Kükü (also, Kuku, Kyuki and Kyukyu) is a village and municipality in the

Shahbuz District Shahbuz District () is one of the 7 districts of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan. The district borders the districts of Julfa, Babek, and the Syunik and Vayots Dzor provinces of Armenia. Its capital and largest city is Shahbu ...

of Nakhchivan,

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

. It is located 20 km in the north from the district center, on the bank of the Kukuchay River, on the south-west of the slope of the Daralayaz ridge. Its population is busy with gardening and animal husbandry. There are a secondary school, a kindergarten, a library, a club and a hospital in the village. It has a population of 1,466. Nearby are located the archaeological monuments of ''Kuku I'', ''Kuku II'' and ''Kuku Necropolis''.

Etymology

The name of the Kükü village is associated with the same named river which is flowing through the area. The name of the ''Küküçay (Kukuchay River)'' made out from the components of the Turkic words of ''kükü'' (blue water) and ''çay'' (river), means "the Blue water River".''Encyclopedic Dictionary of Azerbaijan Toponyms''. In two volumes. Volume I. p. 304. Baku: "East-West". 2007. As it is located near the border with

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

, it has also been referred to in

Armenian literature Armenian literature (), produced in the Armenian language, has existed in written form since the 5th century CE, when the Armenian alphabet was invented by Mesrop Mashtots and the first original works of Armenian literature were composed. Prior ...

by the name Konk ().

Historical and archaeological monuments

Kuku I

''Kuku I'' - the ancient settlement at the entrance of the same named village of the Shahbuz district, on the right bank of Kukuchay River. It has covered of the two tall hills and its slope. The area is more than 74 hectares. The exploration works shows that the cultural layer has been destroyed. In accordance the relief of the mountain, the buildings are located in the narrow sidewalks. The pink and gray clay jug, bowl fragments were found from the place of residence. It is believed that there are the ancient graves in the area. The collected ground surface materials from the place of the residence, is considered to belong to the II-I millennium BC.

Kuku II

''Kuku II'' - the archaeological monument of the first

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

in the district of the Shahbuz, is located in slightly below from the junction of the rivers Kukuchay and Zyrnel. It is located on the bank of the Kukuchay River, on the top of the tall hill and is surrounded on all sides by deep canyons. Its area is 6400 m2. The ruins of a building which built with large stones were found in the settlement. According to the preserved remains of rooms, can say that, they have been in quadrangular shape. The saved wall remains are consist of a row of large stones. In the south-west side, were found the ruins of the stone wall in two rows. Sometimes adjacent and sometimes located far from each other rooms, are large and the area is up to 35 m2. Pink pottery fragments have been found from the place of residence and tambourine stone have been found in the right bank of the Kukuchay River. It is assumed that the monument belongs to the end of the 2nd millennium BC and the beginning of the 1st millennium BC.

Kuku Necropolis

''Kuku Necropolis'' - the archaeological monument of the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

in the inside of the same named village in the Shahbuz district. During the construction was determined that the monument are the ancient tombs. At the result of the research, from the first grave was found a large monochrome painted jug and gray plates. In some places, has been found a thin layer of ash, while more depth were the large stones. According to the finding materials, the grave of the depth of 3 m (length 2.5 m), width of the part of the survived portion was 0.6 m. The second grave was completely destroyed. The length of the surviving portion is the 4 m, a width of 0.6 m. The animal bones were dispersed throughout the grave. Bronze spear tip and bronze pins were found from grave. From the analysis of samples of the material culture of the Kuku necropolis, it is assumed that the monument belongs to the end of the 3rd millennium BC – the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC.

St. Nshan Monastery

St. Nshan or Hazarabyurats Monastery was a ruinous Christian monastery located on the slope of a hill, approximately 700m north of the village. It was founded in the middle of the 13th century by Albanians and was completely erased between 2003 and 2009.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kuku Populated places in Shahbuz District