Burial Mound :: ARTSAKH HISTORICAL MONUMENTS

Burial Mound BC 13 — BC 12 mm․

NKR / Kashatagh / Arvakan

Description
1980 y․

Archaeological investigation of ancient burial mounds in the environs of the Arvakan village, carried in 1980, revealed samples of material culture dating from the XIII-XII cent BC. The finds from the site of an ancient settlement situated southeast of the village were characteristic of the Late Bronze-Early Iron periods.

A. Aliyev, Researches in the Lachin District, "Archaeological Discoveries of 1980", Moscow, 1981, p. 414 (in Russian). The same article contains also the description of the "Albanian" inscription on church tympanum, found 8 km northwest of Alkhasli (Arvakan). The transliteration of this inscription was provided by historian H. Svazian in his article "In regard of one "Albanian" Inscription", "Bulletin of Humanitarian Sciences", 1987, N2, p. 42-47, Yerevan (in Russian); the inscription was republished in collective monograph "On the Problems of the History and Culture of Caucasian Albania and Eastern Armenian Provinces", Yerevan, 1991, p. 276-280 (in Russian). The context is the following: 'ԵՍ ՎԱՐ'ԹԱՆ 'ԿԱՆ'ԳՆԵIՑԻ ԶԽԱՉՍ I ՀՈԳՈ ԻՄ(Ո)3 ՈՐ ԿIԱՐԴԷՔ, ՅԱՂԱՒԹՍ ԻՇԵՑԵՔ։ "I, VARDAN, ERECTED THIS CROSS OF MY SOUL, WHENEVER YOU READ, REMEMBER MY PRAYERS". It is difficult to associate the site, where this inscribed tympanum was discovered with Katosavank, as the latter is situated only 4.5 km away of the site, while the authors mention the distance of 8 km. Besides, its dimensions do not correspond to the tympanum of the Katos monastery.
Samvel Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, Yerevan, 2001, p. 155.