Emergence of the first farming societies in the Southern Caucasus

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24251014
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 海外学術
• Research Field: Archaeology
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Nishiaki Yoshihiro 東京大学, 総合研究博物館, 教授 (70256197)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 吉田 邦夫 東京大学, 総合研究博物館, 研究員 (10272527)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): KADOWAKI Seiji 名古屋大学, 博物館, 講師 (00571233)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 中石器時代 / 新石器時代 / コーカサス / メソポタミア / 農耕牧畜 / 気候変動

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study conducted a series of excavations in Azerbaijan for investigating the origins of the earliest farmers in the Southern Caucasus. The results of the excavations of one Mesolithic site Damjili Cave (6400-6000 BC), and two important mound sites, Haci Elamxanlu Tepe (5950-5800 BC) and Goyytepe (5650-5450 BC), strongly sugget that the oldest farming socio-economy was introduced to the region about 8000 years ago, through close links with regions farther south in the Middle East. At the same time, the comparative study of the material remains demonstrate that the cultural entity of the oldest farmers did not appear as a package but was established in the process of local cultural evolution that involved a Mesolithic stage.

Free Research Field

考古学