ABOUT METAL OBJECTS FOUND IN ARCHEOLOGICAL MONUMENTS OF ENEOLITHIC PERIOD OF SHARUR REGION OF AZERBAIJAN

ABOUT METAL OBJECTS FOUND IN ARCHEOLOGICAL MONUMENTS OF ENEOLITHIC PERIOD OF SHARUR REGION OF AZERBAIJAN

Emin Mammadov

Teacher, Nakhchivan State University,

Azerbaijan, Nakhchivan

ABSTRACT

The study of the ancient settlements of Nakhchivan shows that the art of metallurgy and metallization has an ancient history in this region. Archaeological excavations in Nakhchivan have revealed traces of ore in the ancient copper, arsenic and polymetallic deposits, indicating that these deposits have been used since ancient times. Finds related to the art of metal processing and metallization among the monuments of the Eneolithic period of Sharur region were discovered during the study of Ovchulartepe settlement. Metal objects found in the Ovchulartepe settlement consist mainly of needles, fishing hooks and flat axes. The bellows tip found here is one of the facts confirming the existence of metal processing.

Keywords: Nakhchivan, Sharur, archeological research, Eneolithic period, metallurgy, metallization, ax.

The study of the ancient settlements of Nakhchivan shows that the art of metallurgy and metallization has an ancient history in this region [6, p. 77-81]. The presence of rich metal deposits in Nakhchivan [6, p. 16-29], as well as rich copper deposits in the Zangazur mountains [1, p. 7-216] was one of the main factors contributing to the early emergence of metallurgy in this region. We would like to note that there are also rich arsenic deposits in Nakhchivan. Research on metal objects confirms that during the Late Eneolithic period, people mastered the secrets of copper production.

During the researches carried out by V.B.Bakhshaliyev, the discovery of traces of mining in the ancient copper, arsenic and polymetallic deposits of Nakhchivan shows that these deposits have been used since ancient times. This is confirmed by the discovery of ancient mining traces, stone tools and ceramics in the fields of Sirab, Vaykhir, Ordubad, Misdagh, Shekerdara in the territory of Babek region [6, p. 25-26]. Traces of the mine were also found in the Gumushlu field in the Sharur district. From this point of view, the mass of large lead found in the Ovchulartepe settlement attracts attention. This finding is one of the facts confirming the use of lead in ancient times. Based on this, we can say that the ancient agricultural and cattle-breeding tribes of Azerbaijan also mastered the production of copper products with a mixture of lead [3, p. 3-99]. Studies show that the ability of lead to flow into a metal alloy was known to ancient metallurgists. Research shows that the production of lead mixed metal products has an ancient history in Azerbaijan [3, p. 3-99].

Analysis of copper ore remnants taken from the copper deposits of Nakhchivan showed that they corresponded to the composition of ancient metals [6, p. 99].

Finds related to the art of metal processing and metallization among the monuments of the Eneolithic period of Sharur region were discovered during the study of Ovchulartepe settlement. The bellows tip found here is one of the facts confirming the existence of metalworking [11, p. 80; 37, table XLV, 3]. The tip of the bellows shows that in the second half of the 5th millennium BC, artificial blowing was used in smelting and metallization spheres, which was a great technological achievement for that period. The use of artificial blowing allowed to raise the temperature and melt copper sulfide ore [2, p. 449]. Research shows that copper-arsenic metal [4, p. 534] was used in the Ovchulartepe settlement, and items made of copper-arsenic alloy were used in Leylatapa [5, p. 40-41]. The discovery of a large number of metal products in Ovchulartepe allows us to say that this settlement is one of the main centers of metallurgy and metallization.

During the survey of Ovchulartepe settlement, more than two hundred metal objects were found, some of which are intact. Although no metallization furnaces were found here, the discovery of many metal objects in the settlement and the analysis of the chemical composition of the metal product show that these objects are the product of local production [12, p. 530-550]. Metal objects found in the Ovchulartepe settlement consist mainly of needles, fishing hooks and flat axes. Analysis of the axes shows that some of them were made of pure copper and some of copper-arsenic mixture [12, p. 534]. A comparative study of the chemical composition of metal objects with the composition of ores in copper deposits in Nakhchivan, as well as with the composition of ore remains found in the settlement of Ovchulartepe confirms that the axes were made on the basis of local raw materials and habitat [12, p. 544-548]. Flat axes are trapezoidal and extend from one end to the other. Four of the axes are flat and two are perforated (Photo 1).

Photo 1. An ax found at the Ovchulartepe settlement

All three axes (one with a hole and two with a flat ax) were found inside a jar from the Eneolithic period during excavations at the seventh excavation site. Remains of a child's skeleton and those bronze axes were found in this pit grave. One of the perforated axes is single-edged. The opposite side of the mouth is blunt. The other perforated ax is double-edged. This drill-type ax was probably used in mining.

This type of perforated ax, dating to the first half of the 4th millennium BC, was found in Tepe Ghabristan and Arisman in northwestern and central Iran [7, fig. 4; 8, fig. 6]. A close resemblance to the single-edged ax was found in the monuments of Bulgaria and Romania in the Balkans [9, p. 431-432]. It should be noted that this type of axes e. b. It was discovered at the end of the 5th millennium and the beginning of the 4th millennium in the ancient settlements of Southern Europe. However, the similarity of this type of ax is not yet known from the Eneolithic monuments in the South Caucasus.

Examples of drilling axes found in the Caucasus, Iran and the Balkans show that these tools were used in the first half of the 5th millennium BC and the first half of the 4th millennium BC [10, p. 248]. The axes found at the Ovchulartepe settlement are one of the oldest examples of this type of ax [12, p. 537].

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