Bronze Rapiers from Jalilabad District, Azerbaijan Republic

The article discusses fi ndings of bronze rapier type swords from Southeast region of Azerbaijan. The fi rst artifacts of the same weapons were found by chance in 1941 at Uzuntepe archaeological site. At that time the number of fi nds amounted to 15 items. Over time another 10 swords of this type were discovered by chance during earthworks, and then transferred for preservation to the Museum of regional studies of Jalilabad. These swords are dated back to the Late Bronze – Early Iron Ages and, probably, originate from destroyed burials. The article provides the sizes of items and their possible analogies in the synchronous era. To the present, 25 artifacts are known from the studied area. The length of swords is 40–85 cm, and the (maximum) width is 5–6 cm. The items refer to combat weapon. Analogies to the fi nds are encountered in Lerik, Yardymly, Masally, Lenkoran and Astara districts of Azerbaijan Republic and in Gilan province of Iran. The distribution area of this type of swords of the Late Bronze – Early Iron Ages covered the region of Talysh Mountains, coastal strip (southwestern) of the Caspian Sea (Gilan) and Mughan plain. The prototypes of swords, probably, came to the Southeast of Azerbaijan from western regions of our republic at the end of the Middle Bronze Age and received their further development here. Among the materials studied, there are specimens with a feature of protrusion of a mid-rib – a characteristic of swords of the Middle Bronze Age, although this feature is not strongly expressed. The period of use of this type of weapon should be outlined in the chronological limits of the XV/XIV–VIII/VII centuries BC.