Kültəpə (also rendered as Aşağı Gültəpə, Gültəpə, Kyul'tepe, Kul'tepe, and Kultepe) is a settlement dated from the
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several part ...
Age, a village and municipality in the
Babek District
Babek District () is one of the 7 districts of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan. The district borders the districts of Julfa, Shahbuz, Kangarli, Nakhchivan city, as well as the Vayots Dzor Province of Armenia and the East Azerb ...
of
Nakhchivan,
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
. It has a population of 1,859.
Research
In 1951, archeologist Osman Habibulla began excavation in the settlement, clarifying the stratigraphy and cultural strata of the area. The
tell was much disturbed in the past.
As excavators had found, the town features a cultural layer with the total depth of 22 m. The earliest 9 m of this belongs to the
Neolithic Age
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several pa ...
. Some
Halaf culture
The Halaf culture is a prehistoric period which lasted between about 6100 BC and 5100 BC. The period is a continuous development out of the earlier Pottery Neolithic and is located primarily in the fertile valley of the Khabur River (Nahr al-K ...
artifacts have been found.
On top of that are the remains of the
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
, and then the
Early Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly app ...
.
At each of these layers a variety of artifacts were found: pottery dishes, cattle-breeding and agricultural implements, adornments, weapons etc.
In the
Eneolithic
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star.
Computer scientists and mathematicians often ...
layer the excavators discovered remains of buildings, as well as burial places. These buildings were round as well as rectangular-shaped, and were made of mudbrick. The diameter of the round constructions was around 6–8 meters. The rectangular ones are about 15 sq. m in size. These structures were typically connected with agriculture.
85 burial places were investigated in the Eneolithic layer. In 31 of those excavators found pottery dishes, items made of bones and stone, and beads.
Copper-arsenic
Soviet scientists decided that Kultepe (Kul'tepe) is the place where the first items made of copper-arsenic alloys, dating back to the 4th millennium BC, were found in the South Caucasus.
The local method of arsenic copper production was confirmed by results of chemical investigation and casting forms and the remains of casting discovered there.
Regional influence
Archaeological site
Alikemek Tepesi
Alikomektepe ( az, Əliköməktəpə) is an ancient settlement located in Jalilabad District (Azerbaijan), in the Mugan plain, belonging to the Chalcolithic period, dating to c. 5000 BC. Early levels belonged to the Shulaveri-Shomu culture. It ...
is located 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 ...
along the
Aras (river)
, az, Araz, fa, ارس, tr, Aras
The Aras (also known as the Araks, Arax, Araxes, or Araz) is a river in the Caucasus. It rises in eastern Turkey and flows along the borders between Turkey and Armenia, between Turkey and the Nakhchivan excl ...
. Some archaeologists speak of the ancient ''Alikemek-Kul'tepe culture'' of southeastern Caucasus, that 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 regul ...
periods (c. 4500 BC).
Aratashen (following level II) was also part of this culture.
The Alikemek–Kul'tepe culture covered the Ararat Plain, Nakhchivan, the Mil’skoj and Mugan Steppes and the region around
Lake Urmia
Lake Urmia;
az, اۇرمۇ گؤلۆ, script=Arab, italic=no, Urmu gölü;
ku, گۆلائوو رمیەیێ, Gola Ûrmiyeyê;
hy, Ուրմիա լիճ, Urmia lich;
arc, ܝܡܬܐ ܕܐܘܪܡܝܐ is an endorheic salt lake in Iran. The lake is ...
in north-western Iran
Kultepe 2
Kültepe 2 is located about 1.5 km north of Kultepe 1, or about 10 km north of
Nakhchivan (city)
Nakhchivan ( az, Naxçıvan ; arm, Նախիջևան, Nakhijevan) is the capital of the eponymous Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan, located west of Baku. The municipality of Nakhchivan consists of the city of Nakhchivan, the settleme ...
on the west bank of the river between the villages of Kültepe and
Didivar. The site is nearly 10 ha in extent; it was occupied during the Early (
Kura-Araxes culture), and Middle Bronze Age.
Osman Abibullaev first investigated this location in 1962, as part of his work on Kültepe 1. In 2006, the Naxçivan Archaeological Project started to investigate the site again.
The Kura-Araxes town may have been c. 5 hectares, and over the later period the settlement extended to the full 10 ha, so this is a very large site in the area.
Kültepe 2
- Nakhchivan Archaeological Project - oglanqala.net
Coordinates: N 39.2886, E 45.4474.
See also
*Makhta Kultepe
Maxta (also, ''Makhta'', ''Makhta Kultepe'') is a village and municipality in the Sharur District of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, Azerbaijan. It is located 7 km in the north-west from the district center, on the plain. Its population i ...
*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 disc ...
in Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...
*Zeyvə, Nakhchivan
Zeyvə (also, Zeyva and Zaviya) is a village and municipality in the Sharur District of Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan. It is located near of the Nakhchivan-Sadarak highway, 3 km in the north-west from the district center, on the plain. Its populati ...
Gallery
Azerbaijan State Museum of History
The National Museum of History of Azerbaijan ( az, Milli Azərbaycan Tarixi Muzeyi) is the largest museum in Azerbaijan. It is located in Baku, in the former residential house of Azerbaijani oil magnate and philanthropist Haji Zeynalabdin Tag ...
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Image:Dən daşı I Kültəpə.JPG, Mortar
Image:Dəvəgözü və çaxmaqdaşından nukleuslar, Qarğalar təpəsi və I Kültəpə.JPG, Arrowheads
Image:Painted vessel from Kultepe I.JPG, Painted vessel from Kultepe I
Image:II Kültəpə yaşayış yerindən aşkarlanmış boyalı saxsı küp.jpg, Painted vessel from Kultepe II
Image:Saxsı küp, I Kültəpə.JPG, Clay pitcher
Журнал «Azerbaijan Archeology».
* Абибуллаев О. А. Некоторые итоги изучения холма Кюльтепе в Азербайджане, СА, 1963.
* Абибуллаев О. А. Энеолит и бронза на территории Нахчыванской АССР, Баку, 1983.
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