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160
Cattle breeding was as important for the econom y o f Kura-Araks
tribes as farming. Cattle breeding tribes lived in plains and foothills and
practiced nomadic and pasture cattle breeding in Karabakh highlands
(Lachin, Kelbajar and so on) in alpine meadows.
Development o f horse breeding had a significant effect on the
development o f nomadic cattle raising. It was proved by cattle and horse
bones found in Garakopektepe (Fizuli district).
Cattle breeders became rich faster than farmers and owned large
pastures in the vicinity o f the Lesser Caucasus. Burial mounds of chiefs
o f rich cattle breeding tribes contained a large am ount o f artifacts which
prove the existence o f property inequality and social disparity in tribes.
Uchtepe mounds in Mill Steppe demonstrate the luxury o f Karabakh
chiefs'burials.
In the Early Bronze Karabakh tribes were engaged in various crafts
(pottery, metal working, weaving, tanning, bone and stone carving).
W hen potter's wheel was invented, an intensive development of
pottery commenced. The quality and decoration o f crockery made
during Kura-Araks culture significantly improved. Fragments of black,
grey and red glazed ceramics bore pictographic om am ents o f symbolic
nature applied by means o f scratching, carving, stam ping and modeling.
Crockery o f the period featured hem ispherical handles and geo-
metric omaments.
Plough farming
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161
The Early Bronze pottery
One o f the m ost im portant achievements o f Karabakh tribes in the
Early Bronze A ge w as m etalw ork. Archeological findings o f Garako-
pektepe dating from the Early Bronze Age include items from all stages
ofmetalwork: sm elting pots, ladles, casting forms and ham m er scale.
Golden jew elry found in Khankendi and K hachingchay burial
mounds proves that goldsm iths o f the Bronze Age were also rather
skillftıl.
In the Early Bronze A ge some Karabakh settlements were
developing into craft centre, w ith craftsmanship tum ing into the most
im portanteconom ic activity.
In some econom ic activities stone and bone im plements were used
along with the m etal ones, and as a result, stonework and bonework
developed as independent crafts.
Metal-working tools and gear o f the early Bronze Age
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162
Weaving was among the most important crafts. Spindle tips
(mainly m ade o f bones) were found in some settlements. M ainly sheep
and goat w ool were used for weaving.
The use o f skin o f domestic animals enabled the development o f
tannery.
In the Early Bronze Age cultural and economic links o f K arabakh
tribes extended.
Petroglyphs and pictographic symbols found in Azyurdu, Tahta,
Istisu, Zalha, Gelingaya, Chakhmag-gaya, Ayi-chyngylly sites located
upstream the Terterchay, Kelbajar district, are the most valuable sources
o f information about the culture o f ancient Karabakh inhabitants in the
Early Bronze Age.
Burials are o f high scientific value for the research o f the way o f
life o f Karabakh tribes in the Early Bronze Age. There are many mound
burials in highlands and lowlands. Ancient inhabitants o f Karabakh
buried their dead in earthen graves and stone coffıns and then made
mounds o f various heights on the graves. Depending on the area, the
mounds were made o f sand, pebbles and stones, like in Khankendi, or
stones and earth, like in Uchtepe.
Evidences o f cremation were found in Khankendi, Khachincay
(JVo4 and Ne5) and Borsunlu (JVbl2) mounds. Ochre was also discovered
in the mounds.
Karabakh burial mounds have a specifıc feature: an entrance to the
crypt. Burials found in these sites are identical, as ancient Karabakh
inhabitants shared a common geographic area and followed the same
economic and cultural traditions.
Chiefs, commanders, pagan priests and rich people were buried
with many m unitions found in the graves.
In the Early Bronze Age perception and beliefs o f people changed.
The structure o f burial mounds and burial procedures (cremation,
collective burials, domestic items in the graves) testifıes to their beliefin
hereafter.
Burial traditions revealed in Khankendi, Khachincay, Borsunlu
and Uchtepe m ounds o f Karabakh region can also be found in a larger
area, to Sheki, including the Injechay, Ganjachay and Shamhorchay
river basins. It proves that the tribes which inhabited these areas in the
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163
Early Bronze A ge were Turkic tribes o f sim ilar origins.
Intensive development o f productive forces in Karabakh in the
Bronze Age resulted in the developm ent o f all economic activities, in
particular, m etalw ork and pottery. Such development, in its tum,
accelerated evolution in the M iddle Bronze Age. Trade links between
Karabakh and Nakhchivan, West Asia and M iddle East countries
extended, city-like centres emerged. In the 23rd-l 5* centuries BC smaller
Karabakh tribes joined around the centres in large tribal unions. It is
proved by archaeological research conducted in the Bronze Age
settlements in Uzerliktepe, Gektepe, Chinartepe, Garakopektepe,
Guneshtepe, Hantepe, Uzuntepe, m eynetepe, Shomulutepe, Kultepe,
Nergiztepe, Agtepe, Tohmagtepe, Beyuktepe, Duyu Tepesi, Gertepe,
Chaggalitepe and so on.
Middle Bronze Age
Tribes, m ore powerful from econom ic and m ilitary point o f view,
extended their territories, in order to gain trophies and wealth they
attacked neighbouring tribes. Clashes between the tribes resulted in the
construction o f defensive walls around some o f the cultural and
economic centres.
Archaeological researches were conducted in the centres o f tribe
unions surrounded by defensive walls dating from the Middle Bronze
Age in Karabakh, with rich scientific material collected.
Uzerliktepe, an ancient city centre, was fortifıed by towers and
w alls made o f grizzle. Garakopektepe, another ancient city centre, was
surrounded by high defensive walls built with large rocks and river
stones.
The foundation o f Garakopektepe was built with large rocks, with
the space betweenthe walls fılled with river stones.
Uzerliktepe located in the w estem part o f present Agdam was one
o f the most ancient cities o f Karabakh. Ancient castle Uzerliktepe was
built according to an architectural layout and was divided into two parts.
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