07 November 2019
Starting from September, excavations have been carried out in the territory of Metsamor. Armenian-Polish expedition leader, scientific secretary of Service for the Protection of Historical Environment and Cultural Museum-Reservations, SNCO, Ashot Piliposyan mentions that excavations at the mausoleum of the site resulted in the opening of a five-meter wide and twelve-meter long tomb made of giant tuff and basalt stones. About 0.8 meters deep, in the center of the cell, phallus (from tuff) and a statue of an upper part of the female’s body buried as a tombstone material, dated back to the iron age, have been found.
Remains of human bones, beads from sardine and mortar were also found near the statues. It is not excluded that the statue and the stone phallus were used as part of the main funeral ritual and the remaining part would be discovered in the future as the excavation works continue in the territory of the monument.
