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Dashbulag

Evidence: Eneolithic | Bronze Age | Iron Age | Antique | Albanian | Medieval | Post-Medieval

This site was identified in 2004 on the BTC pipeline, followed by an excavation and then again by a further excavation in 2005 on the SCP pipeline. Unfortunately, the site was traversed by a modern surface road and associated iron water pipes, and a wide irrigation ditch. The western extent of the site may have been truncated by a river flowing in a deep gorge-like cutting.

Despite this, both excavations produced remarkably similar results. The site appeared to extend 50m east to west and at least a similar distance north to south. At the west of the BTC excavation there was an activity area of several large tendir ovens enclosed within a stone and timber structure. This was accompanied by numbers of large storage pits. The east area of the BTC excavation contained a pair of tendir (Kv8) and other burnt features and storage pits. The presence of the earlier Albanian cemetery in this area may have constrained intensive use of this part of the site.

The east portion of the SCP excavation showed a number of tendir ovens and large pits adjacent to the road, while a single tendir was found west of the road. The remaining portion of the west SCP excavation contained numbers of storage pits.

Some glazed decorated pottery was encountered, while the bulk of the pottery is regarded as being of the 9th and 12th centuries.

In general, observations of present-day rural dwellings showed that a clay oven is usually found in the compound outside the dwelling, with at least one oven per compound. Along roadsides in present-day Azerbaijan, there are numbers of large tendir ovens, usually with protective roofs and away from domestic compounds. These are generally used to sell tendir bread to the passing traveller, rather than for domestic consumption. Some of the tendir in KV1 of the BTC excavation approached the size of the modern-day roadside tendir.

The plan of the excavation suggests that several domestic compounds might be seen here, each with its group of tendir ovens and accompanying features. Unfortunately, no evidence was observed for domestic structures or compound divisions, although such evidence may be difficult to distinguish. Ethnographic evidence would be invaluable to indicate the types of material used and common elements that should be expected.

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