I višap armeni. Appunti per una storia della ricezione.

Vishaps are large-scale prehistoric stelae decorated with animal reliefs, erected at secluded mountain locations of the South Caucasus. This paper focuses on the vishaps of modern Armenia and traces their history of re-use and manipulations, from the end of the third millennium BCE to the Middle Ages. Since their creation at an unknown point in time before 2100 BCE, vishaps functioned as symbolic anchors for the creation and transmission of religious and political messages: they were torn down, buried, re-worked, re-erected, transformed and used as a surface for graffiti. This complex sequence of re-contextualisations underscores the primacy of mountains as political arenas for the negotiation of religious and ritual meaning

Die anatolische Sphinx.

This book chapter discusses history, iconography and meaning of the sphinx in Anatolia from the beginning of the second Millennium BCE until the collapse of Hittite Empire around 1200 BCE

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

Die nordsyrische Sphinx

This book chapter focuses on the changing iconography and meaning of the sphinx in the Neo-Hittite city-states of southeastern Anatolia and northern Syria (c. 1200-700 BCE)

Nella terra dei draghi giganti

Preliminary results of the ongoing "Dragon Stones Archaeological Projects" presented for a general audience in a richly illustrated, 17-pages essay for "Archeo", an Italian popular science magazine devoted to archaeological research. The essay focuses on the Armenian "vishaps" and discusses their implications for the study of the origins of monumental art in the South Caucasus

The place of “Dragon Stone” sanctuaries in context of cultic areas of Ancient Armenia

This article discusses the prehistoric stelae known as "dragon stones", vishaps, in the contexts of the history of cult space in ancient Armenia. Since 2012, a joint project of the Armenian Academy of Sciences, the Freie Universität Berlin and Ca’ Foscari University Venice investigates “dragon stones” in the territory of the Republic of Armenia. Dragon stones are megalithic basalt stelae decorated with animal imagery. Between one and five meters high, these stelae are solitary monuments sometimes shaped in the form of a fish, or decorated as if the prepared hide of a horned animal had been draped on them; rarely, additional animals such as birds or snakes are added to the composition. Such stelae represent the most ancient examples of monumental art in the Caucasus. The present article reflects upon the problems concerning the importance of dragon stones and their archaeological contexts in the frames of diachronic developments of sanctuaries in ancient Armenia

Karmir Sar. New evidence on dragon-stones and ritual landscapes on Mount Aragats, Armenia.

This contribution presents new evidence on a specific kind of prehistoric sacred landscape, a high-altitude monumental sanctuary characterized by the presence of megalithic stelae decorated with animal relief. The contribution is based on the case-study of Karmir Sar, a recently discovered Chalcolithic and Bronze Age site located on the south slope of Mount Aragats (Armenia), at 2850 m a.s.l. Archaeological investigations demonstrate that, in the ancient South Caucasus, vertical zonality in landscape use conditioned all cultural developments and constituted an integrated system—a chain, each link of which was dominant during particular periods. An important link in this chain were transhumant pastoralists, who each summer moved—as they still do—with their flocks from lowlands to high-altitude pastures. High-altitudes plateaus also functioned as ritual landscapes. Karmir Sar is an extraordinary example of such high-altitude sacred sites. the site is a vast meadow with at least ten monumental stelae (vishaps or ‘dragon stones’) scattered over an area of c. 40 ha, the highest thus far known concentration of such monuments at a single site. Its archaeological investigation adds important data to our knowledge about the early social processes in the region. This article discusses the site in its wider prehistoric context, and presents the results of the excavation at and around the vishap ‘Karmir Sar 10’. We also discuss the longue durée of the vishap phenomenon, taking into account a persisting ‘sacredness’ reflected in place names, medieval texts and local folk traditions