AN UBAID SETTLEMENT IN THE SOUTH CAUCASUS – BÜLÖVKAYA (NAKHCHİVAN, AZERBAIJAN)

The discovery of samples of material culture associated with Mesopotamia in the South Caucasus raised great debate among scholarly community. Some group of scholar’s claim that traces of Mesopotamian cultures in the South Caucasus link to economic and cultural relationship, and whereas others see this spread of Mesopotamian cultures the result of migration. Newly discovered pottery from Bülövkaya provides new insight into the relationship between the South Caucasus and Northern Mesopotamia. Research shows that painted and simple ceramics from the Bülövkaya settlement can be considered a local variant of the Ubaid culture. The results of the study show that the Ubaid tribes moved north and settled in the territory of Nakhchivan in the first half of the 5th millennium. The movement of the Ubaid tribes to the north was associated with the rich deposits of raw materials of the South Caucasus, especially deposits of obsidian and copper, as well as abundant pastures.