Shomu-tepe (Şomutəpə) is an ancient settlement in the
Agstafa District
Aghstafa District () is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. Located in the northwest of the country, it belongs to the Gazakh-Tovuz Economic Region. The district borders the districts of Qazakh, Tovuz, as well as the Kakheti and Kvemo Kartl ...
of
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...
. The
Neolithic
The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...
Shulaveri-Shomu culture that formed in the
Southern Caucasus
The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and West Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Armenia, ...
is connected with the name of this monument.
The settlement is located in the northern suburb of the modern city of
Agstafa
Agstafa () is a town, municipality (assigned in 1941) and the capital of the Aghstafa District of Azerbaijan. Agstafa district was established in 1939, abolished in 1959 and merged with Gazakh district, and made into an independent district agai ...
.
Research
During the 1960s, I. G. Narimanov, was the first to recognize a new culture that he named 'Shomu', after he excavated this site on the outskirts of Agstafa. This is now known as Shulaveri-Shomu culture. In 1961–1964, he carried out research in the area of 400 square meters in the residential area of Agstafa.
Settlement
The thickness of the cultural level at the settlement varies from 1 to 2.5 m.
The inhabitants of Shomutape lived in small round houses built of unbaked plano-convex bricks. The ceiling of the house was supported by a pole buried in the floor. Houses had one and sometimes two entrances. The maximum diameter of these residential buildings was 3.7 m. Later, Narimanov identified two types of circular buildings here, small with a diameter around 2 m, and large with a diameter around 3.5 m.
The fireplaces used to heat the houses were placed near the walls. Some stoves were also located outside. The farm buildings of Shomutape had a circular plan like the residential houses.
Cereal grains, tools made of stone and bone, including grinding stones and bone sickles, were discovered in the Shomutape settlement. The lithic industry of the inhabitants was almost exclusively based on obsidian, consisting mainly of blades, but sometimes also using microliths.
A female figure made of bone was also found.
Ceramics were made of clay mixed with sand, and sometimes covered with red paint. They are mostly grit-tempered but sometimes also vegetal-tempered.
Recent discoveries
In March 2025, an approximately 8,400-year-old
Mesolithic
The Mesolithic (Ancient Greek language, Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic i ...
human figurine was discovered in
Damjili Cave
Damjili () – is a half-circular shaped cave site (6400-6000 BC) in Azerbaijan, where evidence of prehistoric human presence during the Paleolithic and Mesolithic was discovered.
Various stone tools, arrowheads, flint knives, remains of hearth a ...
, western Azerbaijan's
Qazax District
Qazax District (; ) is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. Located in the northwest of the country, it belongs to the Gazakh-Tovuz Economic Region. The district borders the district of Aghstafa, and the Tavush Province of Armenia. Its capital ...
, by a collaborative Azerbaijani-Japanese team. This small stone artifact, dating to between 6400 and 6100 BC, was carved from river stone. Measuring 51 mm in length and 15 mm in width, the figurine lacks gender-specific features, which contrasts with the predominantly female clay figurines characteristic of the later
Neolithic
The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...
period. Researchers associate the figurine with the early Shomutepe culture.
See also
*
History of Azerbaijan
In this article, the history of Azerbaijan is understood as the history of the region now forming the Republic of Azerbaijan. Topographically, the land is contained by the southern slopes of the Caucasus Mountains in the north, the Caspian Sea i ...
Notes
Bibliography
* {{cite journal , last=Baudouin , first=Emmanuel , title=Rethinking architectural techniques of the Southern Caucasus in the 6th millennium BC: A re-examination of former data and new insights , journal=Paléorient , issue=45-1 , date=2019-06-01 , issn=0153-9345 , doi=10.4000/paleorient.602 , pages=115–150
* R. M. MUNCHAEV
Shomutepe- article in "The Great Soviet Encyclopedia" (1979)
Prehistoric Azerbaijan
Shulaveri–Shomu culture
Archaeological sites in Azerbaijan
Prehistoric Caucasus