Alikomektepe ( az, Əliköməktəpə) is an ancient settlement located in
Jalilabad District (Azerbaijan)
Jalilabad District ( az, Cəlilabad rayonu) is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. It is located in the south-east of the country and belongs to the Lankaran-Astara Economic Region. The district borders the districts of Masally, Yardimli, B ...
, in the
Mugan plain
Mughan plain ( az, Muğan düzü, مغان دوزو; ) is a plain stretching from northwestern Iran to the southern part of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The highest density of irrigation canals is in the section of the Mughan plain which lies in ...
, belonging to the
Chalcolithic
The Copper Age, also called the Chalcolithic (; from grc-gre, χαλκός ''khalkós'', "copper" and ''líthos'', "stone") or (A)eneolithic (from Latin '' aeneus'' "of copper"), is an archaeological period characterized by regular ...
period, dating to c. 5000 BC. Early levels belonged to the
Shulaveri-Shomu culture. It covers an area of over 1 hectare.
Description
Materials from this site are very close to the materials obtained from monuments of northwestern Iran (Dalma ware). The artifacts of the lower level are similar to those at
Kültəpə
Kültəpə (also rendered as Aşağı Gültəpə, Gültəpə, Kyul'tepe, Kul'tepe, and Kultepe) is a settlement dated from the Neolithic Age, a village and municipality in the Babek District of Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan. It has a population of 1,8 ...
I in
Nakhchivan. In the upper levels, there is also pottery of the northern
Ubaid period
The Ubaid period (c. 6500–3700 BC) is a prehistoric period of Mesopotamia. The name derives from Tell al-'Ubaid where the earliest large excavation of Ubaid period material was conducted initially in 1919 by Henry Hall and later by Leonard Wool ...
type.
There was numerous earthenware found during the excavations. More than 300 samples of painted pottery covered with monochrome drawings were found. Most of the brown and red drawings are triangles, rhombuses, containing straight and curved lines. Many items from Alikomektepe are considered as locally produced.
Alikomek-Kultepe culture
Some archaeologists speak of the ancient ''Alikomek-Kultepe culture'' of southeastern Caucasus, which followed the
Shulaveri-Shomu culture, and covered the transition from the Neolithic to
Chalcolithic
The Copper Age, also called the Chalcolithic (; from grc-gre, χαλκός ''khalkós'', "copper" and ''líthos'', "stone") or (A)eneolithic (from Latin '' aeneus'' "of copper"), is an archaeological period characterized by regular ...
periods (c. 4500 BC).
According to A. Courcier,
"Situated respectively at the border of the Mugan Steppe and in Nakhichevan (Azerbaijan), the settlements of Alikemek and Kul’tepe I were excavated in the 1950s–1970s and are not dated with certainty. They probably represent a relatively long period and occupation seems to have started early (probably during the sixth millennium BCE) (Lyonnet 2008, pp. 4–6). The Alikemek–Kul’tepe culture covered the Ararat Plain, Nakhichevan, the Mil’skoj and Mugan Steppes and the region around Lake Urmia in north-western Iran" (Kushnareva 1997, p. 33).[A. Courcier (2014)]
Ancient Metallurgy in the Caucasus From the Sixth to the Third Millennium BCE.
In B. W. Roberts, C. P. Thornton (eds.), ''Archaeometallurgy in Global Perspective''. DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-9017-3_22
See also
*
History of Azerbaijan
The history of Azerbaijan is understood as the history of the region now forming the Republic of Azerbaijan. Topographically, the land is contained by the southern slopes of the Caucasus Mountains in the north, the Caspian Sea in the east, and t ...
*
Aratashen
*
Kul Tepe Jolfa
Kul Tepe Jolfa (Gargar Tepesi) (Kul Tapeh) is an ancient archaeological site in the Jolfa County of Iran, located in the city of Hadishahr, about 10 km south from the Araxes River.
It dates to Chalcolithic period (5000–4500 BC), and was discov ...
, Iran
Notes
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Bibliography
*Bertille LYONNET, Farhad GULIYEV (2010)
Recent discoveries on the Neolithic and Chalcolithic of Western Azerbaijan.TUBA-AR, TURKISH ACADEMY OF SCIENCES JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY 13, 219-228
*V Bakhshaliyev, A Seyidov
New findings from the settlement of Sadarak (Nakhchivan-Azerbaijan)- Anatolia Antiqua, 2013 - persee.fr
External links
ARCHEOLOGY, REPUBLIC OF AZERBAIJANiranicaonline.org
Prehistoric sites in Azerbaijan
Archaeological sites in Azerbaijan