Goytepe archaeological complex
Goytepe (Azerbaijani: Göytəpə); Göy-Tepe, is a neolithic archaeological complex located in the Tovuz District of Azerbaijan.
Goytepe is affiliated with the Shulaveri-Shomu culture and it is the largest settlement of the early period of Neolithic era in the South Caucasus.
[3] Shomu-tepe settlement, the type-site of Shulaveri-Shomu culture, is located about 25km to the northwest of Goytepe, in the suburb of Agstafa city.
In 2008, the experts from the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of Azerbaijan headed by Farhad Guliyev, and the Japanese archaeologists from the University of Tokyo led by Yoshihiro Nishiaki explored this site more extensively in 2009.
[7] President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed an order dated April 18, 2012 on creation of “Goytepe Archaeology Park” for the purpose of thorough study of this monument.
4 squares on top of the mound (1A, 2A, 1B and 2B) were investigated by the Azerbaijani experts, whilst a sub-square (4BII) at the northern part of the hill was excavated by Japanese mission.
[8] 11 m-thick Neolithic cultural sequence recovered in Goytepe consists of 14 architectural levels characterized by mudbrick houses in circular shape linked by curvilinear walls.
Plano-convex-shaped mud bricks with straw temper measuring 40-60 x 20 x 8–10 cm made from yellow or brown clay were used as a building material.
The settlement featured circular or oval unit with a diameter of 7–8 m, including a number of round-shaped constructions connected with wing walls to surround a courtyard.
[2] Experts revealed clay bins and ovens/hearths mainly in the courtyard of the settlement close to the wing walls or circular constructions in the archaeological site.
The ovens with a diameter around 60–70 cm had also a round or oval shape, nevertheless, their bottoms were covered with river cobbles and enclosed by a clay rim.
[2] Ceramic, basalt and obsidian, bone-based labour instruments (awls, needles, axes and hammers), pottery specimens, plant and animal remnants were found from the Neolithic cultural sequence.
Polished axe made of green stone, antler hammer with a smooth surface, wavy grooves and notches were discovered from this site.
Naked barley and free-threshing wheat are specific to Goytepe because these crops have been found rarely in the Neolithic sites of the Middle East such as in Syria and Turkey.
[10] In 2015, Yoshihiro Nishiaki, Farhad Guliyev and Seiji Kadowaki published their finds of Haci Elamxanli Tepe (5950-5800 BC),[11] which is over a century earlier than Goytepe.
According to the archaeologists, this provides evidence that, during a century and a half (5800-5650 BC), the beginning of ceramic production at Göytəpə can be surmised.
Nishiaki et al tried to clarify the chronological context of the earliest Pottery Neolithic period in the South Caucasus.
While the authors accept that plant cultivation and animal husbandry were of foreign origin in the area, not all Neolithic cultural items were brought in as a package.
[12] Further supporting evidence emerged in subsequent excavations at Damjili Cave which is also located in the area upstream along the Kura (river).
