A 3,500-year-old ritual table with dishes was found in Azerbaijan (3 photos)
A team of Italian and Azerbaijani archaeologists discovered a 3,500-year-old ritual table with ceramic ware in the ancient settlement of Tava Tepe, near the borders of Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. 
During the fourth excavations at Tava Tepe, led by Bakhtiyar Jalilov from the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan and Professor Nicola Laneri from the University of Catania, a rounded adobe structure was discovered. The structure includes a kitchen area and a ritual table. 
Between 1500 and 750 BC e. (Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age) nomadic peoples probably used Tawa Tepe as a resting place before traveling through the mountains. Here the team found a ritual table with eight recesses and a variety of ceramic containers, including bowls, typical black-fired pottery vessels of the era, and long flat stones for stirring food.
In the corner of the kitchen there was a thick layer of ash and clay tokens with fingerprints that could serve as food coupons. 
The entrance originally had wooden columns, and a thatched roof covered the entire complex, which was about 15 meters in diameter. Outside they found animal bones (cattle, sheep and pigs) and discarded pottery.
The human figurines placed in the sacrificial pits, as well as the fact that the structure was later sealed along with all the utensils, indicate the ceremonial nature of the site.
