Treligorebi Settlement

Treligorebi Settlement, a multi-layered archaeological site in the Digomi district, situated along the Georgian Military Road. It is located on the left bank of the Dighmura River, on a range of hills known as Treligorebi.

As a result of excavations at the settlement (in 1968, directed by R. Abramishvili), continuous traces of human habitation were confirmed, belonging to the period from the Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age to the Early Feudal era (approximately from the second half of the 4th millennium BC to the 4th century AD). Several alternating cultural layers have been excavated. Traces of intense fire were confirmed in each layer, indicating that the settlement experienced enemy invasions on multiple occasions.

Fragments of wattle and daub and traces of wooden beams discovered at the Eneolithic-Early Bronze Age settlement of the Mtkvari-Araxes culture in Treli indicate the existence of wood structures plastered with clay at the site. The ceramics from this period are fired to a reddish hue, possess thick walls, and were modeled in layers.

Seven construction layers from the Late Bronze to the Early Iron Age have been identified at the Treligorebi Settlement, while the upper layers of the site contain material from Late Antiquity and the Early Feudal period.

Up to a hundred structures were cleared on Hill I and Hill II. These hills were settled in a terraced manner. The rectangular, semi-subterranean, single-room buildings are constructed of cobblestone and rubble stone set in mud mortar. The roofing is flat (banuri). The floors in the premises are primarily of packed clay, though in some places they are partially paved with stone slabs. A bread-baking oven was found in every residential structure, adjoined by sacrificial platforms of various shapes.

The recovered material confirms that the population was intensively engaged in agriculture (evidenced by kvevris, grape seeds, and wheat), animal husbandry (bones of small and large livestock), and the casting of bronze items. In addition to residential rooms, a hall-type building (darbazi) exceeding 120 m² in area has been excavated.

The Treligorebi Settlement was one of the most grandiose settlements in the entire Caucasus during the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages.

Literature: თბილისი I. არქეოლოგიური ძეგლები, თბ., 1978; საქართველოს ძველი ქალაქები, თბ., 2006.

 

M. Abramishvili

R. Abramishvili