The karas is a tall clay vessel, set into the cool earth up to its shoulders, where wine was fermented, stored and kept safe through the winter. Its form was settled by the Urartian period, at least the ninth century BC, and its roots reach further back still. Many of us have walked past one in a village courtyard without knowing what we were looking at.

This book, by archaeologist Miqayel Badalyan, is a dedicated scholarly study of the karas: where it came from, how it was made and used, and what remains of the craft today. Saromm Grounds initiated and supported the research. The scholarship belongs to its author. The karas belongs to all of us.

The book is now available in the Armenian language. Publication details for the English-language version will be announced in 2027.