Ararat Plain Southeast Archaeological Project (APSAP)

• Faculty Knowledge Exchange Award, 2026

• Research Output Prize, 2025. Awarded for the following article: https://doi.org/10.1086/732090, the first international comprehensive publication of the human past in the Vedi River Valley of Armenia.

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Project website: https://openarchaeology.org/armenia/

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The Ararat Plain Southeast Archaeological Project (APSAP) surveys and excavates sites on the southeastern edge of the Armenian Araxes River Valley, together with the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, National Academy of Science, Republic of Armenia. The project explores the movement of people through the landscape and human occupation of the area, with particular focus on the transition from the Bronze to the Iron Age as well as the Classical and Medieval periods in the region. The project’s main excavation is of the Late Bronze and Iron Age (1500–800 BCE), and Early Medieval (ca 450-650 CE) site of the Vedi Fortress. Work at the site, which sits at a key defensive position at the entrance to the valley and in view of Mount Ararat, has explored traces of fortress walls, pottery fragments, bones, and many other deposits.
 

Prof Peter J. Cobb, Associate Professor in the School of Humanities, Faculty of Arts, at HKU directs the project, together with Assistant Director Prof Elvan Cobb, Assistant Professor in the Department of History, Hong Kong Baptist University, and Project Coordinator Mr Hayk Azizbekyan, PhD Candidate, School of Humanities, Faculty of Arts, at HKU and member of the Armenian Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography.
 
The project began explorations in 2019, focusing on topography, residential features, vegetation, climate, and community networks in the Vedi River Valley. 2022 saw the first full season of excavation at the Vedi Fortress, with a later transition to study seasons in 2026.  Students from HKU can join the excavation through a summer course. APSAP’s fieldwork focuses on past mobilities, ceramics, and landscapes. It also encompasses the refinement of digital recording technologies for survey and excavation with the goal to further data analysis and dissemination of information in open digital formats to the public. The project incorporates big data practices in archaeology and bring together specialists and volunteers with backgrounds as different as architecture, computer science, archaeology, digital media, and public engagement.

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