DERBENT, July 8 – RIA "Dagestan". The field season at Dagestan's Zidyan-Kazmalyar archaeological site has officially wrapped up following a 15-month expedition from April 2025 to July 2026.
Prompted by the construction of the Derbent bypass highway, researchers from "Kubanarkheologiya" and the DFRC RAS Institute of History, Archaeology, and Ethnography excavated roughly 30,000 square meters in the southern foothills. This marks the largest post-Soviet archaeological dig in the region, revealing a 5,500-year-old Early Bronze Age settlement of the Kura-Araxes culture.
The team unearthed 57 clay-brick and three stone circular dwellings, alongside over 1,800 storage pits for ancient grains like wheat, rye and millet. 85 fertility goddess figurines, unique human-faced frying pan handles, and 15 mysterious circular pit burials were among the 3,500+ artifacts. Metal was scarce, with only four copper and bronze items found.
The team will now shift to lab work—cleaning, cataloging and restoring the artifacts—before publishing their findings and presenting them to the public.
