Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 54 (1) 2026   doi:10.17746/1563-0110.2026.54.1.054-064

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A Microbiological Study of the Content of Vessels
from a 6th Century BC Burial at Nor Armavir, Armenia

N.N. Kashirskaya¹, T.E. Khomutova¹, E.V. Chernysheva¹, K.S. Dushchanova¹, D.A. Yurshenas², M.S. Hmayakyan³, N.G. Tiratsyan³, and S.G. Hmayakyan³

¹Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science, Russian Academy of Sciences, Institutskaya 2, Pushchino, 142290, Russia

²Volgograd State University, Universitetsky pr. 100, Volgograd, 400062, Russia

³Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, Charents 15, Yerevan, 0025, Armenia

We present the results of a microbiological analysis of the soil-filling of vessels (two goblets, four pots, two jugs, and a jug-goblet) from a 6th century BC burial at Nor Armavir, Armavir Region, Republic of Armenia. Trophic preferences, the number of microbial communities in the soil samples, and the growth patterns of isolated microorganisms, grown in liquid culture media and capable of fermenting milk and simple sugars, strongly suggest that one pot contained cereal porridge, and the other, a concentrated solid fermented milk product. One jar contained a similar fermented milk product, but liquid. Mixed cultures of spore-forming bacteria isolated from samples of soil were capable of lactic fermentation and had various properties. Samples from jugs and goblets demonstrated similar growth intensity in the Elliker liquid nutrient medium, and in sucrose and raffinose solutions. Those from the filling of pots and small pots showed maximal growth in Elliker and raffinose. The most active microorganisms, which formed a milk curd in two days, were found in samples from a pot and a jug. Pure cultures from the filling of all vessels (except two) were formed from strain Sporolactobacillus terrae PQ 461357 KNN4, intensely growing under repeated subculturing.

Keywords: Urartian culture, burials, vessels, soil, trophic groups of microorganisms, Sporolactobacillus