The paper presents the results of the first two seasons (2018 and 2019) of excavations at Tsiteli Gorebi 5, an Early Chalcolithic site in the Kakheti region of Eastern Georgia by the “Georgian-Italian Lagodekhi Archaeological Project” of Ca' Foscari University of Venice in collaboration with the Municipality and Museum of Lagodekhi. The site consists of a low mounded area of ca 1.60 ha, deeply affected by repeated ploughing, which hosted a single-period settlement, 14C-dated to 5000-4800 BC. Surface collection and excavations carried out in 2018 and 2019 unearthed a homogeneous assemblage of artefacts, mostly potsherds and chipped lithics (almost exclusively obsidian), which shows intermediate features between the ceramic Neolithic Shulaveri-Shomu and the local Chalcolithic “Sioni” assembages. Analogies in material culture and obsidian provenance studies identify the general cultural orientation and interactions sphere of Tsiteli Gorebi 5 with the region between South-Eastern Georgia, Armenia, the Nakhcivan region and Western Azerbaijan. Excavation provided evidence for ditches and rectilinear architecture, consisting of poorly preserved walls in squarish blocks of clay or compacted clay, which are very rare in the earlier Chalcolithic period in the region. The site’s subsistence economy appears to have been mainly based on the exploitation of animal resources, with a minor component of cereal agriculture and evidence for the use of different wild vegetal resources.

Two Seasons of Excavations at the Chalcolithic site of Tsiteli Gorebi 5 (Lagodekhi Municipality, Georgia)

E. Rova
;
2023-01-01

Abstract

The paper presents the results of the first two seasons (2018 and 2019) of excavations at Tsiteli Gorebi 5, an Early Chalcolithic site in the Kakheti region of Eastern Georgia by the “Georgian-Italian Lagodekhi Archaeological Project” of Ca' Foscari University of Venice in collaboration with the Municipality and Museum of Lagodekhi. The site consists of a low mounded area of ca 1.60 ha, deeply affected by repeated ploughing, which hosted a single-period settlement, 14C-dated to 5000-4800 BC. Surface collection and excavations carried out in 2018 and 2019 unearthed a homogeneous assemblage of artefacts, mostly potsherds and chipped lithics (almost exclusively obsidian), which shows intermediate features between the ceramic Neolithic Shulaveri-Shomu and the local Chalcolithic “Sioni” assembages. Analogies in material culture and obsidian provenance studies identify the general cultural orientation and interactions sphere of Tsiteli Gorebi 5 with the region between South-Eastern Georgia, Armenia, the Nakhcivan region and Western Azerbaijan. Excavation provided evidence for ditches and rectilinear architecture, consisting of poorly preserved walls in squarish blocks of clay or compacted clay, which are very rare in the earlier Chalcolithic period in the region. The site’s subsistence economy appears to have been mainly based on the exploitation of animal resources, with a minor component of cereal agriculture and evidence for the use of different wild vegetal resources.
2023
12ICAANE. Proceedings of the 12th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East 06-09 April 2021, Bologna
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10278/5008965
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