Talysh-Mugan Culture

an archaeological culture of the Bronze Age and early Iron Age (14th to seventh centuries B.C.) that was prevalent in the Talysh Mountains and Mugan Plain, in the Azerbaijan SSR.

The Talysh-Mugan culture is known primarily from excavations of its burial grounds. In the mountainous regions these consist of collective burials with men in supine position surrounded by a number of seated women, as well as cists with double or single burials, with the corpses in flexed and supine positions. Discoveries in the lowland region have included flat-grave burial grounds and a hoard of bronze axes. Typical finds are bronze and iron weapons, varied pottery, bronze and gold ornaments, and bronze animal figurines.

The principal occupations of the tribes of the Talysh-Mugan culture were land cultivation and, in the mountains, stock raising and metalworking. The culture’s burial rites and remains reflect a decline of the patriarchical tribal community, as well as differentiation with respect to property. Scholars have ascertained that contacts existed between the Talysh-Mugan culture and Southwest Asia.