The end of the Kura-Araxes phenomenon and the EB/MB transition in the South Caucasus: the chrono-cultural aspect
- Du 2 au 3 décembre 2021, Online
International online conference organized by B. Perello (Archéorient) et Ruben Badalyan (Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography,Yerevan) in association with The International Association for Archaeological Research in Western & Central Asia (ARWA)
>>> Website - join the conference
>>> Programme (.pdf)
>>> Abstracts (.pdf)
In the list of crucial issues associated with the study of the Kura-Araxes culture (3600/3500-2500 cal BC), the questions of its rise, expansion and fall are still the most compelling. The scope of this conference is to focus on this transitional phase between the demise of the Kura-Araxes culture and the beginning of the Middle Bronze Age, between about 2500 and 2000 cal BC.
Thus, the main objective of the conference is to present new data- archaeological materials and radiocarbon dates – that contribute to the establishment of the chronology of events that led to the collapse of the Kura-Araxes culture and the formation of a spectrum of Middle Bronze Age cultures.Within this framework, we propose to discuss questions of absolute chronology, cultural attribution and distinct local trajectories of the archaeological complexes of the South Caucasus in the second half of the 3rd millennium BC. All the possible scenarios that could explain settlement abandonment and mechanisms of cultural change will be scrutinize.