2021/01/01 by Nicolas Gailhard, Michael Bode, Veli Bakhshaliyev +1 · 1 voice
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Social Sciences · #Archaeology and ancient environmental studies #Metallurgy and Cultural Artifacts #Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
paper · doi:10.4000/books.momeditions.12532
openalex publication_date 2021/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
The data recently collected from the Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age settlements of Ovçular Tepesi, Uçan Ağıl, Zirinçlik and Kültepe I in Nakhchivan have cast new light on the beginnings of extractive metallurgy in the South Caucasus. This technological innovation, combined with the spread of vertical pastoralism, prompted new dynamics through the circulation of objects and raw materials, which in turn modified social and human-environmental interactions. Artefacts, copper-ore fragments, or metallurgical tools were retrieved from these sites, but the evidence from Ovçular Tepesi is of special importance since it extends the record of known complex crafting methods in the Caucasus to the last quarter of the 5th millennium. Copper casting, specific copper-oxide selection and possibly co-smelting practices have been brought to light, while the geochemical and lead isotopic analysis of the finds, some of which are large copper tools, show that these artefacts were made locally from the copper ores collected from the nearby deposits of the Zangezur mountain. This is the first “invisible movement” from the mountains and its wealth in copper-ores deposits, towards the plains where permanent or semi-permanent settlements such as Kültepe I and Ovçular Tepesi are located. Among the copper tools from Ovçular Tepesi, one axe-adze and one axe-hammer display close parallels with contemporary artefacts from south-eastern Europe (e.g. Vidra-type axes) and Iran (Tepe Ghabristan), suggesting possible connections both with the Circumpontic Metallurgical Province (CMP) and the Iranian Plateau: indeed, long-distance exchanges also number among these “invisible movements”. Altogether, the evidence from Nakhchivan shows that an advanced stage of extractive metallurgy had been reached in the South Caucasus by the late 5th millennium, possibly in relationship with the exploitation of mountain territories, the development of pastoralism and long-exchange networks.