Study, published in the journal Antiquity, describes new archaeological finds obtained during a survey of the Karachay River basin along the northern foothills of the Lesser Caucasus in western Azerbaijan.
Andrea Ricci, Kiel University, Antiquity
The study was carried out following a tip from local archaeologists and local historians, who had been reporting on the mounds for a long time.
The authors of the work, Andrea Ricci from the University of Kiel (Germany), Muzafer Huseynov and Bakhtiyar Jalilov from the Institute of Archeology and Anthropology of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan, obtained new data using a combination of three research methods.
First, they carried out a large-scale analysis of the area of interest to archaeologists using satellite images. Then a traditional field survey of the identified monuments was carried out with access to the site, and then topographic mapping.
As a result, the researchers identified 85 previously unknown mounds, six necropolises and nine monuments from the Chalcolithic or Middle Ages. The authors believe their findings demonstrate the potential for further archaeological research in the region.
The project documented new archaeological sites located along the Karachay River basin in the Goranboy region in western Azerbaijan. The research began in the summer of 2023, when the burial mound was discovered. Scientists have suggested that there may be other similar objects in this sector of the southern Caucasus foothills.
And they were found using satellite remote sensing. This method was used for the first time in the Goranboy region, and little archaeological research was carried out here at all. Most of them are concentrated on burial sites.
As part of a new study on the Uzun Rama plateau, archaeologists have documented a high density of such mounds, including burial grounds that were repeatedly used for human burial.
The age of the most ancient mounds turned out to be respectable; they are dated to the Kura-Araks period (about 3500-3000 BC). Individual mounds date from the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age (c. 1500-1000 BC).
A comprehensive study using remote sensing and ground surveys additionally covered already known monuments, making it possible to identify a certain pattern in the choice of their locations. Taking into account the newly identified monuments, a total of 1,280 mounds along the shores of Karachay were studied.
“Our research reveals the complex nature of the mound phenomenon in this region,” the authors of the work write. “In 2018, archaeological research began at Karachinar, approximately 20 km southwest of Goranboy, which resulted in the discovery of a complex stratified sequence dating back to the third and second millennium BC. To date, Karacinar is the only prehistoric settlement discovered in the region.”
By the way, the study was carried out on a “tip” from local archaeologists and local historians, who reported about mounds along this river valley and complained that until now a systematic survey had not been carried out here.
It is also interesting that the researchers’ comprehensive interdisciplinary approach, combining three key methods, was not limited to modern satellite data. Scientists began their analysis with images taken by the Hexagon satellite in 1976. And then they compared them with images of modern satellites and navigation maps published on the Internet in the public domain.
This helped to trace changes in the landscape over time and assess the degree of human influence on the landscape. Extensive ground reconnaissance confirmed the satellite data, after which topographic mapping was carried out and a high density of mounds of various sizes and morphologies was documented.
Source: rodina-history.ru
