The Kura-Araxes Culture from the Caucasus to Iran, Anatolia and the Levant: Between unity and diversity. A synthesis

14 Pages·2016·1.5 MB·English

by  Palumbi G.

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À THE KURA-ARAXES CULTURE FROM

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THE AUCASUS TO RAN NATOLIA
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L : B
N AND THE EVANT ETWEEN UNITY
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DI AND DIVERSITY. A SYNTHESIS
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A G. PALUMBI and C. CHATAIGNER
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T One of the aims of this thematic volume is to give space to the Southern Caucasus: the Late Chalcolithic level V, dat-

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S a multiplicity of voices offering different perspectives on the ing to the fi rst half of the 4th millennium, has yielded abun-
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diachronic developments of the Kura-Araxes culture as well dant chaff-tempered ceramics and some fragments of small
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TI as its unity and diversity on both geographic and chronological jars foreshadowing some Kura-Araxes manufacturing tradi-
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D scales. We think that these twelve contributions, which will be tions (grit-tempered, with brown or grey burnished surfaces).
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followed by other articles dedicated to the Kura-Araxes culture Contributors to this volume have used different terminologies
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R in the next issue of Paléorient, have achieved this aim. and interpretations for these fi ndings. According to E. Rova,
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C The following overview attempts to correlate a selected these ceramics should be referred to as ‘Proto Kura-Araxes’,

• part of the impressive amount of information contained in this for this terminology defi nes a chronological stage in which

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R volume and to add our small contribution of knowledge and a minority of Kura-Araxes ceramics with archaic features
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P information. It is organised according to a very traditional nar- coexisted with a majority of chaff-tempered pottery linked to
À rative structure—the birth, life and death of the Kura-Araxes Chalcolithic traditions. On the other hand, Marro et al. con-

S culture. Although subject to criticism, we decided to adopt this sider them as already typical of the Kura-Araxes traditions
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R approach to facilitate, hopefully, the reading of a phenomenon due to both manufacturing techniques and morphological
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T of bewildering complexity. repertoires.

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S Considering the quantitatively low and sporadic occurrence
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of these ceramics at Berikldeebi V and the absence of compar-
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TI ison with other 4th-millennium sites in the Caucasus, it would
THE ORIGINS OF THE KURA-ARAXES
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D be wise to use some caution when inferring the precise cul-
É CULTURE AND ITS RELATIONSHIPS
tural value of these sherds.1 However, there is no doubt that the
S WITH CHALCOLITHIC CULTURES
R ceramic assemblage from the following level IV at Berikldeebi
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C (Rova) can be fi rmly placed within the Kura-Araxes traditions.

• As mentioned in the Introduction, the origin of the Kura- More recent, fi ne-grained data come from the 2 sigma cali-
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R Araxes culture is one of the key topics of this volume. The brated dates at Chobareti in Southern Georgia and Sos Höyük
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P matter is intricately linked to the nature of the Chalcolithic in North-Eastern Turkey showing that material culture asso-

À cultures and communities present in the regions where the ciated with the Kura-Araxes cultural tradition was in use in

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Kura-Araxes tradition fi rst developed. The data presented in these regions at least since 3400-3300 BC (Sagona). These
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R this volume help to defi ne, with growing certainty, the chrono-
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logical and spatial coordinates of the beginnings of the Kura-

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S Araxes culture (fi g. 1). 1. It has to be stressed that the Kura-Araxes vessels illustrated in fi gures 5
N and 6 of the Beriklddeebi publication (Dzhavakhishvili 1998) were erro-
O Berikldeebi, in Georgia, has long been held to be the neously attributed to level V1, while they belong to the following Kura-
TI site with the earliest evidence of the Kura-Araxes pottery in Araxes level IV (see also Kiguradze and Sagona 2003: note 5).
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I Fig. 1 – Synoptic chronological table of the Kura-Araxes culture according to the contributors in the present volume.
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C absolute datings are further confi rmed by others from Armenia Southern Caucasian sites. Finally, there is a similar picture at

• (Badalyan), where the sites of Gegharot and Aparan III on the Velikent (Kohl and Magomedov), where a single early date
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R slopes of the Mount Aragats, Horom in the Shirak plain and (3690-3500 BC) has been recorded at the site of Karasu-Tepe
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P T’alin in the Ararat plain, seem to unanimously record Kura- (Velikent II) and a later batch of dates (3360-3100 BC) corre-

À Araxes levels dating to the same time-range as the sites from sponding to the same time-span as the above mentioned sites

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Georgia and Eastern Turkey. from Georgia, Armenia and Eastern Turkey.
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R In Azerbaijan, the earliest phase of the collective kurgan at By summarising this data, it is possible to surmise that
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Mentesh Tepe (Lyonnet) has yielded two radiocarbon readings between 3500 and 3300 BC a new ceramic tradition had

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S between 3500 and 3400 BC, while the later phase of use of developed over a large area encompassing the entire Southern
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O this kurgan overlaps with the dates from the nearby Kurgan of Caucasus (Daghestan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia), Eastern
TI Uzun Rama (Jalilov) and with those from the above mentioned Turkey and also North-Western Iran, where Kura-Araxes
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S ceramics dating to 3300 cal. BC have been found at the site highlands and mountains, including settlements found at above
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R of Kültepe near Jolfa (Abedi forthcoming). From the shores 1500 m asl, has been noted from the second half of the 4th
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T of the Caspian Sea (Velikent) to the valleys of the rivers Kura millennium. As Connor points out, the arid phase that started

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S and Araxes as far as the regions of mountains and highlands of around 3300 BC may have transformed the highlands of
N Southern Georgia and Armenia, this ceramic tradition was the Southern Caucasus into a warmer environment where to settle
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I material expression of ‘new’ communities living in the entire on a more stable basis and carry out cereal-based agriculture
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DI Caucasian region. (Hovsepyan forthcoming).
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Since its beginning these communities shared a set of key To date, the architectural evidence of the earliest Kura-
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R material elements of their cultural package, among which cer- Araxes settlements consists exclusively of mono- or bi-cellular
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C tainly their pottery traditions. As Marro et al. and Iserlis et free-standing houses, as opposed to the multi-cellular rectan-
• al. (forthcoming) point out, the technical differences between gular architecture commonly seen in Late Chalcolithic settle-

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R Kura-Araxes and Chalcolithic ceramics also implied a diver- ments, suggesting that the way domestic space was organised
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gence in terms of investment of time and labour that could have had also changed.
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À also affected the cultural and symbolic meanings attached to Metal repertoires (Courcier 2014) and funerary traditions

S pottery making. Often characterised by an accurate fi nishing are also transformed. As concerns the latter, the present evi-
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R of the surfaces (burnishing), the Kura-Araxes ceramics from dence (Poulmarc’h) shows that the Kura-Araxes stone-cist
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T Southern Caucasus were brown, grey or mottled black in its or rectangular stone-built tombs appear for the fi rst time in

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S early phases, whilst by the late 4th millennium a fi xed red-black the Southern Caucasus from ca 3350 BC in strong contrast to
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colour effect had became a common feature (black exterior the earthen-pits or jar-burials common to most Chalcolithic
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TI and red interior surfaces) (Sagona, Rova, Badalyan). traditions.
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D It is worth re-emphasising that this red-black Kura-Araxes Burial customs also change with the widespread appearance
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ceramic horizon must be distinguished from the 4th millen- of collective inhumations, unheard of during the Chalcolithic
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R nium Red-Black Burnished Wares of the Upper Euphrates period. This marked change from single to collective burials
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C (Arslantepe VII and VIA); the latter are not only characterised is for instance visible in the Chalcolithic and then in the Kura-

• by a different red-black pattern (with black shifting from the Araxes kurgans in Azerbaijan. The recent excavations have

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R interior to the exterior surface of the vessel in bowls and jars shown that these large burial mounds were probably the only
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P accordingly) but their morphological repertoire mirrors that element of cultural continuity shared by both the Chalcolithic
À of a homologous production from Central Anatolia (Palumbi and Kura-Araxes funerary traditions in Azerbaijan. However,

S 2008 a and b). in this case, changes are detectable in the burial customs and
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R Even in its earliest forms the morphological repertoire of in funerary representations. While the Chalcolithic kurgans—
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T the Kura-Araxes vessels differs from Chalcolithic traditions. with single burials containing prestige and luxury goods—hint

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S The consistent presence of handles on both jars and bowls is at the existence of forms of social differentiation and point to
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one of the most distinctive elements of the Kura-Araxes ves- the existence of community leaders (Lyonnet et al. 2008),
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TI sels. New shapes were developed also, including fl at, circular the burials in the Kura-Araxes kurgans held collective buri-
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D lids that may suggest the systematic introduction of new food als (Pecqueur; Jalilov) with a very homogenous repertoire of
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processing practices (boiling) and, presumably a new culi- grave goods. ‘Exotic’ or prestige goods were usually absent,
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R nary tradition (stews) (Wilkinson). Furthermore, according suggesting that the new Kura-Araxes burial traditions empha-
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C to Badalyan the morphological repertoire in the earlier phase sised group membership, horizontal relations and possibly an

• (Kura-Araxes I, 3600/3500-2900 BC) was also characterised egalitarian funerary ideology.
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R by a trans-regional homogeneity. From the second half of the 4th millennium, a broad range
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P However important it may have been, pottery was not the of radical changes encompassing settlement patterns, mate-

À only break with earlier Chalcolithic traditions; the appearance rial production, the organisation of daily activities, ritual life,

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of the new Kura-Araxes ceramics went hand in hand with a social rules and values point to the formation of a new cultural
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R large number of changes. and social identity certainly different from that of the Southern
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Sites where an apparently uninterrupted Chalcolithic- Caucasus Chalcolithic communities.

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S Kura-Araxes sequence of occupation is recorded are very
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O rare, which would appear to suggest that there was a break in Taking into account these radical breaks, another key topic
TI settlement patterns. A systematic and stable occupation of the that we wanted to investigate in this volume relates to the
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S forms of interaction (if any) that may have existed between where Kura-Araxes ceramics have been dated to the fi rst half
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R Chalcolithic and Kura-Araxes communities. of the 4th millennium, are still too controversial (Areshian et al.
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T According to Marro et al., Chalcolithic and Kura-Araxes 2012; Wilkinson et al. 2012).

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S communities coexisted in some form in the Southern Caucasus The LCKA ceramics from Ovçular Tepesi are also isolated
N during the fi nal quarter of the 5th millennium BC. This theory as regards their place in a wider cultural assemblage; no other
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I is based on the fi ndings from Ovçular Tepesi in Nakhichevan, fi nds associated with the Kura-Araxes ‘package’ have been
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DI consisting of around twenty red-black Kura-Araxes sherds found in these levels. Finally, when these ceramics (most of
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found in three different loci of the Chalcolithic sequence. which are red-black) are compared with the larger technical,
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R According to Marro et al., this is suffi cient to hypothesise the decorative and typological trend of the Kura-Araxes ceramics
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C coexistence of separate communities (Chalcolithic and ‘Late in the Southern Caucasus, several discrepancies emerge, not
• Chalcolithic Kura-Araxes’) that occupied alternately the site least because in this region the earliest Kura-Araxes ceramics

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R during the last quarter of the 5th millennium. were monochrome or mottled black and not red-black (Sagona;
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However, the presence of Kura-Araxes ceramics in the late Badalyan; Lyonnet; Rova).
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À 5th millennium remains an isolated and rather enigmatic case What is more, as also Marro et al. state in their paper, all

S in the archaeology of the Southern Caucasus for several rea- of the manufacturing, typological and decorative features of
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R sons. Indeed, Ovçular Tepesi has no other comparisons in the the LCKA ceramics from Ovçular Tepesi (going from surface
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T existing documentation of Southern Caucasus and neighbour- treatments,2 to rail-rims, ‘Nakhichevan’ lugs and ‘dimple’

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S ing regions. Neither Berikldeebi V nor Arslantepe VIA, both decorations) compare better with those of the 3rd millennium
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used by Marro et al. as comparative case studies recording an than with the earliest (3500-3300 BC) Kura-Araxes pottery.
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TI analogous coexistence between Chalcolithic and Kura-Araxes As a whole, we think that the thesis presented by Marro et al.
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D populations, can be compared with Ovçular Tepesi as both in this volume cannot be excluded a priori, but does not fi t
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sites date to the 4th millennium. the rest of the existing evidence and is insuffi ciently supported
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R Secondly, it has yet to be clearly demonstrated that the by the documentation provided so-far. Further verifi cations
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C dark-brown (certainly not red-black) burnished vessels found are needed: the LCKA tomb 5313 (Marro et al. this volume

• with chaff-tempered ceramics at Berikldeebi’s level V have p. 137 and fi g. 6) containing Kura-Araxes red-black ceramics

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R parallels with the Kura-Araxes morphological repertoires so and assigned to 4500-4350 BC should be radiocarbon-dated.
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P typical of the second half of the 4th millennium. The Red-Black This LCKA tomb would predate by more than 1300 years
À Burnished Ware from Arslantepe’s phase VIA, as emphasised two other tombs (Marro et al. 2009) attributed to the ‘Early

S by Frangipane in this volume and as introduced in this over- Bronze Kura-Araxes’ of the site (ca 3000-2650 BC), char-
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R view, cannot be grouped within the Kura-Araxes traditions. acterised by “the same funerary ritual and the same pottery
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T Instead, it was most probably a local production from the as the LCKA one”;3 such an amazing continuity in terms of

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S Upper Euphrates region in use throughout the second half of funerary traditions would certainly deserve further confi rma-
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the 4th millennium (Palumbi 2008a; Frangipane and Palumbi tion. Furthermore, the stratigraphic position of this tomb and
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TI 2007). of dial 5167, which are both key features related to the pres-
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D Furthermore, the Late Chalcolithic Kura-Araxes (hence- ence of LCKA sherds, and their relationships to the surround-
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forth LCKA) ceramics from Ovçular Tepesi is an isolated case ing architectural features should be better clarifi ed.
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R in terms of chronology. In Nakhichevan, apart from Ovçular
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C Tepesi, the earliest Kura-Araxes remains date to the last quar- A fi nal report of Ovçular Tepesi will be able to clarify some

• ter of the 4th millennium (Ristvet et al. 2011) and a similar pic- of these questions, and radiocarbon datings (as in the case of the
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R ture is also emerging from the nearby site of Kültepe near Jolfa LCKA tomb) will prove indispensable in clarifying the strati-
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P in North-Western Iran (Abedi forthcoming). graphic sequence. Meanwhile, we prefer to adhere to the now

À As a whole, the LCKA ceramics from Ovçular Tepesi ‘traditional’ chronology, largely confi rmed by this volume in all

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appear to be separated by at least 700 years from the earliest the other sites of Southern Caucasus, North-Western Iran and
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R appearance of Kura-Araxes ceramics in the rest of the Southern
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Caucasus. The absence of traces of Kura-Araxes ceramics

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S and the latency of Kura-Araxes populations throughout the 2. The use of red paint/slip is also recorded at Arslantepe in phase VIB1,
N dated to 3100-2900 BCE (see Frangipane).
O fi rst half of the 4th millennium are an enigma that needs to be 3. Marro C. et Yilmaz Y., 2e Rencontres d’archéologie de l’IFEA, Istanbul,
TI adequately explained. The fi ndings at Areni Cave in Armenia, 14-15 novembre 2011: http://www.ifea-istanbul.net.
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S Eastern Anatolia, according to which the earliest attestations of blage from Godedzor shares very little with the chaff-tempered
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R the Kura-Araxes material package date from the middle of the Chalcolithic traditions from these regions. Some of the most
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T 4th millennium BC. distinguishing traits of the Chalcolithic ceramics from the

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S Southern Caucasus and Northern Iran, such as combing of
N This dating would also appear to concur with the latest the surfaces, trays with rows of holes through the rim, potters
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I evidence of Chalcolithic material culture in the same regions. marks, and at times relief or painted decorations (Marro 2010;
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DI However, what has often been considered as a simple and Helwing 2012), are all absent at Godedzor.
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straightforward ‘hand over’ between Chalcolithic and Kura- However, chaff-tempered pottery was not the only pro-
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R Araxes traditions was probably a complex and regionally com- duction in use at Godedzor, because a group of painted
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C posite cultural process. ceramics occurs, in a very small percentage (about 5%), in
• The data from the site of Godedzor, in South-Eastern the Chalcolithic levels (fi g. 2: 6-9). This is characterised by

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R Armenia, which we will briefl y summarise, provide a precious a whitish or yellowish slip on the external surfaces and pink
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source of information concerning the dynamics of social and or light-yellow fully oxidized cross-sections. The clay is tem-
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À cultural development at work in the Southern Caucasus in the pered with mixed inclusions, such as fi ne to medium chaff and

S mid-4th millennium. The settlement of Godedzor lies in the fi ne grit. Paint is applied on the external surfaces only, and it is
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R valley of the Vorotan river and is located on the high volcanic matt-black or dark brown. The painted motifs tend to be rather
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T plateau of Syunik, at about 1800 m asl. It is also near a cross- repetitive and standardised consisting of single or double wavy

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S ing of the Vorotan river that links the steppes of Azerbaijan lines running horizontally on the base of the neck and on the
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(Agdam region) to Nakhichevan and the Araxes valley and lower body of the vessel. These lines create horizontal spaces
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TI to North-Western Iran and the Urmia basin (Chataigner et al. fi lled with triangular, lozenge-shaped and rectangular motifs
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D 2010). in turn fi lled with densely cross-hatched lines. The painted
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The excavations, carried out by a French-Armenian expe- motifs of this ceramic group can be generally attributed to the
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R dition4 since 2005, have revealed two main phases of occupa- Pisdeli Tepe ‘ceramic tradition’, but more tight comparisons
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C tion that date to the Iron Age and Late Chalcolithic. In this can be drawn with painted ceramics from the Chalcolithic sites

• earlier phase, the architectural evidence consists mainly of of the Urmia basin, such as Geoy Tepe level M and Tappeh

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R the remains of circular walls and several levels of post-holes, Gijlar phase C.5
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P suggesting the use of wooden architecture possibly for the The location of Godedzor at 1800 m asl in a region covered
À construction of fences or sheds. In these levels, the majority by a thick layer of snow from November to March, the use

S (more than 95%) of the pottery clearly belongs to the chaff- of light architecture, prevalence of sheep in the herd, cattle
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R tempered tradition. The Chalcolithic ceramics from Godedzor bones bearing traction deformations and fi nally the frequency
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T were hastily and roughly made without special care for sur- of tools (spindle-whorls, awls, shuttles and combs) relating to

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S face treatments, fi nishing and other aesthetic traits. The fi r- textile production suggest that Godedzor may have been a sea-
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ing of these vessels was also rather hasty, as suggested by the sonal camp-site used by groups practicing transhumance. The
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TI irregular colours of the surfaces and by the grey or blackish proximity of the site to the obsidian deposits of Sevkar and
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D cross-sections. The morphological repertoire shows a general Satanakar that supplied Southern Armenia and North-Western
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prevalence of jars over bowls. Jars feature collared rims and Iran (Khademi et al. 2013) during this period would seem to
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R globular bodies (fi g. 2: 1-3,5) and often have single or double suggest that these movements may also have been related to the
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C handles (fi g. 2: 4) or lugs applied on the rims. procurement of obsidian.

• The predominance of chaff-tempered ceramics strongly Fourteen radiocarbon dates prove that the Chalcolithic
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R links Godedzor to the Chalcolithic chaff-tempered ware hori- occupation at Godedzor took place between 3650 and
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P zon of Southern Caucasus and Northern Iran. However, apart 3350 BC (table 1). Despite the fact that these dates go beyond

À from the manufacturing and technical similarities (chaff-tem- the second half of the 4th millennium (3500 BC is commonly

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pering, quick and low-temperature fi ring), the ceramic assem- considered as the chronological milestone marking the pas-
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R sage from Chalcolithic to Kura-Araxes traditions), the argu-
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ment that both chaff-tempered and painted ceramics from

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S 4. A collaboration between the Mission “Caucasus”, funded by the French
N Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Institute of Archaeology and
O Ethnography of Yerevan, funded by the Academy of Sciences of the 5. See fi gures and plates from Burton-Brown 1951: 20-21 ; Dyson and Young
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T Republic of Armenia. 1960: 21, Pl III; Belgiorno et al. 1984: Fig. 77-85; Henrickson 1983: 397.
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Fig. 2 – Chalcolithic ceramics from Godedzor. 1-5) chaff-tempered; 6-9) painted.
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Table 1 – Calibrated radiocarbon dates from the Late Chalcolithic layer of Godedzor.
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N Lab code Trench UF Material Date BP Date cal. BC
O (95.4%)
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T Lyon-8478
I D UF 16b charcoal 4625 ± 30 3499 - 3354
D (SacA26094)
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Lyon-8481
S (SacA26097) B UF 34 charcoal 4620 ± 30 3513 - 3348
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N UGAMS-02287 A/B UF 33 charcoal 4610 ± 40 3518 - 3393
C UGAMS-02284 A UF 07 charcoal 4630 ± 40 3521 - 3341

• UGAMS-02286 B UF 12 charcoal 4660 ± 40 3524 - 3361

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R UGAMS-02285 A/B UF 11 charcoal 4690 ± 40 3532 - 3368
A UGAMS-03412 A/B UF 54 charcoal 4680 ± 25 3622 - 3371
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Lyon-8479
À (SacA26095) D UF 7b charcoal 4685 ± 30 3624 - 3369

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Lyon-8480
É B UF 109 charcoal 4685 ± 35 3626 - 3367
R (SacA26096)
TI UGAMS-03413 A/B UF 60 charcoal 4700 ± 25 3627 - 3374
- UGAMS-5801 A UF 75 charcoal 4750 ± 25 3635 - 3514

S LTL-5733A D UF 13 charcoal 4740 ± 45 3638 - 3376
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O LTL-5732A B UF 109 charcoal 4753 ± 45 3640 - 3497
I LTL-5731A B UF 96 animal bone 4767 ± 45 3650 - 3490
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S Godedzor fully belong to the Chalcolithic traditions is indis- CONTINUITY AND CHANGES
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R putable, and not a single Kura-Araxes sherd has been found OF THE KURA-ARAXES CULTURE
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T so-far on this site. IN THE SOUTHERN CAUCASUS

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S Godedzor could have been seasonally occupied by the
N last of the Chalcolithic communities to inhabit the Southern
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I Caucasus (or North-Western Iran, considering the presence of By 3300 BC, a common Kura-Araxes material and cul-
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DI painted ceramics recalling analogous styles and productions tural package developed throughout Southern Caucasus,
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from the Urmia region). Thus this site is key in understanding North-Western Iran and Eastern Anatolia. This package was
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R a crucial moment in the cultural history of the region. composed of shared practices related to craftwork (rang-
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C As has been discussed, a growing number of radiocarbon ing from pottery to metals), culinary traditions and tastes
• dates from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Eastern Turkey (Wilkinson), body ornaments and fashion (as suggested by

T
R point to 3500-3350 BC as the terminus post quem for the pres- the common use of hair-spirals and double-spiral pins), the
A
ence of Kura-Araxes communities in these regions, a period organisation of domestic space, the formalisation of some
P
À which coincides with the latest datings of the Chalcolithic cultic and religious practices (expressed by the symbolic cen-

S occupation at Godedzor. The absence of Kura-Araxes materi- trality of fi replaces and ‘totemic’ zoomorphic / anthropomor-
É
R als at Godedzor suggests very low levels, or even a total lack of phic andirons), as well as of funerary structures and burial
I
T interaction between the ‘occupants’ of the site and the earliest customs. The combination of all these cultural elements

-
S Kura-Araxes communities. We do not know if Godedzor is an supports the idea of the ‘Kura-Araxes’ culture as a largely
N
exception; a culturally and geographically isolated ‘enclave’ shared identity expressed by communities living in a broad
O
TI that survived for more than a century whilst changes took area encompassing different geographies, ecologies and his-
I
D place in the rest of the Southern Caucasus. torical backgrounds.
É
To date, scholars have viewed the passage from the As several authors from this volume have pointed out, the
S
R Chalcolithic to the Kura-Araxes culture as a sudden process of Kura-Araxes groups of the Southern Caucasus were small
N
C replacement of one cultural system with another according to village-based communities practicing a mixed agro-pastoral

• an unilinear model of development. But data from Godedzor economy, and lacking centralised common institutions where,

T
R could change this picture, indicating that this replacement as is also suggested by the collective burial practices, the
A
P was neither sudden nor quick and that communities linked household may have represented the main economic and kin-
À to the earlier Chalcolithic traditions continued to exist dur- related social unit, one that structured the political identity of

S ing the early phases of development of a new (Kura-Araxes) these communities (Greenberg and Palumbi in press).
É
R tradition in other regions of the Caucasus (see also Sagona). However, many contributors have also observed that this
I
T The Chalcolithic/Kura-Araxes shift was a change with more apparently homogeneous cultural ‘skin’ concealed a richness

-
S breaks than continuities and this may have taken place over of local and regional diversities. This is certainly true for the
N
a ‘grey’ chronological area stretching between 3500-3300 BC Kura-Araxes built environment, which encompassed such a
O
TI during which time the dynamics of change may have devel- variety of building traditions, house and village plans, that
I
D oped differently. comparison is diffi cult (Sagona; Rova; Kohl and Magomedov;
É
It is time to start building a more complex model for Alizadeh et al. forthcoming). Likewise, the heterogeneity of
S
R the social and cultural developments that took place in the Kura-Araxes funerary structures in the Southern Caucasus is
N
C Caucasus at the middle of the 4th millennium, and this model rather striking (Poulmarc’h). In other words, the very diver-

• must be based on multilinear developments and the coexis- sity of the Kura-Araxes material culture may call into ques-
T
R tence of different cultures and societies. tion this alleged cultural and social unity of Kura-Araxes
A
P communities.

À As introduced above, the concept of a single Kura-Araxes

S
‘Culture’ could in fact be a modern construct, and this is why
É
R one of the crucial questions in this volume is: where does the
I
T
unity of the Kura-Araxes end and where or when does its

-

S diversity begin? Pottery, for instance, is usually considered the
N
O marker of this culture and ‘yardstick’ of its developments, yet
TI Badalyan has noticed that the Kura-Araxes ceramic traditions
I
D
É

S
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R 254 G. PALUMBI and C. CHATAIGNER
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P

À

S in Armenia (techniques, morphologies and decorations) were nated by future research on the Kura-Araxes culture; however,
É
R more homogenous during phase KA I than in phase KA II we want to stress that in spite of the apparently conservative
I
T (fi g. 1), the latter characterised by a fragmentation and region- characterisation of the Kura-Araxes traditions, the Kura-

-
S alisation of both morphological and decorative repertoires. Araxes communities were not endlessly reproducing a static
N Rather interestingly, this same process was not limited to model, instead they were undergoing a dynamic, possibly slow
O
I Armenia and in fact it was also recorded in Inner Georgia, but always active processes of transformation.
T
DI where from the 3rd millennium onwards, the region of Shida In fact, the development of the Kura-Araxes traditions
É
Kartli (Rova) has repertoires that differ from those in the took place on both regional and chronological scales. While
S
R nearby South Caucasian regions. regional factors and local dynamics must certainly have
N
C While it is diffi cult to assess the extent to which changes in played a role in these changes and processes of diversifi cation,
• ceramic traditions represented transformations of a different we also think that the involvement of the South Caucasian

T
R nature (social, cultural or political), it is however striking that communities in the dynamics which were developing in adja-
A
these communities often went through comparable processes cent regions could have played a determining role in the trans-
P
À of change and development during an extraordinarily long mission, adaptation and transformation of the Kura-Araxes

S span of time of approximately 1500 years. traditions.
É
R On the other hand, funerary traditions show a broad vari-
I
T ability (Poulmarc’h), all of which seem to correspond to well

-
S defi ned regional traditions dating back to the beginnings of
THE KURA-ARAXES ‘EXPANSION’
N
the Kura-Araxes culture (e.g., the preferential distribution of
O
TI Kurgan burials along the lower valley of the Kura river valley
I
D and of the stone-cist or stone lined graves on the highlands of Starting from ca 3000 BC, the Kura-Araxes culture is
É
Western Armenia and Central Georgia). found outside of its traditional territory, in regions that had
S
R At present, it is diffi cult to identify common patterns link- played no part in its previously pristine development. This
N
C ing the different elements of unity and diversity of the Kura- ‘process’ followed two main geographic directions: the Iranian

• Araxes culture in a coherent way. It is, however, possible to plateau; and the Anatolian highlands, the latter also being the

T
R observe that some changes seem to have taken place roughly axis along which the Kura-Araxes tradition reached the ‘Amuq
A
P in the same period. For instance, regional trends in the ceramic region and the Levant by ca 2800 BC.
À traditions seem to develop in the early 3rd millennium at the The process behind this expansion has traditionally been

S same time as a break in settlement patterns in the Southern interpreted within the framework of migratory paradigms,
É
R Caucasus. Between the end of the 4th and beginning of the 3rd according to which the geographic diffusion of the Kura-
I
T millennium, some cemeteries became settlements, some set- Araxes material culture was the result of one or several

-
S tlements were abandoned (for brief or longer periods) and new migratory waves. Surely, this ‘expansion’ implied some form
N
settlements were occupied. of movement. However, as several papers in this volume point
O
TI Once again, while these processes seem to have involved out, different forms of movement may have been involved
I
D the entire Southern Caucasus, the reasons behind these in this process, from unidirectional shifts to cyclic seasonal
É
changes still need to be explained. Could geographic factors, movements and fi nally to ‘movements of ideas’, none of which
S
R different regional connectivity, local economic vocations (see necessarily imply the physical transfer of Kura-Araxes popu-
N
C for instance the role of metallurgy hypothesised by Rova for lations from one region to the other. What is more, none of

• Shida Kartli) have played their role in favouring diversifi ed these forms of movement exclude the others, as they may
T
R ceramic developments to the detriment of the apparent more have coexisted according to different historical or regional
A
P homogenous trajectory of the 4th millennium? Could changes contexts.

À in settlement patterns have refl ected a different territorial Concerning the development of the Kura-Araxes culture

S
organisation of the Kura-Araxes communities and eventually in Iran, our understanding is still fraught with uncertain-
É
R (Rothman forthcoming) other wide-reaching changes involv- ties. Summers assumes that the Kura-Araxes culture (ETC)
I
T
ing their political or economic organisation? was originally extraneous to North-Western Iran and that it

-

S Finally, how can we explain the correlation between these ‘arrived’ there as a result of migrations at the end of the 4th
N
O apparently simultaneous changes in the early 3rd millennium? millennium. However, new data from Kültepe near Jolfa would
TI We hope that the answers to these questions will be illumi- seem to suggest that the Kura-Araxes culture is found in the
I
D
É

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R The Kura-Araxes Culture from the Caucasus to Iran, Anatolia and the Levant: Between unity and diversity. A synthesis 255
A
P

À

S northernmost areas of Iran from at least 3340 cal. BC,6 suggest- plateau, such as the Kangavar valley: the setting for a direct
É
R ing that some communities of North-Western Iran had already diachronic development from Uruk to Kura-Araxes. At
I
T aspects of this culture from its early phases with apparently Godin Tepe for instance, the Uruk level V was followed, ca

-
S no signifi cant delay when compared to the Southern Caucasus. 3000 BC, by the Kura-Araxes level IVB, where remains of
N It is possible, however, that the inhabitants of the Urmia dwellings (presumably huts) built with wattle and daub tech-
O
I region only became involved in the Kura-Araxes dynam- nique and ceramics with clearly diagnostic Kura-Araxes traits
T
DI ics at a later date. According to Summers, a break with the were found (Gopnik and Rothman 2011). However, what has
É
Chalcolithic settlement patterns (Maziar forthcoming) and the been interpreted as the process of fi lling a vacuum left by the
S
R fact that this region recorded a fully developed Kura-Araxes demise of the Uruk phenomenon by intrusive Kura-Araxes
N
C ‘package’ slightly before 3000 BC are both evidence that there populations could in fact have been a more complex process
• was a migration of Kura-Araxes peoples into the Urmia basin. than that hypothesised to date.

T
R While this hypothesis cannot be excluded, it is important In fact, the twin sequence characterising Godin Tepe and
A
to stress that the Iranian Kura-Araxes was not a simple ‘copy’ Arslantepe (in the Anatolian Upper Euphrates Valley) between
P
À of the Caucasian Kura-Araxes package. Ceramic traditions the end of the 4th and beginning of the 3rd millennia adds sup-

S show local peculiarities: the use of grog in the clay (Mason port to the idea that the diachronic dialectic between Uruk and
É
R and Cooper 1999); the fact that black or grey burnished wares Kura-Araxes was repeated in different regions in the same his-
I
T seem to be more common than Red-Black Burnished Ware torical moment.

-
S (Gopnik and Rothman 2011); and, fi nally, the fact that excised Light has been thrown on this matter by new data (Palumbi
N
or incised decorations fi lled with white paste are typical of the 2012 and in press). This suggests that the impact of the cen-
O
TI Iranian region (Fahimi 2005: Fig. 3; Piller 2012); all are ele- tralised ‘Uruk’ model over the Anatolian and possibly also
I
D ments suggesting that the Kura-Araxes traditions went through Iranian highlands could have created the structural prerequi-
É
processes of adaptation, change and re-elaboration according sites for an intensifi ed interaction with the Kura-Araxes com-
S
R to local tastes and technologies. Unfortunately, little can be munities towards the end of the 4th millennium. The formation
N
C said as concerns Kura-Araxes metallurgy and funerary tradi- of a specialised pastoral sector, resulting from the implanta-

• tions in Iran. tion of centralised political and economic institutions in the

T
R While this picture is certainly skewed by the fragmentary 4th millennium, could have been a determining factor. In fact,
A
P status of the documentation at present, this large region may the development of a specialised pastoralism focusing on
À have witnessed multiple dynamics of encounter and interac- sheep and goat was one of the main economic changes to have

S tion with Kura-Araxes people and traditions and, as Summers taken place during the second half of the 4th millennium in the
É
R points out, multiple dynamics (and presumably also vectors) regions affected by the Uruk phenomenon (Zeder 1988: 21;
I
T may have generated different developmental trajectories of the Vila 1998: 90-91, 123-129).

-
S Kura-Araxes culture in Iran. This is why the migratory para- The intensifi cation of caprine-focused husbandry strategies
N
digm may not be the only model for interpreting the expansion represented one of the main economic pillars of the centralised
O
TI of the Kura-Araxes culture in Iran, and thus the role of the economies to emerge in the Uruk period (Porter 2012: 8-24).
I
D indigenous populations and of local developments could have The example of Arslantepe, described by Frangipane in this
É
been equally important. volume, shows how the specialised pastoralism that emerged
S
R Among other factors to be taken into account is the role of in phase VIA as a result of the establishment of a centralised
N
C the Uruk phenomenon in the Kura-Araxes expansion. The con- economic model (Frangipane 2010) may have been crucial in

• nection, suggested by Summers, between the Uruk ‘collapse’ the interactions with the Kura-Araxes communities immedi-
T
R and the Kura-Araxes ‘expansion’ offers a new ‘relational’ and ately after its collapse. At Arslantepe, the Uruk-Kura-Araxes
A
P historical perspective on the Kura-Araxes dynamics in Iran. diachronic sequence is represented by phase VIA, record-

À This may have been the case in some regions of the Iranian ing the construction of a monumental public complex (ca

S
3300-3100 BC), followed by phase VIB1 (ca 3100-2900 BC).
É
R Phase VIB1 at Arslantepe is characterised by the widespread
I 6. This is the uppermost limit of the absolute dating of sample retrieved in
T
Locus F.2036 belonging to the middle of the sequence of Trench II. Locus use of wooden and wattle and daub architecture and, like at
-
S F.2036 is certainly not the lowest locus of the Kura-Araxes sequence. Godin Tepe level IV, by a ceramic repertoire clearly reminis-
N Absolute datings of samples belonging to the lowest of the Kura-Araxes
O sequence at Kültepe are being carried out, and they will be published in cent of the Kura-Araxes traditions (Frangipane).
I
T Abedi forthcoming.
I
D
É

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P

À

S Several contributors to this volume have dated the appear- Araxes elements in the Upper Euphrates at the beginning of
É
R ance of Kura-Araxes ceramics at Arslantepe to the second half the 3rd millennium could have been the result of dynamics
I
T of the 4th millennium. This is due to the signifi cant presence acted out by indigenous communities, possibly aimed at the

-
S of red-black ceramics in late phase VII and in phase VIA. construction of new cultural identities in the region (Palumbi
N However, as already pointed out above, not all the red-black 2008a; Greenberg and Palumbi in press).
O
I ceramics from Anatolia were linked to the Kura-Araxes This hypothesis also seems to work well with the data
T
DI ceramic horizon and this was certainly the case of the red- available from Godin Tepe. As at Arslantepe, the ‘squatters’
É
black ceramics of the Upper Euphrates in the 4th millennium. who occupied Godin Tepe after the abandonment of the Uruk
S
R As also observed by Frangipane in this volume, there is no Oval Compound were characterised by a Kura-Araxes ori-
N
C archaeological evidence of interactions between Arslantepe ented ceramic assemblage; they lived in wooden or wattle and
• and the Kura-Araxes communities in the 4th millennium. daub dwellings and practiced specialised husbandry strategies

T
R Actually, it is only at the very beginning of the 3rd mil- that focused on caprines. The fact that these strategies were
A
lennium that the interactions with the Kura-Araxes ‘sphere’ analogous to those recorded at Godin Tepe in the Uruk period
P
À became clearly evident, as it is documented in phase VIB1 at suggests a direct continuity between the ‘squatters’ of phase

S Arslantepe. As to the cultural and possibly ethnic identity of IVB and the populations of the Kangavar region in the 4th mil-
É
R the pastoralist community at Arslantepe during phase VIB1, lennium BC.
I
T there are signs of continuity stretching back to the 4th-mil- The cases of Arslantepe and Godin Tepe are important

-
S lennium economic and cultural traditions of the site during because they open up the possibility that the ‘expansion’ of
N
phase VIA (see Frangipane). the Kura-Araxes culture in regions that had played no part in
O
TI One of these is the specialised husbandry strategies focused its pristine developments, such as the Upper Euphrates and
I
D on caprines, as specialised as those practiced in phase VIA the Kangavar Valley, could have been initially resulted from
É
(Siracusano and Bartosiewicz 2012) and another is the ceramic the adoption of some traditions by local populations rather
S
R traditions, as Red-Black Burnished Ware from phase VIB1 than by the intrusive migrations of ‘outsider’ Kura-Araxes
N
C was characterised by the same red-black alternate pattern as communities.

• that in use in the Upper Euphrates during the 4th millennium. Exactly why the local pastoral communities of the Upper

T
R However, unlike the latter, during phase VIB1 Red-Black Euphrates and Kangavar Valleys were particularly receptive
A
P Burnished Ware reproduced a hybridised repertoire composed to the Kura-Araxes cultural system is unknown, but it remains
À of Kura-Araxes (jars and lids), Central Anatolian (hemispher- a crucial question that would benefi t from future studies.

S ical ‘black-topped’ bowls) and local shapes (cylindrical pot- However, it is important to underline that in the early 3rd mil-
É
R stands) (Palumbi 2012). lennium it was possible to become a Kura-Araxes community
I
T It has already been suggested that the pastoral community and to acquire a Kura-Araxes identity without being either of

-
S that settled at Arslantepe during phase VIB1 was not a ‘for- Kura-Araxes descent or born in its ‘homeland’.
N
eign’ community of Kura-Araxes migrants but more probably This is not meant to exclude the possibility that ‘external’
O
TI a local community, possibly the direct descendants of the same factors, such as movements and migrations of Kura-Araxes
I
D specialised pastoral communities of the Uruk period (Palumbi people, may have taken place in the 3rd millennium thus play-
É
2012 and in press). These pastoralists seem to have mixed ing a role in the expansion of the Kura-Araxes culture.
S
R local, Central Anatolian and Kura-Araxes traditions, thus As suggested in the case of Iran, the Upper Euphrates
N
C suggesting that in the early 3rd millennium the cultural and Valley probably experienced different types of interaction with

• territorial boundaries between the Anatolian and Caucasian the eastern Kura-Araxes communities. In this case, the adop-
T
R highlands could have been, especially for the mobile groups, tion of a Kura-Araxes identity by the indigenous pastoral com-
A
P more fl uid than before. munities of the Upper Euphrates Valley could have created a

À From this point of view, the hybridised ceramic repertoire favourable cultural environment which then acted as a ‘pull’

S
of Arslantepe phase VIB1 may have expressed practices of factor (Rothman 2003) for later movements of Kura-Araxes
É
R mobility stretching from the Anatolian Plateau to the eastern populations into the region. In fact, during the Early Bronze
I
T
Anatolian highlands that could have activated more stable inter- Age II (ca 2750-2500 BC) the Upper Euphrates Valley, and

-

S actions with the Kura-Araxes world. Data from Arslantepe, as especially the region of Elazığ, underwent a process of deep
N
O much as those from the contemporary Tepecik in the Altinova absorption into the Kura-Araxes cultural sphere. In this period,
TI plain (Palumbi in press), suggest that the intrusion of Kura- the striking analogies of the local ceramic traditions, build-
I
D
É

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