Well-preserved burial places of people of the eneolithic age have been found in the caves of Arni 1, Vaiots Dzor, Armenia. Excavations are conducted in cooperation with archeologists from the University of California (USA) and University College Cork (UCC) (Ireland), head of the Armenian team Boris Gasparyan said.

He said that the specialists have found the bodies of adults and children in clay tombs. Children’s bodies are intact, whereas the adults were dismembered. The find is a unique opportunity to find out the children’s genetic code by means of DNA analyses. This, in turn, will supply scientists with valuable information on the humans’ genetic evolution.

However, deciphering the genetic code is a most expensive procedure, laboratory analyses cost €60,000, Gasparyan said.

Since colors were not widely spread in the Armenian territory in the eneolithic age, the colorful vessels with the sun and animals painted on them are most interesting.

The excavations are of paramount importance for putting together the picture of Armenia’s ancient past and of the cultural and historical picture of Western Asia in the eneolithic age. This year the archeologists have found a drinking horn of the eneolithic age in Areni 1. The excavations started in 2007, and the most ancient leather shoe was found in a cave the next year.  

NEWS.am reminds readers that a 5,500-year-old shoe was found in September 2008. A number of research centers confirmed the age of the finding as a result of independent research.

The 23.5-cm-long and 7.6- to 10-cm-wide moccasin-like shoe was well-preserved due to a layer of sheep droppings, which blocked the air.