Usi funerari nel Caucaso Meridionale nell'Età del Bronzo Antico: il caso di Shida Kartli (Georgia)

Based on the results of recent investigations, the paper discusses the transformation of funerary customs from the 4th to the end of the 3rd millennium BC in the Shida Kartli region of Georgia. In contrast with both the previous and the following phase, the Kura-Araxes culture is characterised by a weak differentiation in burial goods. The transition to the following Early Kurgan period, when wealthy individual graves in the shape of large barrows become common, appears to have been less sharp in Shida Kartli than elsewhere, and possibly mediated by the appearance of large collective pit graves. Hybridisation phenomena between Kura-Araxes and Early Kurgan funerary customs can also be observed.