Kiul-Tepe

Kiul’-Tepe 

(Turkish Kültepe, “ash hill”). (1) A mound (up to 200 m in diameter and more than 15 m high) near Echmiadzin in the Armenian SSR containing remains of early farming settlements (third millennium B.C.). Excavations conducted in 1927 and 1945 revealed the remains of dwellings made of sun-dried brick and layers of coal ash. No traces of metal were found. The lower layers are characterized by black pottery, and the upper ones by red pottery. The predominant stone tools are obsidian blades, perforators, and arrowheads. Grain mortars and flint insets for sickles were also found. Investigators have also found examples of clay sculpture analogous to Aeneolithic remains in Armenia, Iran, and the Near East.

REFERENCES

Piotrovskii, B. B. Arkheologiia Zakavkaz’ia s drevneishikh vremen do I tysiacheletiia do n.e. Leningrad, 1949.
Piotrovskii, B. B. “Poseleniia mednogo veka v Armenii.” Sovetskaia arkheologiia, vol. 11. Moscow-Leningrad, 1949.
(2) A mound (100–150 m in diameter and more than 14 m high) near Nakhichevan’ in the Azerbaijan SSR containing remains of farming and stock raising settlements dating from the Aeneolithic period to the early Iron Age (fourth millennium to the beginning of the first millennium B.C.). Excavations conducted in 1904 and between 1951 and 1964 revealed four cultural layers, measuring 22 m thick. The remains of dwellings made of pisé and sun-dried bricks were uncovered. Investigators also found burials with skeletons in the flexed position, stone tools (hoes, axes), copper articles, and casting molds. The pottery is red, black, and painted. In all the layers investigators found grains of wheat, barley, and millet; animal bones; grain mortars; pestles; and articles made of bone. The mound is very important in establishing the stratigraphy and chronology of the ancient remains of Transcaucasia.

REFERENCES

Abibullaev, O. A. “Nekotorye itogi izucheniia kholma Kiul’-tepe v Azerbaidzhane.” Sovetskaia arkheologiia, 1963, no. 3.
Nëbibullayev, O. N. Kultëpëdë arkheolozhi gazïntïlar. Baku, 1959.