IN the SHADOW of ARARAT. Intensive Surveys in the Araxes River Region, Naxçivan, Azerbaijan

ANATOLICA XXXVII, 2011 IN THE SHADOW OF ARARAT. Intensive Surveys in the Araxes River Region, Naxçivan, Azerbaijan Bradley J. Parker, with assistance from Lauren Ristvet, Veli BaxúΩliyev, SΩfΩr Aúurov and Alex Headman1 Abstract This paper presents the results of intensive archaeological surveys carried out at the confluence of the in Arpaçay and the Araxes Rivers, in the province of Sharur (ùΩrur), in the region of Naxçivan, Azerbaijan. The goals of the project were threefold. First, the survey team’s intention was to conduct an intensive pedestrian survey of the agricultural fields around the important Iron Age fortress of O÷lanqala in an effort to locate and record small sites within its immediate environs. Second, we set out to map and make systematic archaeological collections of a number of Middle Iron Age fortresses known to exist in the hills surrounding the Arpaçay River. Our third objective was to map and make systematic archaeological collections from eight Early Transcaucasian (ETC) sites identified in the region. INTRODUCTION During the summer of 2009 a team from the University of Utah conducted intensive archaeological surveys at a number of sites in western Naxçivan, Azerbaijan (Figure 1).2 The surveys were conducted under the auspices of the Naxçivan Archaeological Project Excavations at O÷lanqala and with assistance from its directors and in coordination with the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences. The goals of the project were threefold. First, our intention was to conduct an intensive pedestrian survey of the agricultural fields around the site of O÷lanqala in an effort to locate and record small sites within its immediate environs. Second, we set out to map and make systematic archaeological collections of a number of Middle Iron Age fortresses known to exist in the hills surrounding the Arpaçay River. Our third objective was to map and make systematic archaeological collections from 1 Bradley J. Parker (University of Utah), Lauren Ristvet (University of Pennsylvania), Veli Baxúԥliyev (Azerbaijani National Academy of Sciences, Naxçıvan) Sԥfԥr Aúurov (Azerbaijani National Academy of Sciences, Baku), Alex Headman (University of Utah). 2 This report was researched and composed by Bradley Parker. Lauren Ristvet, Veli Baxúԥliyev and Sԥfԥr Aúurov provided logistical support in the field. Veli Baxúԥliyev aided in the dating of the ceramics discovered in the surveys. The maps and photographs presented here were processed by Alex Headman. The artifacts presented in this article were drawn in the field by Kimberly Leaman (University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology). Inking and electronic paste-up of the artifact drawings were done by Elizabeth Clark at the Utah Microarchaeology Laboratory (UML) at the University of Utah. I would like to thank Reilly Jensen (University of Utah), Emin Mammadov (Nazcivan State University) and Elvin Aliyev (Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Baku) for their assistance in the field. This research was funded by the College of Humanities at the University of Utah, the Middle East Center at the University of Utah and the National Science Foundation. I would like to offer my sincere gratitude to these organizations for their support. I would also like to thank the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences for granting permission to conduct this research. 188 BRADLEY J. PARKER ET AL. eight Early Transcaucasian sites identified in the region (Table 1). To reach these goals, the survey team conducted intensive surveys of seventeen sites in Sharur province (ùΩrur Rayonu) and one site in Sederek province (SΩdΩrΩk Rayonu) near the geopolitical border between Naxçivan, Iran, Turkey and Armenia. This article presents the results of this research and discusses some observations gleaned from the resulting data for the reconstruction of the settlement history of the region. INTENSIVE PEDESTRIAN SURVEY The site of O÷lanqala is located on a large natural limestone outcrop (Qaratԥpԥ) at the southern extremity of the Lesser Caucasus. At approximately 1000 meters above sea level, the outcrop towers approximately 140 meters above the surrounding plain of the Arpaçay River (Figure 2). Excavations were undertaken at O÷lanqala in 1988 and 1989 (Bakhshaliev 1994). Then in 2008, Ristvet, Baxúԥliyev and Aúurov reopened excavations at the site. Archaeological research at O÷lanqala has revealed substantial fortifications and public buildings consisting of four construction phases spanning the 9th to 5th centuries B.C.E. (the Naxçivani Middle and Late Iron Ages). Thus far, however, little evidence of domestic architecture has been recovered. The purpose of the intensive pedestrian survey was, therefore, to search the alluvium in the immediate vicinity of O÷lanqala for evidence of former settlement or other ancient monuments. The locale chosen for the intensive pedestrian survey measures approximately ten square kilometers (Figure 2). The area available for survey was conditioned by modern land use and the location of the modern village. Much of the plain is today under wheat. Interspersed among the wheat fields are occasional garden plots sown with tomatoes, peppers and cabbage and a few fields sown with corn. About one third of the fields lay fallow in any given year. Within the pedestrian survey area around O÷lanqala, irrigation canals radiate out from the northeast to dissect the plain at a number of points. Since fields of standing wheat are difficult to survey, and because walking wheat fields damages the crop, the pedestrian survey was restricted to fallow fields. Fallow fields were surveyed using transects consisting of five persons spaced between five and ten meters apart. The length of each transect varied depending on the size and location of fallow fields and the location of irrigation canals. Utilizing this methodology, the survey team walked 21 transect lines covering approximately 35% of the total survey area. Sherd density in all transects was very low, with most transects producing no ceramic data. Sherd density was slightly higher in the western-most section of the survey area where transects often produced small numbers (less than 10) of well-worn sherds. The pedestrian survey revealed two sites in the vicinity of O÷lanqala. The first is a large kurgan style burial and the second is a thin field scatter spread across an area of approximately 50 by 50 meters. Additionally, a sherd scatter was previously identified by members of the O÷lanqala excavation team in fields that, at the time of our survey, were under wheat. ANATOLICA XXXVII, 2011 189 The first site visited by the survey team was a kurgan mounded burial. This kurgan (NAPS #1)3 can be dated by ceramic evidence and one small find to the Naxçivani Early Iron Age (ca. 1000-850 B.C.E.). The site consists of a mound covered with a mantle of cobble-sized stones. It measures approximately 20 by 20 meters in diameter and 3 meters in height (Figure 3). Ceramics typical of the Early Iron Age in the Caucasus were recovered during the survey, including examples painted with black and red bichrome designs. Additionally, a fragment of a pillar figurine was discovered. Although it is possible that this kurgan lies partially buried beneath silts deposited by the Arpaçay river over the past several millennia, the preservation of the monument suggests that this area of the Arpaçay valley has remained fairly stable since the Early Iron Age. A ceramic field scatter (NAPS #2) was discovered in fallow fields approximately 100 meters to the northwest of O÷lanqala. The scatter was located over an area that measured approximately 50 by 50 meters. At the time of the survey the area showed no site morphology and sherd density was relatively low. Diagnostic ceramics from this site date to the Naxçivani Middle Iron Age (ca. 850-600 B.C.E.). MIDDLE IRON AGE FORTRESSES The survey team mapped and collected four hilltop fortresses which almost certainly were part of a system of defenses created during the Urartian period (known in Naxçivan as the Middle Iron Age, ca. 850-600 B.C.E.) and subsequently reused during the Achaemenid and modern periods. The first hilltop site, known as Qizqala 1 (NAPS #3), is located on a sheer limestone cliff more than 200 meters above the mountain-valley junction approximately one kilometer north of O÷lanqala. Qizqala 1 has a commanding view of the Arpaçay River valley, which drains the nearby foothills of the Lesser Caucasus. The site is characterized by two large circuit walls that form the southern, western and part of the northern boundaries of the site (Figure 4). The northeastern and eastern sides of the site are protected by a sheer cliff that faces the valley of the Arpaçay. The site measures approximately 80 meters north-south by 30 meters east-west. A gate allows access to the site from the east. The remains of two round towers guard the eastern approaches. A wall separates a lower enclosed area from the upper citadel, which is made up of a tower and a number of square buildings. The area inside the enclosure also contains a rock-lined cistern. A well-preserved road complete with switch-backs, leads up the mountain from the alluvial plain directly to a relatively flat area outside of the site (Figure 5A). The length of the road is approximately 595 meters. Ceramic collection at Qizqala 1 was segregated into 5 morphological areas. A large corpus of Urartian-style ceramics, including characteristic red burnished bowls, were recovered in all of the collection areas. Direct correlations between ceramics recovered at Qizqala 1 and those from the ongoing excavations at O÷lanqala suggest that 3 All of the sites discussed in this article will be referred to by their site name (if known) and the number assigned to them by the survey team. These numbers are expressed as Naxçivan Archaeological Project Survey or NAPS numbers.

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