Khodzhaly-Kedabek Culture

an archaeological culture widespread in eastern and central Transcaucasia during the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age (13th to seventh centuries); it was named after the sites of the first finds near the villages of Khodzhaly and Kedabek in the Azerbaijan SSR.

Most of what is known about the Khodzhaly-Kedabek culture has been obtained from burials—flat graves, cists, and barrows, usually with inhumations, with the dead placed in a flexed, supine, or sitting position; some burials contained cremations. The graves yielded various bronze articles, such as swords, poleaxes, maces, arrows, pitchforks, spearheads, cauldrons, beakers, bits, and belts decorated with hunting and mythological scenes. Also found were beads made of glass, carnelian, or bone, stone vessels, and many black polished clay vessels of various shapes with incised ornamentation, depicting animals, hunting scenes, and astral symbols. Articles made of iron, such as spears, knives, and daggers, appeared in the late stage of the culture’s development. A number of settlements, including fortified ones, have also been discovered.

The tribes of the Khodzhaly-Kedabek culture engaged in land cultivation and stock raising; metallurgy was also developed. Contacts were maintained with other tribes. There is some evidence that the tribes of the Khodzhaly-Kedabek culture were distant ancestors of the modern peoples of Transcaucasia.