During excavations at a fortress site near Lake Sevan, researchers have unearthed a series of ceremonial juniper-wood chests reinforced with decorative gold-leaf bands. The chests, dating to the Urartian period, were found within a subterranean chamber containing carbonized seeds of seven distinct grain types, pointing to an elaborate pre-Christian harvest consecration ritual.
The specific arrangement of the grains and the presence of ceremonial bronze ladles suggest these chests were central to the Navasard New Year festivals, where the year's bounty was ritually protected. This discovery provides a rare physical link between the sophisticated state religion of Urartu and the enduring folk traditions of the Armenian highlands that survived into the medieval era.