The Verin Naver archaeological site is located on the southern slopes of Mount Aragats, in the Aragatsotn Province, about 5 kilometers west of Ashtarak and about 30 kilometers west of Yerevan. It is dated to the 20th century BC. It is a large necropolis with Bronze Age burial mounds, neighboring, at a distance of one to one-and-a-half kilometers, another well-known necropolis — Nerkin (Lower) Naver.
According to archaeologist Hakob Simonyan, the recurring word "Naver" in the names of the two monuments is connected to the ancient Armenian belief that the deceased departed for the afterlife by boat.
One of the largest burial mounds excavated in 2011–2012 had a diameter of 50 meters and a height of 2 meters; beneath it two burial chambers were discovered.
In these burial chambers were found gold ornaments, carnelian beads, Egyptian faience and glass, a microlithic blade of green obsidian (material analysis traces its origin to Nemrut mountain near Lake Van), the head of a bronze dagger hilt with a six-pointed star ornament, and characteristic Late Bronze Age black-burnished pottery. The variety of objects found attests to trade connections reaching Egypt and the eastern parts of Asia Minor.
According to publicly available data from Hakob Simonyan, about 7,000 square meters have been excavated at Verin Naver, and about 70 burial mounds have been recorded, which — unlike the 8 princely tombs of the neighboring Nerkin Naver — belong to representatives of the ordinary population.
In the tombs of Nerkin Naver, dated to the Middle Bronze Age (approximately the 23rd–18th centuries BC), the bones of sacrificed horses have also been found.
