The Armenian kites are the northernmost known kites in south-west Asia. In contrast to those in the deserts further south, their research has only recently begun. The Armenian kites are situated at high elevations, mostly between 900 and 1500 m above mean sea level, in steppic conditions where Artemisia is at present the dominant shrub on the landscape. In our ongoing project we excavated three V-shaped kites and one enclosure kite. The two kinds are similar in construction details, but they differ in size and location: the former run down into gullies, while the latter were placed on the plateau. Six OSL ages suggest terminal Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age construction dates, while geomorphological considerations and surface artefacts suggest earlier dates. A preliminary palynological study suggests a gradual increase in grazing-resistant vegetation since the mid-Holocene, probably reflecting human impact on the natural vegetation through the herding of grazing animals.

No abstract

No abstract

Two of the authors (R. Arav on the left, S. Filin on the right) using the LiDAR scanner inside the head of the Samar West B kite. Photograph by D. Nadel. T he term "Desert Kites" is used in Near Eastern archaeology when addressing large game drives found solely in arid environments. There are several types of such features (

No abstract