1. about the subject

ABOUT THE SOURCES OF AZERBAIJAN HISTORY


The study of the sources of the history of Azerbaijan. Sources of Azerbaijani history: oral, material, linguistic, ethnographic, written, cinema-photo-phono documents

The level of study of the history of Azerbaijan corresponds to that of historical sources. The level of studying different groups of sources related to Azerbaijani history is not the same.

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Material sources

Material sources include tools, products, household items, numismatic materials, equipment for the development of science and technology, memorial complexes, architectural monuments, etc.

Azerbaijani archeology deals with the discovery and study of the main material sources, especially underground material monuments.

The scientific use of material resources in the study of the history of Azerbaijan dates back to the XIX century. Dozens of the most important problems of the ancient and medieval history of Azerbaijan (the facts about the oldest known human settlement, the determination of the high level of development of husbandry and urban culture, etc) have been proved by material resources. However, the role of material resources, which are difficult to be denied from a scientific point of view, must also be confirmed by the researcher as a result of his scientific efforts.


The Azykh Cave History of the universal recognition of the Guruchai culture is of this kind. Archaeologist Mammadali Husseinov (1922-1994), a researcher of the Azykh cave, identified the Guruchai culture in 1975. But this idea was initially disregarded by Soviet archaeologists. Nevertheless, the scientist made sacrifices to confirm the Guruchai culture, and the result was successful. In 1978 the Azerbaijani scientist M. Husseinov was defended by the famous French archaeologist A. de Lumley.
Now the existence of the Guruchay culture leaves no one in doubt. What is the Guruchai culture? Professor M. Husseinov wrote: “These findings which refer to cobble tools of Olduvai culture and has not been familiar to us in Azerbaijan, were recorded and studied in the sixth layer in the cave, which is more than 700,000 years old.

A number of rude chopper-like and other tools were found in the layers. The cobble stone culture discovered in Azykh is analogous to Olduvai culture of Eastern Africa. However, there are some differences in the development of tools, which made it possible to call the tools found in the subsurface of the Azykh the Guruchai culture. The age of the Guruchai culture is well linked with the Absheron level of the Caspian Sea. From this point of view, the age of the Guruchai culture can be traced back to 1.2 million years ago.”