ანტიკური ხანის სამაროვანი ცხეთაში - ახალი გათხრები 2015-2018 წწ (მთიანი კოლხეთი, ლეჩხუმი)

Abstract

A significant portion of the collections preserved in the Tsageri Historical Museum, including both chance finds and materials recovered through archaeological excavations, originates from the territory of Tskheta, one of the villages of Sadekhviro.

Materials from the Ancient Period cemetery of Tskheta entered the collections of the Tsageri Historical Museum in 1962. Part of the cemetery was excavated under the direction of archaeologist L. Sakharova, Candidate of Historical Sciences.

The village of Tskheta is situated approximately 15 km south of Tsageri. At the time of the 1962 excavations, the presumed cemetery area had already been partially occupied by modern settlement, resulting in the destruction and disturbance of several burials.

Excavations revealed fifteen inhumation pit graves. The grave assemblage included jewelry (bracelets, earrings, rings, temple ornaments, and beads), dress accessories (fibulae, pins, and buckles), weapons and utilitarian implements (iron spearheads, knives, and whetstones), as well as ceramic vessels.

Comparative and typological analysis of the funerary inventory enabled the identification of two chronological groups of burials: the first dating from the 2nd century BC (possibly as early as the 3rd century BC) to the 1st century BC, and the second from the 1st to the 4th centuries AD.

Archaeological investigations resumed at the same cemetery in 2015 under the auspices of the Lechkhumi (Tskheta–Dekhviri) Archaeological Expedition, directed by Dr. Nino Sulava. During exploratory trenching, an additional burial was discovered. Between 2015 and 2018, eighteen graves were excavated.

All newly investigated burials were identified as inhumation pit graves. The associated grave goods are represented by artifact types characteristic of the Ancient Period in western Georgia.

In 2017, palynological analysis of organic remains demonstrated that ceramic jars deposited in the graves had been used for storing wine and water. Pollen analysis revealed the presence of grapevine pollen together with weeds associated with vineyards. A considerable quantity of tracheal cells derived from wood was identified in the samples, suggesting the presence of a wooden funerary structure within the grave. Flax fibers, also abundant in the palynological spectrum, most likely represent remains of garments or linen cloth used to cover the vessels.

Among the non-palynological remains, the abundance of mites indicates that the deceased were buried during the warm season.

The materials recovered during the 2015–2018 excavations of the Tskheta cemetery are presented and published here comprehensively for the first time.