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.
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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!