There are many finds in around 1500ha territory of Teghut. PhD in history Suren Hobosyan, the head of the Teghut archeological expedition of the Institute for Archeology and Ethnography of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia who is from the village of Shnogh, stated that at Armat (root) Club today. He mentioned that excavations have just started, but the fact that finds have been discovered is a reality – some of them date back 5000 years.
In S. Hobosyan’s words, the finds are threatened in the place called Dukanadzor, in particular, that is situated in the territory of the mine itself. There was a medieval foundry in Dukanadzor, only small part of which, according to the head of the expedition, is preserved. 1/5 of the construction remained; basically signs of melted metal are preserved.
In another place that is in the territory of Teghut itself, three wine presses were excavated. In S. Hobosyan’s words, the finds in the territory of the tailing storehouse, in particular, are threatened. One of the finds is in Kharatadzor, which is in the territory of the planned tailing storehouse and will be destroyed. S. Hobosyan informed that 40 tombs had been excavated in the territory of the tailing storehouse alone. The head of the expedition pointed out a few finds, which should be transferred, for example the medieval church of Bover that according to him, is planned to be transferred to the territory of soccer field on the bank of the Shnogh River. However, S. Hobosyan thinks that there are finds, the transfer of which isn’t appropriate. He thinks it is pointless to transfer 14 tombs, in particular.
“The government declared tourism economy’s major interest, but it doesn’t give it importance due to its idleness. It was possible to create more workplaces in that field, than in mining”, thinks environmentalist Apres Zohrabyan, a member of Trchkan and Teghut civil initiatives, adding that exploiting the mine, we destroy not only historical layers, but also the possibility of making money through those.
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Let us mention that the journalists present at the press conference were not satisfied with Suren Hobosyan’s answers, since the latter’s answers were contradictory. S. Hobosyan originally from Shnogh talked about destroying the finds, on one hand and justified Vallex, on the other, “This is a great pain for me, but one should not picture Teghut Organization as a monster.” Let us underline that the expedition was formed by the Institute for Archeology and Ethnography of the National Academy of Sciences and it was financed by Vallex.
By the way, one of the people who filmed the press conference completely didn’t know, for whom he worked. When we inquired from which mass media he was, he said that he had just been asked to film and he didn’t know who that man had been.
Lusine KHACHATRYAN
