SCHOLAR SAYS AGHDAM FINDS SHOW ARMENIANS’ LONG CULTURAL PRESENCE
By Gayane Danielian
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Aug. 23, 2006
An Armenian scholar argues that the historical and cultural monuments
of the town of Tigranakert dated to the first century B.C. recently
found in Aghdam are additional proof that Armenians and Armenian
culture were present in the region still millennia ago.
Director of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography Aram
Kalantarian told RFE/RL that the expedition working in eastern
Karabakh found exact replicas of monuments one could come across in
Armenian territory.
"What was found in Aghdam simply repeats what is present in the
territory of Armenia. That is, it proves that here we have a common
cultural field and that the monuments were created by people living
in the same cultural field," Kalantarian said.
Aghdam is an Azerbaijani district east of Karabakh presently controlled
by the Nagorno-Karabakh armed forces.
Kalantarian said that during the past two years the government to a
certain degree increased state budget allocations for archeological
expeditions. In particular, according to him, 34 million drams
(about $85,000) had been allocated for the purpose in 2006, and 22
expeditions have been working in the territory of Armenia this year.
Kalantarian said the expeditions had achieved ‘marvelous results,’
as new historical and cultural monuments were found. However, he said
that it is equally important to preserve what has been found.
The monuments of Tigranakert were found recently by an expedition led
by Hamlet Petrosian. The team of archeologists has already returned
from Karabakh and now is working in Garni.