Technical evaluation of Kura-Aras Culture Ceramics from the Ovçular and Duzdağ Excavations in Nakhchivan

Abstract

The breadth of the Kura Aras Culture’s spread area; The traces, architecture and preferred habitats of the Southern Caucasus, Northwest Iran, Eastern Anatolia, Amik Plain and the Levant were based on a migration movement by the researchers. This culture, which is defined by animal husbandry and an active lifestyle, also has regionally different terminologies. However, the most frequently encountered terminology; There was the Early Transcaucasian and Kura Aras Culture. This culture, which we do not know about their identities, what language they speak or why they prefer an active life, also contains many questions. Therefore, we can also consider this culture as a phenomenon. Despite this, when examining the Kura Aras Culture, the ceramics, which constitute the largest group of finds, provide us with information in terms of understanding the culture. It presents a very distinctive typology with its unique and characteristic ceramics of the culture, its distinctive construction technique and vessel profiles.

Ovçular Hill and Duzdağ are settlements in Nakhchivan but with two different functions. While Ovçular Hill is a Kura Aras camp settlement, Duzdağ has a functional importance in terms of economic and animal husbandry as it is a salt mine. When we examine the ceramics of the two settlements, we encounter ceramics with both similar and different characteristics. These differences, if we consider the topographic and functional characteristics of both settlements; clay, paste content, typology and surface treatments.