Nakhichevan Culture

an archaeological culture of the second to early first millennium B.C. (the Bronze Age and the early Iron Age) on the territory of the Nakhichevan ASSR, Azerbaijan SSR.

The Nakhichevan culture is genetically linked with previous local cultures from the Aeneolithic period and the early Bronze Age (for example, the Kura-Araks Aeneolithic cultures). It is represented by fortified and unfortified settlements and by burial structures (cists and barrows). Among the finds are monochrome and polychrome painted pottery, bronze and iron implements, weapons, ornaments, and stone and bone objects. The bearers of the Nakhichevan culture engaged in farming and livestock raising; pottery-making, weaving, and metalworking were developed. Indications of property differentiation have been traced (especially after the early first millennium B.C.). The tribes of the Nakhichevan culture maintained cultural and economic ties with neighboring tribes in Transcaucasia and Southwest Asia.