Summary
The project sheds light on socio-economic developments in the southern Caucasus during the Late Chalcolithic – a turning point on the pathway of human development, marked by the emergence of complex societies and early states within south-eastern Europe and south-western Asia. The study focuses on the nature and origins of the Leylatepe cultural phenomenon, which conveyed new trajectories in social differentiation, specialized craft industries, and interregional product exchange within the southern Caucasus and likely beyond, into the northern Caucasus, eastern Anatolia, and Syro-Mesopotamia. Despite that, the current state of research on the phenomenon is troubled by a narrow scope of reliable fieldwork data, lack of well-dated contexts, and publication scarcity.
The research is based on the analysis of ground stone tools retrieved from four sites located in present-day Azerbaijan and Armenia: Alkhantepe, Leylatepe, Janavartepe, and Teghut, which emerged as Leylatepe settlements at the onset of the Late Chalcolithic period, in different environmental settings. Late prehistoric ground stone tools remain greatly underinvestigated, even though they were integral to various subsistence and craft-related activities of agro-pastoral villages in transition to social complexity. An integrative approach is employed, encompassing complementary (microwear, experimental, technological, contextual) methods of functional analyses of the tools. The high-resolution excavations of German Archaeological Institute (Berlin) and the Institute of Archaeology, Ethnography and Anthropology (Baku) at Leylatepe and Janavartepe grant an unprecedented insight into the phenomenon. The project is designed to tap into that potential and, consequently, it will be the first to yield insights into daily lives, food choices, and technological preferences of the Leylatepe phenomenon, illuminating socio-economic dynamics within the Caucasian communities and their interactions with ancient Mesopotamia.
The research is based on the analysis of ground stone tools retrieved from four sites located in present-day Azerbaijan and Armenia: Alkhantepe, Leylatepe, Janavartepe, and Teghut, which emerged as Leylatepe settlements at the onset of the Late Chalcolithic period, in different environmental settings. Late prehistoric ground stone tools remain greatly underinvestigated, even though they were integral to various subsistence and craft-related activities of agro-pastoral villages in transition to social complexity. An integrative approach is employed, encompassing complementary (microwear, experimental, technological, contextual) methods of functional analyses of the tools. The high-resolution excavations of German Archaeological Institute (Berlin) and the Institute of Archaeology, Ethnography and Anthropology (Baku) at Leylatepe and Janavartepe grant an unprecedented insight into the phenomenon. The project is designed to tap into that potential and, consequently, it will be the first to yield insights into daily lives, food choices, and technological preferences of the Leylatepe phenomenon, illuminating socio-economic dynamics within the Caucasian communities and their interactions with ancient Mesopotamia.
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| Web resources: | https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101155720 |
| Start date: | 01-09-2025 |
| End date: | 31-08-2027 |
| Total budget - Public funding: | - 173 847,00 Euro |
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Original description
The project sheds light on socio-economic developments in the southern Caucasus during the Late Chalcolithic – a turning point on the pathway of human development, marked by the emergence of complex societies and early states within south-eastern Europe and south-western Asia. The study focuses on the nature and origins of the Leylatepe cultural phenomenon, which conveyed new trajectories in social differentiation, specialized craft industries, and interregional product exchange within the southern Caucasus and likely beyond, into the northern Caucasus, eastern Anatolia, and Syro-Mesopotamia. Despite that, the current state of research on the phenomenon is troubled by a narrow scope of reliable fieldwork data, lack of well-dated contexts, and publication scarcity.The research is based on the analysis of ground stone tools retrieved from four sites located in present-day Azerbaijan and Armenia: Alkhantepe, Leylatepe, Janavartepe, and Teghut, which emerged as Leylatepe settlements at the onset of the Late Chalcolithic period, in different environmental settings. Late prehistoric ground stone tools remain greatly underinvestigated, even though they were integral to various subsistence and craft-related activities of agro-pastoral villages in transition to social complexity. An integrative approach is employed, encompassing complementary (microwear, experimental, technological, contextual) methods of functional analyses of the tools. The high-resolution excavations of German Archaeological Institute (Berlin) and the Institute of Archaeology, Ethnography and Anthropology (Baku) at Leylatepe and Janavartepe grant an unprecedented insight into the phenomenon. The project is designed to tap into that potential and, consequently, it will be the first to yield insights into daily lives, food choices, and technological preferences of the Leylatepe phenomenon, illuminating socio-economic dynamics within the Caucasian communities and their interactions with ancient Mesopotamia.
Status
SIGNEDCall topic
HORIZON-MSCA-2023-PF-01-01Update Date
22-11-2024
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