevan.
To date, archaeologists have uncovered around 100 tombs in the cemetery, but the newly discovered golden tomb is one of the few that was not looted before excavations began in 1965. The cist tombs are said to have been covered with mounds of earth that have eroded over the centuries.
Because ancient Armenians do not appear to have been illiterate and left no written records, archaeologists know little about Metsamor society. The fortified settlement was at its height in the 4th to 2nd millennium BCE, with temple complexes surrounding a central fortress.
“It was a very large colony. Even the fortifications made of huge blocks of stone have survived to the present day, encircling the so-called citadel on the hill,” Jakubiak said. “There was no other settlement in the area that could be compared in importance and size.”
See more photos of the excavations and items from the tomb below.
Gold beads and pendants from a recently discovered tomb at the Metsamor necropolis in Armenia. Photo courtesy of Science in Poland.
The citadel of Metsamor necropolis in Armenia. Photo by Simon Zdzieblowski.
Gold beads and pendants from a recently discovered tomb at the Metsamor necropolis in Armenia. Photo courtesy of the Service for the Protection of the Historic Environment and Cultural Museums-Reserves.
An aerial view of the excavations of the Metsamor necropolis in Armenia. Photo courtesy of the Polish Center for Mediterranean Archeology at the University of Warsaw.
Gold beads and pendants from a recently discovered tomb at the Metsamor necropolis in Armenia. Photo courtesy of the Service for the Protection of the Historic Environment and Cultural Museums-Reserves.
Ruins of a columned hall in the Metsamor necropolis in Armenia. Photo courtesy of the Polish Center for Mediterranean Archeology at the University of Warsaw.
Gold beads and pendants from a recently discovered tomb at the Metsamor necropolis in Armenia. Photo courtesy of the Service for the Protection of the Historic Environment and Cultural Museums-Reserves.
Archaeologists at work at the Metsamor necropolis in Armenia. Photo courtesy of the Polish Center for Mediterranean Archeology at the University of Warsaw.
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