Excavation at Kültepe II in Nakhchivan, 2024: First Preliminary Report
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.30546/679523.1.2025.37Keywords:
Kültepe II, Nakhchivan, Middle Bronze Age, Fortress, BurialAbstract
Kültepe II is a significant Bronze Age site in Nakhchivan, offering valuable insights into social and political organisation, settlement patterns, subsistence practices, and resource management during this period. This study presents the preliminary results of the Azerbaijan-German joint expedition conducted in the summer of 2024. Excavations focused on newly opened trenches in the southern part of the site, revealing rectilinear architectural spaces, a complex burial context, and a diverse assemblage of macro-lithic tools, including hammer stones, pestles, mortars, and grinding stones. These artefacts reflect domestic and subsistence activities within the settlement. The findings contribute to understanding material culture, site organisation, and economic practices during the region’s Middle and Late Bronze Age. One of the most notable discoveries is the presence of multiple individuals in non-standard burial arrangements, suggesting a possible communal or emergency burial. The positioning of bodies, with some appearing to have been hastily deposited, raised questions about the nature of their interment, possibly linked to a sudden event such as conflict.
References
Abibullayev O.A. (1982). Eneolithic and Bronze in the Territory of the Nakhichevan ASSR. [Энеолит и бронза на территории Нахичеванской АССР]. Publishing house “Elm”, Baku. (in Russian).
Aliyev V.H. (1962). A New Monument of the Bronze Age in Nakhchivan. [Naxçıvanda tunc dövrünün yeni abidəsi]. News of the Academy of Sciences of the Az.SSR, (Social Sciences series), No. 2, pp. 37–50. (in Azerbaijani).
Aliyev V.H. (1966). Stone Products Found in Kültepe II. (II Gültəpədən tapılmış daş məmulatı). Historical issues of Azerbaijan. Publishing house of the Academy of Sciences of the Azerbaijan SSR. Baku, pp. 11–18 (in Azerbaijani).
Aliyev V.H. (1972). Archaeological Research was Conducted in the Nakhchivan ASSR in 1971. Archaeological and Ethnographic Research was Conducted in Azerbaijan in 1971. [Naxçıvan MSSR-də 1971-ci ildə aparılan arxeoloji tədqiqatlar. 1971-ci ildə Azərbaycanda aparılmış arxeoloji ve etnoqrafik tədqiqatlar]. Publishing house «Elm”, Baku, pp. 8–10 (in Azerbaijani).
Aliyev V. (1975). Archaeological Research of 1975 in Kültepe II. [Археологические исследования 1975 года в Кюльтепе II]. Archaeological and ethnographic research in Azerbaijan, Publishing House “Elm”, Baku, pp. 21–23. (in Russian).
Aliyev V.H. (1979). Ancient Nakhchivan. [Qədim Naxçıvan]. Publishing House “Elm”, Baku (in Azerbaijani).
Aliyev, V. (1983). Culture of the Middle Bronze Age of Azerbaijan. [Культура эпохи средней бронзы Азербайджана]. Abstract of the Dissertation on the Competition for Academic Degrees. Tbilisi, p. 61. (in Russian).
Aliyev, V.H. (1983). Ancient Salt Mines of Nakhchivan. [Naxçıvanın qədim duz mədənləri]. Azerbaijan SSR EA News (History, Philosophy, Law series), No. 4, pp. 79–87 (in Azerbaijani).
Bakhshaliyev, V., Ristvet, L., Ashurov, S. (2009). The Chronology of Kura-Araxes Sites: 2006 Excavations at Kültepe II and Makhta I. Azerbaijan – Land between East and West. Transfer of knowledge and technology during the “First Globalisation” of the VIIth–IVth millennium BC. Deutsches Archaologisches Institut, Eurasien-Abteilung, pp. 82-87.
Hamon, C., Gailhard, N. & Fronteau, G. (2021). Salt Exploitation Techniques During the Early Bronze Age in the Caucasus. In: Catherine Marro & Thomas Stöllner (Eds.), On the salt, copper and gold: The origins of early mining and metallurgy in the Caucasus. (First ed., pp. 59–79). Aison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée — Jean Pouillouxpp.
Marro, C. (2021). The Functions of Kura-Araxes Ceramic Containers in Caucasian Early Mining. In: Catherine Marro & Thomas Stöllner (Eds.), On the salt, copper and gold: The origins of early mining and metallurgy in the Caucasus. (First ed., 79–100). Aison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée — Jean Pouillouxpp.
Marro, C., Bakhshaliyev, V., Berthon, R. & Thomalsky, J. (2019). New Light on the Late Prehistory of the South Caucasus: Data from the Recent Excavation Campaigns at Kültepe I, Azerbaijan (2012-2018). Paleorient, 45(1), pp. 81–113. https://doi.org/10.4000/paleorient.589
Ristvet, L., Bakhshaliyev, V., Ashurov, S. & Earley-Spadoni, T. (2011). Settlement and Society in Nakhchivan: 2006 Excavation and Survey of the Nakhchivan Archaeological Project. Iranica Antiqua, 46, pp. 1-53. www.doi.org/0.2143/IA.46.0.2084412
Seidov, A.G., Ashurov S.G. (1985). New Data on the Kura-Araks Culture in the Settlement of Kültepe II. [Новые данные о Куро-Аракской культуре в поселении Кюльтепе]. All-Union Archaeological Conference “Achievements of the Soviet Archaeology in the XI Five-Year Plan”, Abstracts of reports, Baku, pp. 318–320.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
