Aratashen
village in Armavir Province of Armenia
Aratashen (Armenian: Առատաշեն, also Romanized as Arratashen; also, Artashen; until 1978 Zeyva Hayi – meaning "Armenian Zeyva", Zeyva, Bol’shaya Zeyva and Nerkin-Zeyva) is a town in the Armavir Province of Armenia. It is located on the Ararat Plain.
Archaeology
A Neolithic-Chalcolithic tell is located south of the town.
The first occupation phase at Aratashen was pre-ceramic, going back to 6500 BCE. Parallels are found in the southeastern Trans-Caucasia, and in the northeastern Mesopotamia, especially based on the construction techniques and the lithic and bone tools.
Also the pottery, after it appears, is somewhat similar. The best parallels are with Kul Tepe of Nakhichevan to the south, and with the northern Near East, such as the lower levels of Hajji Firuz Tepe, at Dalma Tepe, and at Tilki Tepe.
The Shulaveri-Shomutepe culture, that developed in the neighbouring Kura basin and the Artsakh steppe, does not have close parallels with the early Aratashen artifacts.
At Aratashen, obsidian was discovered that came from Turkish sources at Meydan Dağ, in the Lake Van basin; these samples were found in association with the very early Halaf culture ware, which probably also came to Aratashen from the same area.
Other types of pottery appear at the end of the fifth millennium BC. At this time, the plain of Ararat was in contact with the contemporary populations of northern Mesopotamia, and also with those of the ‘Sioni culture’ of the Kura basin.
The pottery of the second occupation phase of Aratashen is becoming close to that in the Ararat plain.
“Aratashen” enters the record as village in Armavir Province of Armenia. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Aratashen, village and Armavir can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Aratashen” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Aratashen, village and Armavir provides the most credible route into that argument.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q632887. Authority coordinates are 40.129, 44.227. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1978.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Aratashen”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Aratashen primary sources, Aratashen archive and Aratashen research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Aratashen”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Aratashen” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.