Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jasrep Archaeobotanical data from an ‘agglomerated cells’ type site: Plant macro- remains from Arteni-1 (Armenia) Roman Hovsepyan Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography NAS RA, 15 Charents Str., 0025 Yerevan, Armenia ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Agglomerated cells Desert kite Middle bronze age Cereals Sheep/goat herding Coprolite Pens ABSTRACT So-called ‘agglomerated cells’ and “desert kites” are usually neighbouring archaeological stone-walled con- structions mostly found in desert or mountainous areas of the Middle East and Southwest Asia. Various functions, almost always related with the funnelling of wild or domestic animals, are ascribed to the “kite” constructions - mostly V-shape converging long and low stone walls. Meanwhile, the functions of the ‘agglomerated cells’ are less clear and archaeobotanical data can provide some hints for interpretation. As far as we know, there are not currently any other archaeobotanical studies of ‘agglomerated cells’ type sites. The visible part of the Arteni-1 site discussed in this article represents an ‘agglomerated cells’ type construction neighbouring a “desert kite.” Excavations (2016–2017) and further archaeobotanical investigations of the Middle Bronze Age layers of the Arteni-1 site revealed coprolite, seeds, some charcoal fragments and other macroscopic organic remains. The presence, abundance and spread of coprolite in almost all studied contexts suggest that those constructions were mostly or frequently used as pens for animals. Morphologically identifiable parts of the coprolites recovered from the site resemble droppings of sheep and goat. The recovered findings of seeds, including remains of cultivated cereals, are an indirect evidence of domestic use of the area. Hulled and naked (free-threshing) barley (Hordeum vulgare), naked wheat (possibly bread wheat, Triticum cf. aestivum) and emmer (Triticum dicoccum) recorded for the site, presumably are remains of food. There are also seeds remains of several wild and weedy taxa (species of Setaria, Hordeum, Lolium, Galium, Buglossoides, Salsola, Chenopodium, Vaccaria, Thymelea, etc.). 1. Introduction The archaeological site of Arteni-1 is situated on the south-western flank of the Aragats massif (N40°19′10.69″, E43°46′59.09″, altitude 1243 m above sea level) in the territory of the Republic of Armenia, a landlocked mountainous country in the South Caucasus (Fig. 1). The visible part of the site is a complex of the ‘agglomerated cells’ type construction. This sub-circular complex is formed by an agglomerate of circular or sub-circular low stone-walled chambers/cells. There is an- other type of similar cellular constructions with a radial symmetry which are called “wheel house” or “jellyfish”. ‘Agglomerated cells’ and “wheel houses”/“jellyfish”, as a rule, neighbour a “desert kite” con- struction. “Desert kites” are large-scale stone structures usually com- posed of two long, low-height converging stone rows (walls) leading to a spacious enclosure. Currently, there are almost six thousand kites identified in the Middle East and Southwest Asia. These were dis- covered in Armenia, the Aralo-Caspian Region, Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia (see Shakhmuradyan, 2017; Kalantarian et al., 2017). Interest towards “kites” and related constructions, especially towards the ones recently discovered in the territory of Armenia, rose during recent years (Barge et al., 2015, 2016, Brochier et al., 2014, Nadel et al., 2015, Chahoud et al., 2015, Kalantarian et al., 2017 and the references cited by them). In general, the walls of “kites” are mostly interpreted as having been used to funnel animals towards the stone- walled enclosure, supposedly for trapping and hunting purposes (e.g. Kempe and Al-Malabeh, 2010; Brochier et al., 2014; Nadel et al., 2015; Barge et al., 2016; Chahoud et al., 2015, 2016), although the hypothesis of pastoral use exists as well (Echallier and Braemer, 1995; Perevolotsky and Rosen, 1998). Meanwhile, almost nothing is known about the function of the ‘agglomerated cells’ and “wheel houses”/ “jellyfish” constructions. The studied complex of ‘agglomerated cells’, Arteni-1, measures 86 m × 99 m and occupies an area ca. 1 ha. The site was discovered in 2011 (during the Kite survey); ‘the agglomerated cells’ is located 3 km north-east of Arteni village (Aragatsotn marz), on the right side of the road leading to Talin. Like most ‘agglomerated cells’ structures, the Arteni-1 site neighbours a “desert kite” construction (Kite no.7: N40°19′26.32″, E43°47′54.21″; alt. 1274 m a.s.l.). However, the re- lationship between these different entities is not clear. Overlapping between these structures suggest an anteriority of “kites” with respect https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2018.08.017 Received 14 March 2018; Received in revised form 8 July 2018; Accepted 8 August 2018 E-mail address: roman.hovsepyan@gmail.com. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 21 (2018) 619–628 2352-409X/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. T