Azernews.Az

Laman Ismayilova

Read more

Azerbaijan's Minister of Culture Adil Karimli has visited the archaeological fieldwork being carried out at a newly discovered ancient settlement in the village of Urakaran, Yardimli district, which is considered to be of great significance for Azerbaijan's history, AzerNEWS reports.

According to the Ministry of Culture, the visit was attended by Ayaz Asgarov, Head of the Yardimli District Executive Authority; Sabina Hajiyeva, Head of the State Service for the Protection, Development and Restoration of Cultural Heritage under the Ministry of Culture; historian Hasan Hasanov; and representatives of the local community.

Director of the Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS), Associate Professor Farhad Guliyev, PhD in History, briefed participants on the ongoing research. He noted that excavations at the nearby Bilga Necropolis uncovered megalith-covered stone cist graves and jar burials, while the presence of earth graves was also confirmed. Covering an area of more than one hectare, the necropolis dates from the 3rd century BC to the 3rd century AD.

It was also reported that approximately 250 meters southwest of the Bilga Necropolis, archaeologists identified the remains of a large settlement with substantial building structures extending in several directions.

The ministry stated that archaeological investigations will continue on a larger scale in the coming years, using modern technologies to determine the full layout and structure of the ancient settlement.

The archaeological fieldwork is being conducted by a joint Azerbaijani-American expedition led by Jeyhun Eminli, PhD in History and a researcher at the ANAS Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology. The American side of the expedition is headed by Professor Lara Fabian of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

The expedition's primary objective is to study settlements and burial monuments dating to the Atropatene period, which played an important role in the history of Azerbaijani statehood.

Particular emphasis is being placed on examining the process of urbanization in mountainous regions, the lifestyle of ancient populations, and archaeological evidence of cultural and economic links between different regions.