Archeologists at work in the Gogaran village of the Lori province have recently, surprisingly, discovered a mausoleum unlike others that appeared in Armenia.

The discovery announced in September is a novelty for the group of specialists of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia as it differs from other earlier known mausoleums in style and material it revealed. Unlike those in other finds, the mausoleum is made of hewn stone (instead of clay bricks).

The structure is 14 meters in diameter, and is believed to have been prepared for a local prince from during the Iron Age (9th-7th century BC). The mausoleum is surrounded with half-processed and semi-concaved large stones, rimmed with smaller ones.

Excavators’ attention has also been drawn by the flagstone shield of the mausoleum and the small grave pit rimmed with a small circle comprising articles typical of funeral rites.

Hrachik Marukyan, researcher at the Lori provincial service for historic environment conservation of Armenia, says the age of the mausoleum is determined by the materials found there.

The family of the ruler buried him in a special funeral rite, burying also his dagger, small and large ceramic vessels, a ceramic plate, and a necklace believed to be onyx, and also cattle and still unexamined species of animals. “Proof of its age is found in the blade of the dagger,” Marukyan says.

Marukyan points to the unique architectural structure of the mausoleum, the variety of geometric drawings on one of the large stones of the circle with a row of triangles, and the equal-winged cross inside the circle.

“The cross indicates the four sides of the world and is the symbol of the Sun taken into the circle. It becomes a swastika, when turned, symbolizing the eternity of power over the world,” Marukyan says.

Doctor of History and corresponding member of the National Academy of Sciences Aram Kalantaryan, a participant to the Gogaran expedition, believes the ruler belonged to the ancestors of Armenians.

“Despite the decay of the remnants with only part of the little finger and several teeth remaining, there are no doubts the ruler belonged to Armenians,” Marukyan insists, saying despite the remains have not been exposed to genetic identification yet, the ancient monuments so far discovered on the territory of Lori belong to the Armenian culture.

The findings are now moved to Yerevan for examination.

Specialists say the territory of the discovered monument can be referred to pre-Christian settlements and has been a residence of the princes of those times.

Besides the mausoleum, specialists also point to the St Astvatsatsin Church in Gogaran. Despite it was ascribed to the 17th century in the Soviet times, the specialists say now it belongs to the 4th.

“In the Soviet times Armenian monuments were purposefully ascribed to late periods to conceal the ancient age of our culture,” says Marukyan, an expert on monuments.

He believes the Soviet time ‘mistakes’ need to be reviewed to reveal the true age of historic monuments.

He recalls the mistakes of the formerly indicated age of the church was revealed when architect Stepan Nalbandyan excavated the basement of the church.

The church was built on plans typical of the 4th century.

The group of structures in the yard of the church, the ancient capital-formed headstone and numerous mausoleums permit considering the territory of Gogaran as an ancient settlement of pre-Christian period.

The hypothesis is grounded also on the existence of numerous pre-Christian caves [with traces of human presence] discovered in the locale, as well as the recently discovered stone tubes on the territory between the villages of Gogaran and Shirakamut. The specialists are now studying the findings.

Archeologists also point to the Lori citadel on the territory of Stepanavan with the mausoleums found there in the recent years revealing rich archeological material.

The findings range from ceramic vessels, to silver bowls and silver and bronze jewelry including snake-formed bracelets. Marukyan also recalls with astonishment the prince’s seal with its whitish semi-transparent tube with a shield-like ornamented gold lid on each of its ends. The seal is an image of two vertically statant stags facing each other with a tree in the center.

Hakob Simonyan, director of the Center for Research on Historic and Cultural Heritage State Non-Commercial Organization mentions dozens of thousands of mausoleums, whose exact age is not specified yet, have been unveiled in the recent years.

“So, the opinion Lori is a hearth of ancient culture is not without a purpose,” Marukyan believes.