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TebeadworkshopatsiteMPS4,MilPlain,Azerbaijan...
CAUCASUS
THEANCIENTKURAPROJECTANDSITEMPS4
InvestigationsintheMilPlain,located
inthetriangleformedbytheconfluence
oftheKuraandAraxesriversandthe
foothillsoftheLesserCaucasusinsouth
Azerbaijan,beganin2009withexcava-
tionsatKamiltepe.1Intensivesurveying
oftheimmediatesurroundingsledto
thediscoveryofaseriesofsmallflat
orlowmoundedsitesdatingtothe
Neolithicage,amongthem,siteMPS4
[Fig.1],located700mfromKamiltepe.
Tesitehasbeenexcavatedsince2010.
Atrialtrenchdugtotestforunderground
channelsexposedonehalfofaround
subterraneanhouseandadeepV-shaped
ditch.Tesecondhalfofthehousewas
uncovered
subsequently.
Radiocarbon
datingoftheoccupa-tionproducedcali-
brateddatesaround6000BC,makingsite
MPS4theearliestknownNeolithicsitein
southwesternAzerbaijan(Lyonnetetalii
2012:13).Withintheregionalframework,
MPS4seemstobecontemporarywith
theShulaveri-Shomutepecultureinthe
middleKurabasinandtheAratashen
cultureintheArarateplain,whichareboth
representativeoftheLateNeolithicinthe
southernCaucasus(Arimuraetalii2010).
MANUFACTURINGLOCUS
Geophysicalsurveysandexcavationsat
thesiteexposedasystemoffourconcentric
ditchescontainingbuilt-inmud-brick
walls.Teonlydomesticarchitecture
excavatedsofarisaroundsubterranean
pit-structurewithadiameterofabout3m
[Fig.2].Tehouse-pitisbell-shapedand
dugintothenaturalgroundtoadepthof
atleast1.10m.Tewallsontheeasternside
werereinforcedwitharowofhand-shaped
mudbricksandthefloorconsistedofat
leastfourlayers,allinallabout10cmthick.
Remainsofinnerarchitectureinclude
asmallpitwithashydeposits,withoutany
artifacts,inthesouthwesternareaofthe
house-pit,whichcutsthroughtheupper
floorlayers.Twoshallowpits,between
24and28cmindiameter,werefoundin
thelowerfloorhorizoninthenorthwestern
andnortheasternareaofthehouse-pit.Te
northwesternpitcontainedalargeamount
ofchippedstonepiecesandshellmaterial.
Tenortheasternpitconnectedtoawall
nichewhereahammerstoneandsome
largerchippedstonepieceswerefound,
hintingatitsprobableuseasastorage
facility.Tesecondinstallationidentified
sofarwasakindofirregularlyshapedpisé
platformabout10cmthick,whichwasset
ontopoftheupperfloorlayerinthecentral
northernareaofthehouse-pit.Nohearth
remainscouldbedetected,althoughashy
depositsindicatedfire-makingactivitiesin
oraroundthestructure.
Excavationoftheeasternhalfofthe
roundstructureinthefirstyearyielded
1
WorkintheMilPlainisacollaborativeelortoftheGermanArchaeologicalInstitute,theAzerbaijanNationalAcademy
ofSciencesandtheBakuInstituteofArchaeologyandEthnography.Researchhasproceededsince2010aspartofthe
“AncientKura”projectfocusedonthehumaninteractionwiththeenvironmentfromtheNeolithictotheBronzeAge.
FortheMilPlain,seeAliyev,Helwing2009;Helwingetalii2012;Riccietalii2012;foraninitialcomprehensivereport
onthe“AncientKura”project,seeLyonnetetalii2012).
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PAM23/2:SpecialStudies
