Abstract:

Pottery is one of the ancient handicrafts of Nakhchivan. Many archaeological materials were obtained from the Bronze Age monuments of Nakhchivan regarding this handicraft. Among them, pottery workshops and pottery spheres have a peculiar place. Although these archaeological data have been mentioned separately in some research papers and reports, they have not been studied extensively. For this reason, it was necessary to conduct a detailed study of pottery workshops and furnaces located in Nakhchivan. As a result of the study, it was determined that pottery developed in the Bronze Age, and the settlements of Kultepe I and Kultepe II were some of the important pottery centers of Nakhchivan. The presence of clay containers with traces of oil on the top and edge in the workshop and around the furnaces, as well as burnt charred animal bones, indicates that animal bones, as well as wood, were used in these furnaces. Stone and bone tools around the kiln were used to make and decorate pots and other ceramic products. Potters made painted vessels as well as simple vessels. The widespread use of containers decorated with paint since the Middle Bronze Age proves that Nakhchivan is one of the important centers of the “Culture of Painted Containers”. In this study, information was given about the pottery kilns unearthed in the archaeological excavations in Kultepe I and Kultepe II settlements in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, and evaluations were made about the development of pottery in the region during the Bronze Age.

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