patterns included wavy lines, festoons hanging from the neck and a running band of fret (or key pattern).

Sevan-Uzerlik Horizon

Sevan-Uzerlik is a term that draws attention to the localisation of burials around Lake Sevan and the important settlement site of Uzerlik Tepe in the Mil steppe. Of the sites, only a few have been systematically investigated, and chief amongst them is Uzerlik Tepe, a village of three stratified building horizons defined by Karin Kushnareva in the 1950s.166 The earliest deposits, Level I, were mostly characterised by numerous pits, serving a variety of functions, and a sub-rectangular wattle-and-daub house, supported on a framework of thick posts and roofed with wooden slabs.The house had a beaten clay floor, originally covered with reed matting, and a hearth within and around which was a portable clay oven, stone pestles, grinders, and remnants of metalworking, including a clay crucible and slag. Later in the history of the village, as revealed by Level II, the community built a massive curved defensive wall. Made of large mud-brick slabs, and measuring 3 m across its width, the wall enclosed the entire settlement, which did not reveal any architectural changes. By the end of this period, Level III, the wall fell into disuse, and in the upper horizon the community shifted their activities to the north part of the settlement. Although poorly preserved, these upper deposits clearly had fewer pits and some large areas of floor surfaces. Lori Berd is another important settlement, also fortified with a massive wall, 7 m thick in parts.167 One house, subrectangular in plan, was very large, measuring 26 m along its south-eastern wall and partitioned into four rooms.

Like studies on the Karmirberd tradition, literature on the Sevan-Uzerlik reveals that pottery categorisation bulks large in research.Aspects of the SevanUzerlik repertoire clearly reflect Karmirberd traits, but they also show novel characteristics as regards form and decoration. Three ware types have been recognised at Uzerlik Tepe, which, in order of quantity excavated, are as follows: kitchenware, black polished, and painted (Figure 7.26(8–14)). Coarse kitchenware, according to Kushnareva, remained the same through the sequence, whereas black polished pottery evolved largely in terms of ornamentation and surface treatment, which improved in the upper levels. Round pots and deep bowls, the main forms, show a development from incised to comb-stamped motifs.

The earlier incised patterns (Level I) were haphazardly executed and included horizontal rows of herringbone and zigzags. With the introduction of comb stamping, in Level II, potters were more careful in the application of

166Kushnareva 1959, 1965, 1994.

167Devedzhian 1981; Devedjian 2006.

ornaments, which often covered the entire body. Bold patterns of concentric festoons, arched bands and rows of horizontal zigzags make for a lively repertoire. Incised and comb-stamped pottery found in tombs often had their ornaments filled with a white paste for added contrast. Even more eye-catching is the painted pottery of tall jars and deep bowls, which were also introduced in small numbers in Level II. Slipped in red or occasionally cream, these vessels were decorated with conspicuous and freely applied patterns, especially hatched rows of rhombs.

The ceramic assemblages from tombs are generally similar to those from UzerlikTepe.All three wares were deposited with the deceased except at Arich, where painted wares were absent. Regional variations in decorative style are also noticeable, with the arched motif missing from sites in the Shirak area. Tombs comprised rectangular grave-pits; unlike the Karmirberd group, these had rounded corners and were orientated east–west.168 The pits were covered with planks and concealed by a mound.Arich Barrow 44 was conspicuous for its large mound, the absence of a skeleton and evidence of a fire.Although pottery dominates the grave offerings, other objects – bronze metalwork (daggers, spearheads, and needles), stone projectile points with a narrow concave base, beads – were included in the assemblage in the developed phase of the Arich cemetery. Of particular note is a black polished cup with a pair of up-swung handles found in Arich Barrow 65. It is part of a group scattered across the Caucasus that are redolent of cups from the Middle Bronze Age of western Anatolia.169

The Kizyl Vank Horizon

The geographical focus of this cultural horizon is the Nakhichevan Republic, and it is named after the site where it was first discovered: the Armenian monastery of Karmir Vank, known in Azerbaijani as Kizil Vank. Nearby, the Middle Bronze Age deposits of Kültepe I are likewise important.170 The distinguishing feature of this horizon is boldly painted pottery – often decorated in monochrome, occasionally in polychrome, but always striking to the eye (Figure 7.26(15–21)). Beyond the Nakhichevan heartland, Kizil Vank ceramics are spread across southern Caucasia, eastern Anatolia, and northern Iran. But again our understanding of the internal development of this culture is limited, owing to the lack of detailed and trustworthy stratified sequences in the south Caucasus. Indeed, it is north-western Iran and the sites of Haftavan Tepe and Geoy Tepe that have helped to fashion a framework.

168Kushnareva 1997: 129–44.

169Abramishvili 2010.

170Kushnareva 1997: 144–9.

In the south Caucasus, the settlement sites of Kültepe I, Kültepe II, and Shor Tepe are significant.The high mound of Kültepe I yielded KizilVank material in Level III, its Middle Bronze Age, which was up to 3 m deep. Excavations were limited, however, and no coherent settlement plan is available other than to say that houses were built of mud brick, rectangular in plan and stone paved. Of the three building levels discerned by the excavators, monochrome painted pottery appeared in the second level and polychrome painted vessels were encountered in the uppermost level.The most striking feature at Kültepe II is a massive stone wall with a mud-brick superstructure that was preserved to a height of 10 m. A cobblestone pathway was fl anked on either side by rectangular buildings, which contained a concentration of stone and metalworking tools, suggesting a craft area.

Cemeteries are no more informative, with few having undergone systematic investigations. Even so, it seems that tomb architecture varied. Many of the tombs at Kizil Vank have been plundered, but what information could be retrieved indicates that the dead were buried in stone cist tombs.A better idea is gained from Period D at Geoy Tepe located on the western shore of Lake Urmia. The cemetery accompanying the settlement was comprised of stone cist tombs, lined and roofed with limestone slabs, and sometimes paved with fl agstones. These tombs were the repository of collective inhumations, with Tomb A containing six individuals.

Ceramic containers are made by hand, though there is some indication that the slow wheel was also used.Vessels come in a range of forms and sizes, but the most common are round-bodied pots, high-shouldered jars and deep bowls.Their fabric and slip are red, and their designs are executed in black or red.A wide range of patterns is boldly executed and repeated in a wide frieze across the upper part of the vessel. Motifs include elongated triangles (solid and hatched), hatched panels, chequerboard, and elegant figurative representations – birds, humans with upraised arms, quadrupeds, snakes, and sprigs. Similar pottery was found at Haftavan Tepe, where Period VIB (1900–1700 BC) revealed a rectangular mud-brick structure. Further south is Geoy Tepe, where excavators exposed similar structures and attributed them to Period D; evidence of wattle-and-daub buildings was also found.171 Haftavan potters were not averse to lightly polishing their products and employing bichromy – a combination of black and red.

Apsheron Peninsula

A distinctive type of early-second-millennium burial is located in the Apsheron Peninsula in Azerbaijan. It consists of a small rectangular or oval-shaped stone chamber encased by a circular stone platform up to four courses high; the gaps

171 Edwards 1981, 1983; Burton-Brown 1951.