Systemizing the Past takes the reader to the fascinating world of Caucasian archaeology demonstrating the essential role of the region in shaping the prehistoric cultural landscape of the Ancient Near East. It is dedicated to Pavel Avetisyan, a leading modern Armenian archaeologist with wide international recognition, whose contributions are notable for their integration of present-day theoretical approaches, application of scientific methodology, and multidisciplinary research and stand out for their scientific value, raising Armenian archaeology to an international level.

The volume touches on issues of special interest to Pavel Avetisyan, among them fieldwork reports, and various problems of prehistoric archaeology, from the early farming societies of the Neolithic/Chalcolithic periods to the complex societies of the Bronze and Iron Ages. Questions regarding the chronology and periodization of Armenian and Caucasian archaeological traditions; theoretical problems concerning the formation and development of complex societies in the Armenian Highland and the Caucasus, demonstrating the features typical to regional shifts within the common Near Eastern context; as well as various topics dealing with ceramic typology, burial rites, sacred landscapes, chronology and periodization, transformation of social environments and culture sequences, palaeodemography, ‘World-System’ theory and its main concepts (such as borderland, marginal zone, and frontier) are also considered in the volume. Various contributions dedicated to the fundamental archaeological problems of the region gradually shift the research perspective to meta-levels of understanding the past.