Shusha Cave camp

Shusha cave camp — a Stone Age Shusha cave, which holds a worthy place among the historic monuments in Shusha, is located near the city, in the valley of the I Zarıslı (Daşaltı) river at an altitude of 1400 meters above sea level. It was the dwelling of people who lived in the Stone Age. It is situated south of the city of Shusha, on the left bank of the Daşaltı river. In July 1971, under the leadership of M. M. Hüseynov, the Mil-Karabakh archaeological expedition carried out reconnaissance work in the mountainous areas of Karabakh in order to discover Paleolithic camps.

The length of this cave is up to 120 meters, and its width up to 20 meters. At the mouth of the Shusha cave there are thick stone constructions and remnants of a fortress wall dating from the Middle Ages. During archaeological excavations, two coarse handaxes belonging to the Paleolithic, microlithic knives belonging to the Mesolithic, etc., were discovered. From the mixed soil there were found Eneolithic clay pot fragments dating to the 5th–4th millennia BC, as well as fragments of stone artifacts from the Bronze and Iron Ages and the Middle Ages.

Archaeological excavations

During the archaeological reconnaissance work, the Stone Age Shusha cave camp was recorded. In the course of the exploratory excavation work at the Shusha cave camp, four stone artifacts belonging to the Paleolithic period were found. During the archaeological excavations, two coarse handaxes belonging to the Paleolithic, microlithic knives belonging to the Mesolithic, etc., were discovered. From the mixed soil there were found Eneolithic clay pot fragments dating to the 5th–4th millennia BC, as well as fragments of stone artifacts from the Bronze and Iron Ages and the Middle Ages.

Objects belonging to the III–II millennia BC have been found in the Shusha cave, which were made by adding copper, tin, and arsenic. Tools, weapons and decorative items from the ancient and Middle Bronze Age were similar to the items from I Kultepe and Babadervish. The objects in the Shusha cave had beautiful handwork, which they called “stepping seals” or “carved lock places”. All these were factors indicating the development of consciousness, the progress of art and culture among the ancient inhabitants of Shusha. There is a complete correspondence between the pictures on the objects from the area called Üzərliktəpə in Aghdam and the objects from the Shusha cave. At the same time, similar objects have also been found in all areas between the Quruçay and Köndələnçay rivers. Objects dating to pre‑Christian times have been found in the area, which belong to the Iron Age. Thus, as a result of the research, it becomes clear that the beautiful Karabakh, the fertile and blessed land of the Oghuz‑Turks, Shusha, was one of the first places in the world where people lived.

Scientific research work

Under the leadership of M. M. Huseynov, employees of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Azerbaijan began scientific research in the caves of the Shusha area starting in 1971. Working in the caves was both difficult and dangerous, because the caves that had been the dwellings of our ancestors had turned over centuries into a rocky, barren desert untouched by human feet. For a long time the secret of the Shusha cave remained hidden from people. Some said the cave was endless, others said the place was sacred. The Mil‑Karabakh expedition began work in July 1971 in the gorge of the Zarishli (Dashalty) River on the Cıdır plain. The cave, called “Shusha cave”, was located at an altitude of 1400 metres above sea level. At the entrance of the “Shusha cave” a large amount of stone was piled up. This allows the inference that ancient people entered the cave to protect themselves from attacks by neighboring tribes and used those stones for defense. An interesting aspect is that there was also drinking water at the side of the cave. The length of the Shusha cave was 120 metres, its width 20 metres. At the beginning of the cave there were thick stone constructions, remains of fortifications and building walls belonging to ancient and medieval periods.

As a result of archaeological excavation research carried out in Shusha, two crude stone tools dating to the Paleolithic (ancient stone) period were discovered at a depth of 2 meters inside the cave. One of these tools was given to the Shusha Museum, and the other is kept in the "Stone Age" department of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences. In addition, as a result of the excavation work in the Shusha cave, pottery made of a soil and clay mixture belonging to the V–IV millennia before our era, fragments of stone artifacts from the Eneolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages, and microlithic knives from the Mesolithic were discovered here. It has been proven that the labor tools found in the cave have a rich history. The material cultural remains found in the Shusha cave were a continuation of the older culture that arose in the Azikh cave and the Kuruçay valley. There is a correspondence and similarity between the tools found here and the crude stone tools in the Azikh cave. The ancestors of modern humans lived for many years in the 240‑square‑metre Shusha cave. In the early and middle periods of the Paleolithic, people in the territory of Azerbaijan lived in small groups based on collective labor. Their main activity was gathering and hunting. In the Shusha cave, Upper Paleolithic flint blades and also cutters were found. Because there are copper deposits in the mountainous Karabakh region, many of the tools prepared by our ancestors were made of copper. Metal artifacts—knives, awls, needles, arrowheads—were found here. These tools were made by hammering. Slightly polished, ornamented crude and stone vessels were also encountered in the Shusha cave. The decoration of the vessels with colored paints proved the beginning of the Eneolithic period in Azerbaijan. At the same time, the ornamentation of the vessels indicated that Azerbaijan had economic and cultural contacts with Near Eastern countries. Microlithic tools found in Shusha, such as knives and awls, could also be encountered in Gobustan. These tools belong to the turquoise phase of the Stone Age.