Kura-Araxes culture
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
The Kura-Araxes culture was a Chalcolithic culture that flourished in the Caucasus and eastern Anatolia from 4000 B.C. to 2200 B.C. Unknown from any classical historic records, their name (given by modern archaeologists) comes from the Kura and Araxes river valleys where they developed. The territory they inhabited is located in modern Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.
The Kura-Araxes used both stone and metal to make tools. They were able to cold-forge unalloyed copper, but did not engage in smelting and did not use bronze. They built mud-brick houses, originally round, but later developing into a square design. Their economy was based on farming and raising livestock. They grew grain and various orchard crops, and are known to have used implements to make flour. They raised cattle, sheep, goats, dogs, and horses.
The Kura-Araxes are best known for a distinctive variety of hand-made pottery. This pottery was painted black and red, using geometric designs for ornamentation. Examples have been found as far south as Syria and Palestine, and as far north as Dagestan and Chechnya. The spread of this pottery, along with archaeological evidence of invasions, suggests that the Kura-Araxes people may have spread outward from their original homes.
External links
- The Chronology of the Caucasus During the Early Metal Age: Observations from Central Transcaucasus (http://www.geocities.com/komblema/observe.htm) - Giorgi L. Kavtaradze
- The Beginnings of Metallurgy (http://www.geocities.com/komblege/ansch1.htm) - includes extensive discussion of Kura-Araxs metalworking
