23 July 2011, 12:12
Azerbaijan to open outdoor museum at archaeological complex
In Azerbaijan, the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the National Academy of Sciences intends to organize a museum on the site of the archaeological complex in the north of Shakhtakhti village of the Kengerli District of the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic. At this place, according to the experts, an ancient settlement was located 8000 years ago.
Five hectares of the archaeological complex is occupied by the ancient settlement of Shakhtakhti and 10 hectares – by the territory, where burials were conducted, the archaeologist added. According to him, the age of Shakhtakhti settlement is 8000 years, and it is the only monument in the Middle East and the Caucasus, where people already lived in the Eneolithic period of the Copper-Stone Age, the news agency "Trend" reports.
According to the scientist, "the creation of this museum will be interesting for tourists", and with sufficient material support the open-air museum will be ready in five-six years.
Experts have begun excavations in the north of Shakhtakhti village in early July. At the beginning of the work the archaeologists believed that the ancient Shakhtakhti was 4000 years old, but then they came to the conclusion that the age of the settlement was 8000 years, the News Agency "News-Azerbaijan" reports.
