More than meets the eye: A new way to see Gobustan’s mud volcanoes and ancient rock art

euronews (in English)

Gobustan shares its secrets with us in this episode of Explore Azerbaijan. We imagine ancient human life through the art they left behind,  and see mud volcanoes in a brand new way.

Transcript

00:00It's like I've landed on a different planet for this new episode of Explore Azerbaijan.

00:08This rugged terrain may look extraterrestrial, but its history is profoundly human.

00:15I'm here in Gobustan, just outside Baku.

00:18This otherworldly landscape is an open-air museum, but it's unlike any museum I've ever

00:24been to.

00:25The artwork here is thousands of years old.

00:31Gobustan National Historical and Art Reserve is home to an astonishing 7,000 petroglyphs.

00:37These paintings, left on the walls of cave dwellings, date back to the Mesolithic era.

00:42They offer a glimpse into how the earliest humans lived.

00:46I think that the main advantage of Gobustan is that everything is original here.

00:51It gives opportunity to tourists to get closely acquainted with the rock carvings.

00:58Here you use your imagination and you can visualize everything.

01:02You can visualize the lifestyle of the ancient people here.

01:07And you can find the response to all the questions about this territory.

01:13I put my own imagination to the test as I strolled around the UNESCO World Heritage

01:18site, looking at paintings depicting animals and people.

01:22Historians believe this site was actually a cultural space, where its residents performed

01:25dances ahead of big hunts.

01:28They even had instruments to accompany them.

01:34These musical stones are called gavaldas.

01:37Historians believe that the ancient inhabitants used them as drums during hunting ceremonies.

01:42You can even see some of the dances depicted in the rock art here at Gobustan.

01:46Archaeologists are still discovering new artifacts at the site.

01:49Sevin Şirli is one of the researchers working at the recent excavations in Anazaga cave.

01:54Anazaga is one of the biggest and richest shelters of Gobustan in terms of archaeological

01:59findings and petroglyphs.

02:02So we have, as we see, we have a lot of engraved slabs around us, which gives us information

02:08about the lifestyle, worldview of the creators of the images or people who inhabited this

02:14shelter.

02:17Archaeologists have collected artifacts including portable art and craftwork.

02:21Jewelry, pottery and tools found in the cave dwellings are now on display in Gobustan Museum.

02:30After checking out Azerbaijan's most ancient cultural heritage, I'm heading nearby to discover

02:35one of its most unique geological heritage sites.

02:40Azerbaijan has the world's greatest concentration of mud volcanoes.

02:43These curious conical formations are messy, they're bubbling and sometimes they're even

02:48explosive.

02:51One of the country's newest tourism complexes has just opened up in Gobustan, in the shadow

02:56of the Toragai volcano, Azerbaijan's largest.

03:00It's located on the side of the Gilinj mud volcano, which features eight active cones.

03:07So not all mud volcanoes are alike, correct?

03:10There are different types of them?

03:11Yes, like there are totally three types of the mud volcanoes.

03:15You can see here all of them.

03:16For example, this one, it's called the salza.

03:19It has more water and the gas inside.

03:22And each mud volcano has different ingredients.

03:25And another type on the right side, it's called the sopka.

03:28It has a so tiny hole, but it's coming from a lot of mud from coming inside.

03:33And the third type, it's called the grifon.

03:36It's different.

03:37It has a so like a bigger hole.

03:39And it's the nonstop, it's coming, the boiling and the bubbling as a mud.

03:44These mud volcanoes were formed 25 million years ago and have shaped the region's geography.

03:50They're often an indicator of oil rich land, a key driver of Azerbaijan's economic growth.

03:57At the futuristic looking information center, visitors can learn more about the different

04:00minerals found in mud volcanoes and participate in pottery and painting masterclasses.

04:07There's also a new natural history museum on site, featuring skeletons of Azerbaijan's

04:12local wildlife.

04:23For a little more hands on learning, I hopped on an electric quad bike to do some field

04:29research.

04:30Zipping across the parched earth feels like exploring Mars.

04:35But unless you want a mud makeover, you shouldn't get too close.

04:40Visiting Gobustan has taught me how important it is to look beyond the surface of a place.

04:44There is so much more than meets the eye when it comes to this type of landscape.

04:48And it's been such a blast learning more about it.

04:50Thanks for watching Explore Azerbaijan.

04:52Bye!

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