Archaeologists excavating caves in Armenia’s Vayots Dzor region have found pottery from the Neolithic and Chalcolithic ages, per the Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets (FPWC).

The excavation was carried out jointly with the expedition of Yeghegnadzor Geological Museum in the “Bears” (Արջեր) cave in Vayots Dzor.

As a result of the excavations of the professional expedition, pottery and stone tools dating to different periods were documented, and the preliminary study of the surface material showed the presence of pottery from the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods.

The excavators documented that the cave was in use from an earlier time than originally thought, evidence showed Middle Stone Age tools found on site (starting 280,000 years ago – ending 50-35,000 years ago.) Excavators documented large numbers of animal bones and a lot of ash layers. Studies are ongoing.