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Document Details : Title: A Ritualized Landscape in the Southern Caucasus Subtitle: The Preliminary Results (2021-2023) of the Azerbaijani-Italian Archaeological Excavation at Tava Tepe (Western Azerbaijan) Author(s): LANERI, Nicola , JALILOV, Bakhtiyar , VALENTINI, Stefano , CARDINI, Vittoria , HUSEYNOVA, Lola , MAMMANA, Rachele Carmen , MENDOLA, Alice Journal: Anatolica Volume: 50 Date: 2024 Pages: 67-100 DOI: 10.2143/ANA.50.0.3293608 Abstract : The GaRKAP (Ganja Region Kurgan Archaeological Project) international project in western Azerbaijan, which started in 2018, from 2021 aimed to investigate the Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age settlement of Tava Tepe. This site is situated along the Kura River valley, within the present-day Aǧstafa district. During the initial three seasons, led by CAMNES (Center for Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Studies), the University of Catania, and the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, two main phases of occupation (i.e., Phase I and II) were identified at the site. The purpose of this preliminary report is to describe the archaeological evidence from Tava Tepe which at this moment are dated respectively to Late Bronze Age (Phase I) and Iron Age I-II (Phase II). In particular, during the last season, new evidence from the southern side of Tava Tepe highlighted the presence of a circular ceremonial building with a pottery hoard that has preliminarily been dated to the Late Bronze Age period. The second level of occupation at the site (Phase II) is instead characterized by rectilinear architecture and a hut that includes areas dedicated to productive activities. At this stage, the small settlement of Tava Tepe presents for both phases intriguing data which appear consistent with the ritual ideology of the southern Caucasus between the end of the second millennium and the beginning of the first millennium BCE. |
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