Excavations started over five years ago at a Urartian necropolis at Çavuştepe Castle in eastern Turkey / Western Armenia (ancient Armenian Highlands), have revealed a multiplicity of burial customs among the Iron Age Urartu people (9th century BC-6th century BC).
While the work on the Çavuştepe Castle, built by Urartian King Sarduri II in 750 BC, is mostly of a repair and restoration nature, archaeological digs are being carried out in the necropolis in the castle’s northern section.
Skeletons of men and women dating back 2,777 years were found in graves at the necropolis of Çavuştepe Castle. One of the most interesting finds was the skeleton of a 3-year-old child bedecked with a substantial amount of jewelry, which included a “fantasy novel like” dragon-headed bracelet on one upper arm.
Belonging to the Iron Age of human history , the kingdom of Urartu (or the kingdom of Van) was centered in the area around Lake Van and extended into the mountainous plateau region between Anatolia, the Armenian Highlands, Mesopotamia, the Iranian Plateau, and the Caucasus Mountains.
The kingdom of Van was founded around the mid-ninth century BC. The Urartu kingdom was a powerful culture before it faded away. In the 6th century BC, it mysteriously disappeared. It was only rediscovered as a distinct and recognizable ancient culture in the late 1800s!
To read the full speech, check out the article on Ancient Origins.
