Iori Plateau Archaeological Monuments
Iori Plateau archaeological monuments, archaeological monuments of the Stone and Bronze Ages on the Iori Plateau. Particularly good natural conditions for habitation must have existed in this region since the time of the formation of the human physical type. A clear confirmation of this is the discovery of a lower jaw fragment of a human-like primate in the vicinity of the David Gareja Lavra monastery complex; the discovery of bone material of animals fossilized a million years ago in many locations of this region also points to this.
The Iori Plateau also appears densely populated in the Stone Age. Among the human habitation places of this time here, the Ziari sites are particularly distinguished, where cultural layers are preserved undamaged under the open sky to this day. Tools made by humans in the early period of the Stone Age are found in large quantities in all parts of the Iori Plateau. Archaeological monuments of the Chalcolithic (Copper-Stone) Age have been discovered near the villages of Jimiti and Cheremi.
Subsequent archaeological monuments of the Early Bronze Age on the Iori Plateau are thus far known only in the form of stone-paved kurgans (burial mounds), which contain materials belonging to the Kura-Araxes culture of the second half of the 4th millennium BCE. They are, as a rule, collective, more frequently with a pitless above-ground burial chamber. Only two burials of this time are known with a catacomb burial structure.
On the Iori Plateau and around it, in the foothills, the burial monuments of the Alazani-Bedeni culture of the 3rd millennium BCE, which is alien to the Caucasus, are distinguished by particular abundance. They appear within the bosom of the Kura-Araxes culture and are contemporaneous with its final stage. It is often referred to separately as the Martkopi culture.
On a number of settlements of the Iori Plateau, which are still uninvestigated, only signs of the Alazani-Bedeni culture are recorded. However, many burial complexes studied in this region provide the opportunity to speak quite confidently about the characteristic signs of this culture. Among these burials, there are very many particularly large-scale individual, elite kurgans, with grandiose burial chambers built of wooden logs. In the chambers, the ashes of cremated deceased wrapped in matting are buried on four-wheeled wooden wagons. Along with many artifacts, the burials are distinguished by a particular abundance of finely crafted clay vessels, bronze combat weapons inlaid with silver and gold, and jewelry made of precious metals. Human sacrifice on the roofing of the burial chamber and in the chamber itself is very frequent, which is a clear indicator of the socio-economic division of the society of that period.
On the Iori Plateau and around it, in the foothills, the Trialeti culture of the Middle Bronze Age of the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE is particularly rich, with both settlements and burial monuments.
As a rule, the settlements of the Middle and Late Bronze Ages are paired on the Iori Plateau. Early monuments are located on river terraces, while later ones are on the mountain crest and are fortified with powerful fortification structures. This, along with the study of burial materials, made it possible to genetically connect these two epochs with each other and to follow the continuous chain of cultural development in the central part of the South Caucasus.
As for the monuments of the Middle Bronze Age of the Iori Plateau, it should be noted that in the western part of this region, in the David Gareja multi-mountain area, the existence of a group of materials specific to the Trialeti culture is clearly observed. It encompasses the adjacent Mtkvari riverbanks in Rustavi and its neighborhood, the eastern section of Tbilisi near Lilo, the right bank of the Aragvi, and reaches the northern part of present-day Armenia (Loriberd).
This local group of the Trialeti culture is represented by pit kurgans, in which mostly the deceased is buried on a four-wheeled wooden wagon with clay vessels typical for the Trialeti culture, bronze weapons, and gold jewelry, but all these complexes are distinguished by long bronze rapiers, which are found only in the Middle Bronze Age burials of this strictly demarcated region.
During the research of the ancient culture of Eastern Georgia and the determination of the stages of its development, special attention is drawn to the monuments of the second stage of the Late Bronze Age, the 13th century BCE. At this time, the unified Central Caucasian culture breaks down into separate parts. One culture is formed in the middle reaches of the Mtkvari and south of it in the Trialeti highlands, and the second – in the Iori-Alazani basin (see Iori-Alazani basin culture).
In this period, on the Iori Plateau – in the David Gareja multi-mountain area and on the Great Shiraki Plateau, such archaeological monuments appear, according to which we can assume the formation of early civilizations here.
As a result of the deciphering of aerial photographs in the David Gareja multi-mountain area, an entire system of ancient ruined cities of this time was discovered. They are, as a rule, located near arable fields or iron ore outcrops and their processing workshops. All of them are of identical layout. The ancient city is a citadel surrounded by walls and defensive trenches on the mountain crest, while on the mountain slope – residential quarters arranged in terraces, which are also well protected by fortification structures. Some of them are built according to a pre-compiled project, with regular layout. All these monuments fit within the chronological frames of the end of the 2nd millennium BCE and the beginning of the 1st millennium BCE. Subsequently, the David Gareja multi-mountain area, possibly as a result of some catastrophe, becomes deserted, until the founding of early Christian monastic complexes in this region.
The largest urban settlement in the David Gareja multi-mountain area is the "Naomari Gori" complex. It is built on the mountain crest, longitudinally over a distance of 1 km, on three hills and occupies a central place among the small settlements located around it. The city is built simultaneously according to a project pre-developed by a highly skilled professional architect, with regular layout, without any late annexes incompatible with the project.
The entire layout of the city is adapted to the relief. The city's secret water supply system is a complex and refined engineering structure, which represents a 900 m long tunnel built with stone slabs with a large water reservoir raised with stone. In the western part of the city is a large citadel, which is protected by a wall with four towers. Each wall is 4–5 m wide. In the inner area of the citadel, bounded by the first wall, there are only cultic structures. Between the first and second walls are elite, possibly priests' living premises, while the outer, third and fourth walls are arranged in terraces around the citadel and fulfill a defensive function. Under the upper, 12th–9th centuries BCE structures of the citadel, a 13th century BCE wall was discovered, which is built with well-squared stone blocks. The entire system of settlements contemporaneous with the lower wall of the citadel is arranged in terraces on the southern slope of the "Naomari Gori" hill.
In the 12th–9th centuries BCE residential quarter of "Naomari Gori", which lay along the hill crest, was characterized by particularly large symmetrical buildings located on both sides of one street. Southeast of this part of the city, on the mountain slope, are its contemporaneous, two-compartment above-ground burial structures built with large stone.
As a result of the deciphering of satellite images, large paleo-urban settlements were also discovered in the eastern part of the Iori Plateau, on the Shiraki Plateau. Among them, the remains of a large city at the place "Didnauri" have survived the best.
As a result of the paleoenvironmental research of the Shiraki Valley, it was established that during the period of existence of this city here, three water-abundant rivers flowed from the western highlands in the eastern direction – "Didrui", "Chaliankhevi", and "Didnauri (Didnaruali)". The city was located between these last two rivers and was spread over an area of 15 hectares. The quadrangular area of the city was protected by a powerful wall, the width of which is 7 m, height approx. 15 m. The construction of the wall is typical for the fortification structures of the Late Bronze-Iron Age of this region.
Around the wall, at a distance of 1.5 km, there is a 20 m wide and 4 m deep defensive trench, narrowed towards the bottom. To dig it, about 70,000 m³ of solid bedrock was removed, which, apparently, was used during the construction of the wall. There are many indications to assume that the city was destroyed as a result of a powerful earthquake. In the inner territory of the city, only a small area has been archaeologically investigated, but the result is significant, because large buildings built of wood and clay on a stone foundation were discovered along well-planned squares and streets, which are paved with a quite thick layer of fine pebbles. A massive amount of bronze and clay artifacts found on the territory of the city determine its date to the 13th century BCE, which is also refined by the complexes obtained at the city's burial ground. It is significant that among the ordinary pit burials at the burial ground, an elite burial of a crowned military person was also discovered.
In the Shiraki Valley, besides the ancient city of "Didnauri", with the help of decoding satellite images, two more settlements of similar layout have been traced.
Thus, it seems that at the end of the 2nd millennium BCE, the ancient cities and their accompanying small settlements revealed on the Iori Plateau – on the Shiraki Plateau and in the David Gareja multi-mountain area – represent small unions formed on the basis of common socio-economic and political interests – possibly, city-states.
Subsequently, according to archaeological material, the Iori Plateau falls into the sphere of powerful influence of the Achaemenid Empire, and at the end of the subsequent 1st millennium BCE, this region clearly appears to us as an inseparable part of the Shida Kartli.
Literature: ფიცხელაური კ., აღმოსავლეთ საქართველოს ტომთა ისტორიის ძირითადი პრობლემები (ძვ. წ. XV–VII სს.), თბ., 1973; მისივე, უდაბნოს არქეოლოგიური შესწავლის ძირითადი შედეგები და პერსპექტივები, კავკასიურ-ახლოაღმოსავლური კრებული, თბ., 2001; მისივე, ცენტრალურამიერკავკასიური არქეოლოგიური კულტურა ძვ. წ. XIV–XIII სს., თბ., 2004; მისივე, დასაშვებია თუ არა სამხრეთ კავკასიის ცენტრალური ნაწილის ძვ. წ. II–I ათასწლეულების არქეოლოგიურ კულტურათა ეთნიზაცია, წგ.: კავკასია აღმოსავლეთსა და დასავლეთს შორის, თბ., 2012; Бугианишвили Т. В., Палеологические памятники Иоро-Алазанского бассейна, «Экспедиции», т. 1, Тб., 1969; Варазашвили В., Раннеземледельческая культура Иоро-Алазанского бассейна, Тб., 1992; Orthmann W., Der Kurgan „Tetri Kwebi I“, «Georgia – Zeitschrift für Kultur und Geschichte Georgiens und Kaukasus», Heft 15, Konstanz, 1992; მისივე, Burial mound of Bakurtsikhe (Central Caucassia, Valley of Alazani); კავკასიურ-ახლოაღმოსავლური კრებული, თბ., 2001; მისივე, South Caucasian. Ancient Civilization in Gareji Desert (Udabno), «Festschrift für Manfred Korfmann Mauerschau, Bd. 2, Remshalden-Grumbach, 2002.
K. Pitskhelauri
