Dizə, Sharur

Ovchular Tepesi is a multi-period settlement mound near the village of Dize in the Sharur District of Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan, on the left bank of the Arpachay River. Covering about 10 hectares, the site spans from the Early Chalcolithic to the Middle Bronze Age (c. 5th-2nd millennium BC). Its location at the crossroads of trade routes linking the Iranian plateau to Anatolia and the Caucasus to North Mesopotamia made it strategically important. Franco-Azerbaijani excavations (2006-2011) uncovered pottery with Near Eastern affinities, confirming early connections with Mesopotamian civilizations. A gold necklace discovered in 2008 from Chalcolithic levels is the oldest known piece of jewelry in the South Caucasus.