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Archaeology Field Schools
| Middle East - Armenia - Dvin Archaeological Project |
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Archaeology Field School Location and Dates
Start Date
2010-06-20
End Date
2010-07-24
Archaeology Field School Location
The field school is based at the site of Dvin excavated by the joint project of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA and the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, 30 miles southeast from the capital of Armenia Yerevan.
Archaeology Field School Tuition and Credits
Sponsoring College/Institution
Academic Credit
12
Archaeology Field School Tuition
UC Undergrads: $5,050 UC Grad Students: $5,500 Visiting Students: $5,500
Archaeology Field School Travel
$2,200
Archaeology Field School Description
Armenia is a country in the highlands of the Near East located on the crossroads of European, Near Eastern, and Central Asian civilizations. Its extremely rich cultural heritage spanning over a period of one and a half million years includes about eight thousand registered groups of archaeological sites. The diversity and density of different kinds of first-class sites in Armenia is one of the highest in the world. From Paleolithic caves to typical Near Eastern tells, to megalithic monuments and cyclopean fortresses of the Bronze Age, to Ancient Near Eastern imperial cities and cuneiform texts, to Classical sites and medieval castles and monasteries – such a diversity provides students with a great starting point for studies in archaeology, history, and world cultures. This course pursues the following goals: (1) to introduce students to archaeology in the field; (2) to acquaint them with the theoretical basis and practice of field methods; (3) to provide a practical working knowledge of excavations, lab work, and field cataloging methods; (4) to provide students with a basic knowledge of Near Eastern archaeology and history and of the Armenian cultural heritage; (5) to illustrate through fieldwork the practical interaction and interdependence between different social and natural sciences and the humanities (archaeology, history, anthropology, linguistics, art history, landscape analysis, biology, physics, statistics, etc.); (6) to teach critical analytical thinking through the study of the role and importance of cultural heritage in contemporary societies and to the future of humankind. The field school is based at the site of Dvin excavated by the joint project of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA and the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, 30 miles southeast from the capital of Armenia Yerevan. Dvin is one of the most important archaeological sites of the Ancient Near East. Its Citadel Mound which is a more than 30 meter high tell contains the remains of multiple cities beginning from the Early Bronze Age (ca 3000 BC) or even earlier to the first decades of the 14th century AD. Dvin was a major sociopolitical and economic center of the Early Iron Age country of Etiuni ca 1000-800 BC. In the second half of the 5th century AD it became the longest lasted capital city of Armenia remaining as such until the end of the 9th century. It was the Holy See of the Armenian Apostolic Church, and the capital of most important provinces of the Iranian Sasanian Empire and the Umayad Caliphate. It also was a major international center of arts, crafts, and trade. Students will also have the opportunity to visit the Areni Chalcolithic cave site (fifth millennium BC) which is excavated by another joint project of the Cotsen Institute and the Armenian Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography. The students’ learning experience will not be limited to the fieldwork at these sites. They will have five study trips visiting many famous sites and museums, such as Ejmiatsin – the contemporary Armenian “Vatican,” Classical sites of Artashat (including the Medieval monastery of Khor Virap) and Garni, ancient and medieval fortresses and castles, medieval monasteries, and Lake Sevan. On their days off (i.e. Tuesdays) they will have an opportunity to get acquainted with the current capital of Armenia Yerevan with its friendly people, amazing modern architecture, splendid museums, great shopping, and lots of entertainment. Field school participants will have great opportunities to interact with students from Armenian institutions of higher education, as well as with Armenian archaeologists, historians, and other intellectuals. They will have a unique opportunity to study Ancient Near Eastern civilizations and the Armenian history and cultural heritage with best specialists in the field. The course will be conducted by Prof. Gregory E. Areshian (UCLA) and Prof. Aram A. Kalantaryan (Yerevan State University and Institute of Archaeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia) with four English-speaking PhD candidates from the Institute of Archaeology of Armenia serving as field teaching assistants (tentatively): Iren Kalantaryan, Diana Mirijanyan, Astghik Babajanyan, and Narek Mkhitaryan. Other English-speaking staff members of the Project also may be assigned to mentor students. The field school starts on June 20th and ends on July 24th 2010. During the five weeks the workload will be divided between lectures, excavations, lab work, discussions, study trips, and the final exam. Students successfully completing the course will receive twelve UCLA credit units transferrable to other colleges and universities in North America. Students will live at the dig house located amid splendid orchards and vineyards within a walking distance from the excavations site. Meals: four times per day prepared by the expedition cook and served at the dig house. Meals reflect the special character of local cuisine. All costs (lodging, transportation, food, and insurance) are included in the tuition, except that during the study trips eating will be reduced to three times (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) and students will be required to purchase their lunches outside the Dvin area. On the days off meals will be provided at no charge at the dig house, but should students undertake independent touring of the country they will be responsible for purchasing their meals outside the location of the field school. Cultural Experience: During the five weeks of the field school students must strictly adhere to generally acceptable norms of social behavior demonstrating respect for local customs and culture. Any misunderstanding, disappointment, or complaint must be reported immediately to the Assistant Director of the Dvin Field School Iren Kalantaryan or to the co-directors of the Project. Those complaints will be addressed immediately and appropriately. Gross violations of rules of conduct, such as alcohol and drug abuse, abusive and other behavior disrupting the normal work of the field school, drinking alcohol in non-designated areas, knowingly and without necessity exposing themselves to dangerous situations, illicitly purchasing antiquities for export, etc. -- all are grounds for immediate dismissal and removal from the field school at the expense of the violator without refund of previous payments.
Archaeology Field School Additional Information
Archaeology Field School Type
Field Archaeology
What is the daily schedule for the field school
The distribution of workload is based on 6 work days per week at 8 hours per day. Study trips are considered work days. Week 1 (June 20-26) June 20 – arrival to Zvartnots International Airport (EVN) in Yerevan and transfer to Dvin June 21, morning – Lecture (Gregory Areshian): Introduction to Armenian History and Civilization, Part 1 (3 hours); Touring the site of Dvin in small groups with Diana Mirijanyan, Astghik Babajanyan, and Narek Mkhitaryan. Afternoon – Lecture (Gregory Areshian): Introduction to Field Research Methods in Archaeology, Part 1 (3 hours). June 22: all day study trip to Yerevan with a visit to the Early Bronze Age settlement of Shengavit (3rd millennium BC), the National Museum of History, the Matenadaran Institute of Ancient Manuscripts, the Monument-museum of the Armenian Genocide, the Urartian fortress at Karmir-Blur (7th century BC) and the imperial fortress Erebuni of the Urartian and Iranian Achaemenid periods (8th-4th centuries BC). June 23, morning – Lecture tour (Gregory Areshian) of the archaeological site of Dvin (5 hours); afternoon – Lecture (Gregory Areshian): Introduction to Armenian History and Civilization, Part 2 (3 hours). June 24, morning – excavating at the site (5 hours); afternoon – Lecture (Iren Kalantaryan): Introduction to Field Research Methods in Archaeology, Part 2 (3 hours). June 25, morning – excavating at the site (5 hours); afternoon – lab work (processing excavated finds, writing archaeological field notes – 3 hours). June 26, morning – excavating at the site (6 hours); afternoon – Lecture (Gregory Areshian): Introduction to the Archaeology of the Near East and Armenia, Part 1 (2 hours). Week 2 (June 27-July 3) June 27, morning – excavating at the site (6 hours); afternoon – lab work (2 hours). June 28, morning – excavating at the site (6 hours); afternoon – Lecture (Aram Kalantarian): Introduction to the Archaeology of the Near East and Armenia, Part 2 (2 hours). June 29 Day off.1 June 30, morning – excavating at the site (6 hours); afternoon – lab work (2 hours). July 1, morning – excavating at the site (6 hours); afternoon – lab work (2 hours). July 2, morning – excavating at the site (6 hours); afternoon – Lecture (Gregory Areshian): How to Design a Research Project: General Approaches (2 hours). July 3, morning through evening study trip to Sardarapat (the National Museum of Anthropology and the memorial complex), Metsamor archaeological site and museum, St. Ejmiadzin (the Holy See of the Armenian Apostolic Church), cathedrals of St. Gayane, St. Hripsime, and Zvartnots. Week 3 (July 4 through 10) July 4, morning – excavating at the site (3 hours); morning Guest Lecture (Pavel Avetisyan, Director of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia): International Cooperation in Archaeology and its importance for the development of Armenian Studies at large. Afternoon – celebration of the Independence Day. July 5, morning -- excavating at the site (6 hours); afternoon -- lab work (2 hours). July 6 Day off, optional trip to Yerevan paid by the students. July 7, morning - excavating at the site (6 hours); afternoon -- lab work (2 hours). July 8, morning -- excavating at the site (6 hours); afternoon -- lab work (2 hours). July 9, morning -- excavating at the site (6 hours); afternoon -- lab work (2 hours). July 10, morning through evening -- study trip to the cathedral of Ptghavank (7th century AD), Urartian fortress at Aramus, the Classical and Medieval sites and monuments of Garni and Geghard, on-site Guest Lecture (Mkrtich Zardaryan, Senior Researcher at the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Armenian Academy of Sciences): Armenia and the Greco-Roman World. Week 4 (July 11-17) July 11, morning -- excavating at the site (6 hours); afternoon -- lab work (2 hours). July 12, morning -- excavating at the site (6 hours); afternoon lab work (2 hours). July 13 Day off, optional trip to Yerevan paid by the students. July 14, morning excavating at the site (6 hours); afternoon lab work (2 hours). July 15, morning excavating at the site (6 hours); afternoon lab work (2 hours). July 16, morning excavating at the site (6 hours); afternoon lab work (2 hours). July 17, morning through evening study trip to Tsakhkadzor (Kecharis Monastery) and Lake Sevan (Peninsula Monastery and Bronze Age site of Lchashen). Week 5 (July 18-24) July 18, morning excavating at the site (6 hours); afternoon lab work (2 hours). July 19, last day of excavations: morning excavating at the site (6 hours); afternoon lab work (2 hours). July 20 Day off, optional trip to Yerevan paid by the students. July 21, last, day-long study trip to the capital of Hellenistic Armenia Artashat and its part, the Khor-Virap Monastery, the cave site Areni-1, and Noravank Monastery. July 22 day to prepare for the exam. July 23, morning exam; afternoon Guest Lecture (Charles Stanish, Director of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA): How to Design a Research Project in Archaeology (2 hours). July 24 - 25, Field school ends, departure from Zvartnots International Airport.
Number of years this Archaeology Field School has been in operation
2
Directors and Instructors
Dr. Gregory E. Areshian and Dr. Aram A. Kalantarian
Archaeology Field School Contact Information and Website
Field School Website:
http://www.archaeology.ucla.edu/programs/middle-east/asia-program-1
Field School Contact Information
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Dr. Gregory E. Areshian
Field School Contact E-mail:
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2010 Archaeology Field Schools 
