Targeting Artsakh’s cultural heritage via Azerbaijani media platforms

After the conclusion of the 44-day war in 2020, the Azerbaijani side launched an aggressive propaganda campaign aimed at appropriating the historical and cultural heritage of Artsakh, as well as distorting it, particularly through propaganda against Armenia. To grasp the extent of Azerbaijani propaganda efforts, it is crucial to monitor various Azerbaijani news outlets, mass media channels, and social media platforms. Collectively, these sources provide substantial data regarding the methods employed in propaganda aimed at appropriating Artsakh’s cultural heritage. The article focuses on the challenges posed by propaganda against Artsakh’s cultural heritage, exploring its methods and key arguments. More information: https://monumentwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/R.Hovsepyan_AGV_Artsakh_2023.pdf.

The Pottery Burial Culture of Artsakh-Utik in the Context of Armenian-Caucasian Albanian Relations

The pottery burial culture in the ancient period extended across a significant portion of the Near East, the Mediterranean, and Asia Minor, encompassing the Armenian Highlands and Transcaucasia, reaching as far as the Kur River. Among all types of ancient burials in Artsakh and Utik, jar burials were the most common and archaeologically the most documented. Against the backdrop of the whole variety of burial structures, such as stone boxes, cists, and ground burials, jar burials became dominant, especially at the end of the first century BC and during the first centuries AD. The jar burials of Utik, such as those found in Mingechaur, Galatepe, and Garakobar, were studied by Azerbaijani archaeologists and presented as a culture typical of various Albanian tribes. This culture was considered simultaneous with the Yaloylu-tepe culture, which is characterized by soil burials with a strongly compressed skeleton and unique pottery. The Yaloylu-tepe culture is widespread on the right bank of the Kur River and is distinct from the jar burial culture. Examining the rites and properties of pottery burials found by excavations and accidentally found in Tigranakert of Artsakh, as well as other settlements of the region (Martakert, Chankatagh, Haterk) allows us to further expand the essential differences between Yaloylu-tepe and pottery burial cultures, which in turn served as an ethnic border in the ancient period. This provides a new argument for the concept of ethnic differentiation in the region during that time. Visit the following link for additional information: https://monumentwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/A.Gabrielyan_AGV_Artsakh_2023.pdf.

Medieval Shushi through the Lens of Archaeological Research

The issues of Shushi’s ancient history, foundation, construction, and ethnic affiliation of its different monuments have appeared on the list of “justifications” for Azerbaijan’s aggressive intentions more than once. For decades, Azerbaijan’s government and intelligentsia have cultivated a myth among its people, according to which Shushi began and thrived as an Azerbaijani city and the cradle of Azerbaijani culture.