Kura–Araxes culture

The Kura–Araxes culture (also named Kur–Araz culture, Mtkvari–Araxes culture, Early Transcaucasian culture, Shengavitian culture^[1][2]) was an archaeological culture that existed from about 4000 BC until about 2000 BC,^[3] which has traditionally been regarded as the date of its end; in some locations it may have disappeared as early as 2600 or 2700 BC.^[4] The earliest evidence for this culture is found on the Ararat plain; it spread north in the Caucasus by 3000 BC.^[5]

Altogether, the early Transcaucasian culture enveloped a vast area about 1,000 km by 500 km,^[6] and mostly encompassed the modern-day territories of the Armenia, eastern Georgia, Azerbaijan, northwestern Iran, the northeastern Caucasus, eastern Turkey, and as far as northern Syria.^[7][8]

The name of the culture is derived from the Kura and Araxes river valleys. Some local variations of the Kura–Araxes culture are sometimes known as Shengavitian, Karaz (Erzurum), Pulur (after a site renamed later as Sakyol), and Yanik Tepe (Iranian Azerbaijan, near Lake Urmia) cultures.^[9] It gave rise to the Khirbet Kerak-ware culture found in the Levant and Trialeti culture of the South Caucasus and Armenian highlands. In Nakhchivan region of Azerbaijan and nearby areas, Kura-Araxes culture was followed by Nakhchivan culture.

This civilization was characterized by an agricultural sedentary economy with more than a thousand settlements covering the fertile riverside valleys, high plateaus and high mountain zones of the Armenian highlands and neighboring regions. The Early Bronze Age artificial hill-settlements were characterized by multiple cultural layers, which in some places spread to tens of meters (Mokhrablur of Nakhijevan, Norsun-Tepe).^[10][11]