A GIS analysis of Early Bronze Age settlement patterns in Armenia

This paper presents an analysis of Early Bronze settlement patterns in the territory of Republic of Armenia, based on 128 sites, which have been mapped in GIS software. The analysis of land use pattern reveals that the establishments are from 500 m to 2200 m of altitude, during the all period of Kura–Araxes culture (∼3500–2500/2400 bce) and are distributed in six clusters. Three main types of establishments have been distinguished: the mound, the top of natural hill and the slope of hills or promontories. Some flat areas (Tsaghkahovit plain, Shirak plain, Masrik plain) lacked establishments during the Early Bronze Age but are flanked by establishments on the slope of hills or promontories. More than 70 sites have been dated based on 14C, pottery style, and stratigraphy. Comparison of two phases of Kura–Araxes culture does not reveal any land use or establishment type change, except its inter-regional organization with major sites surrounded by a few smaller sites during EB II, which raises the problem of the evolution of the regional organization of sites. Furthermore, the distribution of settlements and the natural resources (especially obsidian and copper) reveals a concentration of sites during EB II around the resources in northeast Armenia, and highlights the problem of economy and trade during the Early Bronze Age in Transcaucasia. These results also show the interest of interdisciplinary collaboration and the necessity to clarify the chronology of the Kura–Araxes culture, because of some problems which turn out only when we consider the different phases of Kura–Araxes culture separately.