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14CHRONOLOGY OF ENEOLITHIC CULTURE (REGARDING THE STUDY OF NAKHCHIVAN-SHARUR ARCHEOLOGICAL MONUMENTS)
Mammadov E.M.
Mammadov Emm Mammadali - Teacher, DEPARTAMENT OF GENERAL HISTORY, NAKHICHEVAN STATE UNIVERSITY, NAKHICHEVAN, REPUBLIC OF AZERBAIJAN
Abstract: the article contains important information on the systematic research conducted in recent years on a number of archeological monuments of the Eneolithic period in Nakhchivan, the chronology and chronology of these monuments. Based on international experience and the results of a number of analyzes, the chronology of these monuments has been reconsidered. The results of carbon analysis taken from settlements and hearths made it necessary to re-date the monuments. It was concluded that the archeological monuments of the Eneolithic period of Nakhchivan, especially the ancient Sharur region, are important for the study of not only the history of Azerbaijan, but also the history of the South Caucasus and the Middle East.
Keywords: Eneolithic period, Middle East, Nakhchivan, Sharur, Ovchulartepe, archeological research, chronology, archeological chronology.
Different views have been expressed on the periodization of Eneolithic monuments. The stratification of the Kultapa I monument was based on the chronology of the Eneolithic monuments of Nakhchivan. However, during the excavations carried out in 2013-2018, the researchers noted that the "1a" and "1b" strata of Kultapa I, which previously belonged to the Eneolithic period, belonged to the Neolithic period. The Neolithic stratum of Kultapa I is now dated to the second half of the VII millennium BC and the VI millennium BC [4, p. 38-41].
To fill the chronological gap between the Late Neolithic monuments and the Late Eneolithic monuments, some researchers have tried to date the Ovchulartepe settlement as the Middle and Late Eneolithic period [3, p. 6]. However, despite certain technological and typological similarities, certain differences are observed between the ceramics of Kultapa I and the ceramics of Ovchulartepe.
New monuments discovered in the Nakhchivanchay and Sirabchay valleys in 2010-2017 during the researches of V.B. Bakhshaliyev allowed to re-date different stages of the Eneolithic period. The new monuments discovered in the Nakhchivanchay and Sirabchay valleys are also important for the periodization of the Eneolithic monuments of the Sharur region.
As we have mentioned, monuments of the Middle and Late Eneolithic period have been discovered in Sharur district so far. The Middle Eneolithic period was studied by the study of the settlements of Uchan Agil, Uzunoba and Bulagovaya, which were discovered during the researches in the Sirabchay valley. Analysis of carbon samples found in these settlements allows us to date the Middle Eneolithic period mainly to 4600-4400 BC [7, p. 29-52]. There is a lot of carbon analysis to date the Ovchulartepe culture of the Late Eneolithic period.
Studies show that people settled in Ovchulartepe settlement starting from the second half of the 5th millennium BC. During the study of the settlement, it was shown that the first houses in Ovchulartepe were built with wooden poles and had a light construction. However, archeological excavations show that this type of houses was not used for a long time, they were used only during the construction of semi-excavations. The architecture of Ovchulartepe settlement consists of two completely different construction periods. The first period is characterized by semi-drilled houses, and the second period is characterized by quadrangular single-room and multi-room houses.
The houses of the first construction period are located at a depth of 20-40 cm above the ground level of the hill. After the site was leveled, the houses were built in a rectangular shape. There is no surface part of them left. Most likely, the surface part of this type of house was lightly constructed. Analysis of carbon samples taken from the hearths of this period shows that this building layer dates back to 4350-4200 BC [3, p. 7].
The buildings of the second period were built on a high stone foundation. The upper part of the walls was not built well because it was built of brick. Therefore, a lot of brick fragments were found inside some houses. The houses in the twelfth and fourteenth areas were built by digging the slope of the hill, and this part was reinforced with a stone wall to prevent the flow of soil on the slope. The other walls of the houses are built of raw bricks on a stone foundation. In general, the houses in the Ovchulartepe settlement were built in conjunction with retaining walls. A characteristic feature of both periods is that the houses are rectangular in shape.
Research shows that quadrangular houses were used in the Neolithic period in the settlement of Kultapa I in Nakhchivan [2, p. 276]. This type of architecture has been widely used in Nakhchivan since the Early Eneolithic period [5, p. 59, Figure 15]. Rectangular architecture is also known from the Yeniyol settlement in Nakhchivan during the Late Eneolithic period. This type of architecture is also characteristic of contemporary monuments of Eastern Anatolia. This period of the Ovchulartepe settlement dates back to 4200-4000 BC on the basis of carbon analysis [9, p. 62]. This is observed both from a technological and morphological point of view in the ceramic product where there is continuity in the settlement.
Similar pottery of the Ovchulartepe settlement was found in other regions of Azerbaijan, especially in the Menteshtepe settlement. The first stage of the Menteshtapa, dating to the Late Eneolithic period, dates back to 4350-4200 BC, and the second stage to the beginning of 4000 BC (239, pp. 91-92). The brick structures found in this layer are similar to Ovchulartepe (239, fig. 132). Circular hearths are typical for both stages. With some exceptions, Menteshtepe's ceramics are similar to Ovchulartepe's ceramics in shape and pattern. From this point of view, jugs with sloping mouths, round-bodied bowls and convex-conical bowls are especially noteworthy. The pottery of Ovchulartepe settlement is also similar to the pottery of Yeniyol, Serin Bulag, Shorsu and Zirinjli located in the Sirabchay valley. The results of carbon analysis taken from the lower layers of the Yeniyol settlement show 4038-4018 BC. Analysis of coal taken from the upper layer of this settlement showed the years 3712-3622 BC. Analysis of coal taken from Sarinbulag settlement in Sirabchay valley showed 3902-3880 BC, analysis of coal taken from Shorsu showed 3910-3870 BC, analysis of coal taken from Deyirmanyeri settlement showed 3946-3701 BC. As mentioned above, similar pottery from Ovchulartepe is also known from the Kechili settlement on the Mil Plain. Close analogues of Ovchulartepe pottery are also known from the settlements of Texut, Khatunarkh, Chopi and Ginchi in the South Caucasus, Hanago, Ashtepe, Ilandash in Eastern Anatolia, Julfa Kultapa in South Azerbaijan, and the Old Pasgah settlement. The pottery of the ancient Passover settlement dates back to the beginning of the 4th millennium BC, or rather to 3955. Examples of pottery similar to Ovchulartepe in Julfa Kultapa are known from layers VII-VI. Layer VII of Julfa Kultapa was dated to 4200-4050 BC on the basis of coal analysis, and layer VI to 4180-3960 BC (174, pp. 55-57).
The ceramics of ginchi ceramics, which are embroidered with fingerprints on a convex belt, are especially close to the similar ceramics of Ovchulartepe and Norshuntepe settlements. According to R.Munchayev, this type of pottery entered the Ginchi settlement through the territory of Iran, passing through the South Caucasus (147, p. 128). Part of the Late Eneolithic pottery of the Khatunarkh settlement is represented by a ceramic product with a round hole at the edge of the mouth. Khatunarkh's ceramics is made of straw-mixed clay. If we take into account that the Late Eneolithic stratum of Khatunarkh settlement belongs to 4084-4083 BC and 4085 BC (188, p. 194), then we can say that Khatunarkh pottery covers the last stage of Ovchulartepe culture. The ceramics of Eastern Anatolian settlements are morphologically and technologically identical to Ovchulartepe.
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