At the initiative and with the organization of the Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology of ANAS, the scientific team of the International Archaeological Expedition conducting research at the Azykh Cave has returned to Azerbaijan to continue the research they began in 2023. The expedition, co-led from the Azerbaijani side by the leading researcher of the Institute, PhD in History Azad Zeynalov, includes scholars from Denmark, Norway, and Germany.

The Director of the Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology of ANAS, PhD in History, Associate Professor Farhad Guliyev, received the members of the international archaeological expedition working at the Azykh Cave. Welcoming the researchers, F. Guliyev expressed satisfaction with the results of the joint research conducted within the framework of the cooperation agreement signed in 2023 with Aarhus University of Denmark and voiced confidence that this partnership would lead to further scientific achievements. The director also noted that during the occupation period, illegal excavations had been conducted by the occupiers at Azykh Cave and several other monuments. These investigations constituted a serious violation of both international and national laws. “Now, with your participation, international research is being conducted in the liberated territories in full compliance with legal and ethical norms,” the director stated. Farhad Guliyev emphasized that the Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology is currently entering a new phase, with its main goal being the establishment of an institution capable of responding to the challenges of global science. Naturally, these reforms demand an intensification of various archaeometric studies at the Institute.

Professor Mads Faurschou Knudsen of the Department of Geoscience at Aarhus University, the co-leader of the scientific expedition from the Danish side, described his participation in joint archaeological research in Azerbaijan as a great achievement. He noted that the Azykh Cave is a monument capable of shedding significant light on a number of issues related to one of the most important topics in contemporary science—the dispersal of early humans from Africa across the world. Professor Knudsen stated that Aarhus University, which he represents, is ranked among the top 100 higher education and scientific institutions globally and is ready to collaborate in conducting archaeometric studies in Azerbaijani archaeology and in training specialists in related research fields.

Subsequently, members of the international archaeological expedition—specialists in cosmogenic nuclide, radiocarbon, and luminescence dating, X-ray fluorescence, biomarkers, geoarchaeology, digital stratigraphy, micromorphology, and mass spectrometric zooarchaeology (ZooMS) analyses—shared information about their respective research areas.

It should be noted that the scientific team of the international archaeological expedition includes Professor Andrew Sean Murray and Associate Professor Rachel Lupien from the Department of Geoscience at Aarhus University, Professor Jesper Olsen, head of the Radiocarbon Analysis Laboratory, Jan-Pieter Buylaert, head of the Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) Dating Laboratory at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Associate Professor Frido Welker, head of the Palaeoproteomics Analysis Laboratory at the University of Copenhagen, and Professor David Keith Wright, archaeologist from the University of Oslo, Norway.

The meeting was attended by Azad Zeynalov, PhD in History, leading researcher at the Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology of ANAS and head of the expedition, Scientific Secretary of the Institute, PhD in History, Associate Professor Ellada Bakirova, leading researchers PhD in History Parviz Gasimov and Yaqub Mammadov, researcher Ulviyya Safarova, and Elmar Farajov, staff member of the “International Relations” Department of the Institute.

Oxuma sayi: 21