Lələtəpə neolit dövrü yaşayış məskənində aparılmış arxeoloji tədqiqatlar

Abstract

The article is a brief report on the preliminary results of archaeological work at the Leletepe settlement. Today, this settlement is the southernmost Neolithic monument found on the territory of Garabagh. It is located 6 km southeast of the town of Horadiz, Fuzuli region. The height of the monument, preserved in the form of a hill (tepe) is 6.4 m, the surface area is 0.9 ha. Its surface and adjacent areas were destroyed during the First Garabagh War. In 2020-2021, research was carried out on this monument, an area of 80 m2 was excavated and rese-arched by archaeologists. As a result of the archaeological excavations, the remains of three (rectangular, oval and rounded shapes) buildings built of mud brick and part of the wall (western and southwestern) enclosing the courtyard were discovered. In the central part of the excavated area, there is a stepped adobe platform, rounded in plan, which we conventio-nally called “ziggurat”. To the south of it there was a residential building of a rounded shape, 3.3 m in diameter and 1.5-2 m of preserved height. The most interesting discovery in the settlement is the burial ground. In the western part of square F6, on an area of 8 m2, the remains of 14 burials were found. The skeletons were placed, in a crouched position, in oval recesses smeared with clay mixed with ochre and covered with a mat. On top they were covered with ochre and liquid clay. The orientation is different. In addition, during the exca-vations, bone and stone tools, fragments of clay vessels, etc. were found, reflecting the life and economy of the inhabitants of the Leletepe settlement. The settlement of Leletepe is dated to the 1st half of the 6th millennium BC. In terms of topography, architecture and discovered artifacts, it differs from the currently known synchronous Neolithic sites. Further study of this monument is important for understanding many aspects of ethno-cultural and economic ties between the Caucasus, Anatolia and the Iranian Highlands during the Neolit-hic period.