Kultepe I

Kültəpə I

Azerbaijan · Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic

SettlementIntermittent excavation
Approximate period6,000 BCE — 1,000 BCENeolithic, Chalcolithic and Bronze Age See on the map ↓

In brief

The mound near the Nakhchivanchay provides an important stratigraphic sequence for studying the early farming communities of the South Caucasus. Following the excavations of 1951-1964, work conducted in 2012-2018 reassessed the Neolithic and Kura-Araxes phases in particular.

What was found?

  • 1Neolithic pottery

    New excavations at Kültepe I have uncovered vessels documenting the Pottery Neolithic settlement. These are important for dating early village life in Nahçıvan.

  • 2Obsidian and flint tools

    Stone cores, blades, and sickle teeth have been found. They document stone tool production and implements associated with agriculture.

  • 3Remains of circular dwellings

    Circular buildings with foundations of river stones and clay mortar have been uncovered. They provide information about housebuilding techniques in the early settlement.

  • 4Remains of hearths and ovens

    Hearths and ovens were found in the settlement alongside dwellings and other buildings. They show the fixed installations in which fire was used in everyday life.

What does it point to?

The buildings, pottery, and agricultural tools at Kültepe I make early settled life in the South Caucasus visible. According to researchers, the finds show that farming communities existed in the region before the Kura-Aras culture.

What did it teach us?

  1. Documented that settled farming communities lived in the South Caucasus before the Kura-Aras culture.
  2. Shed light on the Pottery Neolithic past of Nahçıvan.
  3. Provided concrete data on the everyday life of early villages through dwellings, hearths, and stone tools.

Images

Dəvəgözü və çaxmaqdaşından nukleuslar, Qarğalar təpəsi və I Kültəpə
Urek Meniashvili · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Exponates from Kültepe I (Azerbaijan)
User:Sefer azeri from az.wikipedia.org · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Record

Culture
Kultepe Neolithic culture; Kura-Araxes culture
First modern dig
1951
Team / historical
Fransız-Azerbaycan ortak kazı ekibi
Coordinates
39.2722°, 45.4557°

Sources

  1. journals.openedition.org
  2. arheologia.com.ua
  3. edizionicafoscari.unive.it
  4. persee.fr
  5. Azerbaycan Yüksek Tasdik Komisyonu — Vafa Mahmudova’nın doktora tezi özeti

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