A prehistoric aggregated cells structure at 2850m asl on Mount Aragats, Armenia

This paper presents the preliminary results of a recently discovered and excavated aggregated cells structure at Karmir Sar in Armenia. As the first structure of its kind found in a high altitude, the aggregated cells structure at Karmir Sar opens new perspectives for both high-mountain archaeology and the general understanding of these enigmatic structures. Although no definite answer concerning the function can be proposed yet, the extant architecture and the pottery implicate an open-air installation combining space for human habitation with space for herding animals. Radiocarbon dating evidence points to a use episode in the middle of the 3rd Millennium BC, leaving open the possibility that the structure was first built in the 5th Millenium BC. On the basis of comparanda from other periods, this paper argues that the aggregated cells structures were a long-lasting phenomenon reflecting pastoral subsistence strategies. These strategies, though still largely unknown, reoccurred over several millennia, coexisting or alternating with other competing subsistence strategies.