Rapport om hulekomplekset Areni-1, Armenia
The archaeological exploration of a cave inthe southern Caucasus revealed evidence for early social complexity, ritual burial and wine-making in the early fourth millennium.The marvellous preservation of wood, leather and plants offers a valuable contrast to the poorer assemblages on contemporary tell sites.The authors make the case that the Areni-1cave complex indicates connections betweenthe urbanisation of early Mesopotamia and the Maikop culture of south Russia.
“The discovery of the pre-Maikop and Early Maikop component at Areni-1 supports arecent hypothesis that early Maikop assemblages, including the two famous burial mounds of Maikop and Staromyshastovskij, must be dated no later than the middle or the second half of the fourth millennium BC (Lyonnet2000,2007; Ivanova2007).
Such a deepening of the Maikop chronology has groundbreaking implications for the archaeology of Mesopotamia.Since the first stage of the Early Bronze Age Maikop culture must be considered as acontemporary to the Late Chalcolithic Uruk, the artistic metalwork from Maikop may actually represent imports from Uruk or, at least, echoes its products. If confirmed, this would suggest that the Uruk trade networks extended far beyond the limits previously perceived, reaching such distant regions as south-eastern Europe.”
R e s e a r c h
Comments