New insights into the Neolithic architecture of the Southern Caucasus: A micromorphological case-study from Mentesh Tepe (middle Kura Valley, Azerbaijan)

• Published in: Journal of archaeological science, reports reports, 2023-06, Vol.49, p.103971, Article 103971
• Main Authors: Bellat, Mathias, Baudouin, Emmanuel, Cammas, Cécilia, Lyonnet, Bertille
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aratashen-Shulaveri-Shomutepe; Archaeology and Prehistory; Building techniques; Earthen material; Environmental Sciences; Facies; Humanities and Social Sciences; Multiscalar approach; Protohistory
• ISSN: 2352-409X; 2352-4103
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2023.103971

•Analysis of the chaîne opératoire and of the manufacturing processes of earthen construction material through a micromorphology approach and micro-features interpretation.•Cross-analysis between macro- and micro- approaches on earthen construction material to understand the buildings at Mentesh Tepe (Azerbaijan) with 9 samples from 6 structures.•Definition of 6 assemblages for the quality of the construction material based on the time and care spent on the preparation of the earthen material.•Comments on the Neolithic society and more specifically the “Aratashen-Shulaveri-Shomutepe” culture, through its architecture and more broadly the Neolithisation process in the Southern Caucasus. This paper focuses on the first results of a micromorphological study on the Neolithic architecture from Mentesh Tepe (Azerbaijan), a settlement in the Southern Caucasus occupied during the first half of the 6th-millennium cal. BC. While earthen architecture has already been studied on a macroscopic scale, the use of micromorphology represents an original approach. This research highlights six different assemblages of Mentesh Tepe earthen material preparations, showing a diversity in the manufacturing processes (i.e. the way of preparing the earth, the building techniques, the way of using the earth during the construction) and in the care for the architecture. The well-prepared materials show intense mixing at a wet state with temper added to the composition, while less prepared elements are poorly mixed in a dry state with heterogeneous material. We have identified microscopic features of moulded mudbrick and a unique use of gypsum material for one specific building. From these results based upon the building techniques and material uses we discuss the possible function or status of the structures and the life-cycle of the buildings through time. These results question possible social differences within the Neolithic groups at a site scale. This corpus, while rather small, is the first in the area for Neolithic architecture, and our results only pretend to give a preliminary overview and some ongoing reflection on architectural questions about the first sedentary communities of the Southern Caucasus.