Encyclopedia of Prehistory, Volume 4, Europe
.pdfobsidian and other minerals were exported from the Caucasus to the south.
Division of Labor. Even in the Neolithic, "workshophouses" of specialized artisans were found. In the Chalcolithic, the process of artisans' specialization grew more extensive, which is evidenced by spilled copper grains on some sites and by the discovery of pottery kilns on sites of the Southeast Caucasus.
Sociopolitical Organization
Little is known about the sociopolitical organization of the Caucasus Chalcolithic peoples. The sizes of houses suggest that nuclear or extended families were the basic unit of sociopolitical organization, and village sizes suggest that there was at least some political leadership above the family level. Certainly the large, sometimes fortified sites had some overarching political structure to maintain order in these large communities and to construct the defensive structures, but the details of how this was accomplished are unknown.
Religion and Expressive Culture
Most aspects of the religion of this period are not clearly known. Nevertheless, some temples have been excavated: At Alikemek-Tepesi, circular adobe earthhouse structure was found, which differed from all the other brick buildings on the site. Its walls were whitewashed and then painted with semicircular festoons. According to its size, peculiar methods of construction, and interior finishing (coating and painting), the excavators considered it to be a cult building or a shrine. A temple-type shrine has also been found in the Chalcolithic level of Berikldeebi. In the center of a hill, a freestanding, large (78-sq-m) mud-brick building, divided into three parts, was exposed. The solitary location of this building and its monumental properties may point to links with the Near East. As distinct from the previous Shulaveri culture, at Chalcolithic sites findings of anthropomorphic sculptures are extremely rare. Occasionally zoomorphic figures are encountered, which become more frequent in the following Bronze age.
Certain attitudes toward the dead were already developing and became a tradition. Burial of the dead on the territory of settlement, which is characteristic of the Near East, was found at some sites of the South Caucasus. At other localities, solitary burials, outside the settlement, were found. In the North Caucasus (Nalchik), necropolises were excavated. Beliefs about
Caucasian Chalcolithic 41
life after death are evidenced by inclusion of various goods-clay pottery, flint and obsidian arms, beads, pendants, and stone or metal bracelets-into graves. The dead were buried on their sides, flexed, and sometimes wrapped in a mat. Almost everywhere, red ocher was sprinkled as well. Most of the graves were individual, although sometimes group burials are found. Some of the burials are covered with stone embankments.
Suggested Readings
Chataigner, Christine (1995). La Transcaucasie au Neolithique et au Chalcolithique. Oxford: BAR International Series G24.
Chernykh, Evgenii N. (1992). Ancient Metallurgy in the USSR.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Japaridze, Otar M. (1989). On the Rise of Ethnocultural History of Caucasus (in Russian). Tbilisi: Tbilisi University Press.
Kiguradze, Tamaz (2000). "The Chalcolithic-Early Bronze Transition in the Eastern Caucasus." In Chronologies des pays du Caucase et de I'Euphrate aux IVe-IIIe millenaires: Actes de colloque d'Instanbul, 16-19 Decembere 1998, ed. C. Marro and H. Hauptmann. Paris: Acta Anatolica XI, 312-318.
Kushnareva, Karine Kh. (1997). The Southern Caucasus in Prehistory.
Philadelphia: University Museum Monograph 39.
Munchaev, Rauf M. (1975). Kavkaz na Zare Eronzovogo Veka (Caucasus at the rise of the bronze age). Moscow: Nauka.
Munchaev, Rauf M. (1982). "Eneolit Kavkaza" (Chalcolithic of Caucasus) In Eneolit SSSR (Chalcolithic of the USSR), ed. V. M. Masson and N. I. Merpert. Moscow: Nauka, 93-164.
Narimanov, Ideal H. (1987). Kultura Drevneishego ZemledelcheskoSkotovodcheskogo Naselenia Azerbaijana (The Culture of Early Farming and Cattle-Breeding Ancient Inhabitants of Azerbaijan).
Baku: Elm.
SUBTRADITIONS
Samele Klde (West
T ranscaucasian Eneolithic/
Copper Age)
TIME PERIOD: c. 6500-5500 B.P.
LOCATION: West Transcaucasus, east to the Black sea and south to the main ridge of the Caucasian mountains. This area includes the main watershed between the Black and Caspian seas. Many elements of this subtradition, in the pre-Maikopian culture, spread to the Northwest Caucasus.
DIAGNOSTIC MATERIAL ATTRIBUTES: Handmade flat-bot-
tomed and round-bottomed, cylindrical or evertedrimmed ceramics, clay spindle whorls, bone and antler
42Caucasian Chalcolithic
tools, polished stone axes and adzes, bifacial retouched flint arrowheads and spear heads, stone bracelets, some copper/bronze articles.
Cultural Summary
Environment. The West Transcaucasus, which is almost a synonym for West Georgia, has represented a peculiar ecological niche since the Tertiary; the Tertiary relics have remained until today. It is enclosed by mountains from three sides and thus is well protected from sharp atmospheric influences. The territory is open to the Black sea only. The Black sea makes the seaside climate milder by decreasing temperature fluctuations and increasing humidity. The highlands of the Caucasus mountains which in Transcaucasia are characterized by well-defined vertical climatic stratification, at the same time build a natural fortification against invasion of cold masses from
the north (Maruashvili 1969). Owing to these conditions a humid subtropical climate has been established on th~ plains of West Georgia, or Kolkhida, which has not changed significantly for the last 7 millennia (Kalandadze 1994). An average yearly temperature on the current ~lains of West Georgia is 13-15° C; yearly precipitation
IS. 1,~00-2,700 mm. Local rivers are full and cut deep wlthm steep-banked ravines. The plains are rich in yellow and red soils; the other territories are characterized by humus-carbonate soils (Maruashvili 1969). In the West Transcaucasus, beech, hornbeam, chestnut, oak, and alder forests were distributed; hazelnut, cornel, bilberry, rhododendron, and cherry laurel were all widely distributed in the undergrowth. Fruit-bearing trees such as fig, apple, pear, plum, cherry, walnut, mulberry, were abundant in the forests (Kvavadze and Rukhadze 1989). Against the general background of the Atlantic period, characterized by warm and humid climate, the middle Atlantic, in which the Chalcolithic period under study belongs, saw a slight decrease in temperature and increase in aridity (Kvavadze and Rukhadze 1989). About this time, c. 6,000 years ago, the Black sea reached its present level, followed by insignificant (+/-2-3 m) alterations (Janelidze 1984). In the widely distributed West Caucasian forests, the following game animal species were found: deer, wild goat, wild boar, wild sheep, aurochs, bear, fox, jackal, lynx, raccoon, marten, beaver (Castor fiber), hedgehog, turtle. Besides these, the bones of horse were also found, which could have been domesticated (Bendukidze 1979; Nebieridze 1986). The rivers and the sea were rich in fish. The West Transcaucasus is rich in copper, arsenic, and other ore, and flint outcrops are abundant as well.
Settlements
West Caucasian Chalcolithic sites, named after the key-site Samele Klde, covered much wider territories as compared with the Neolithic ones. The territory included the Kolkhida depression and the Black sea coastal strip from the Chorokhi river (in the south) up to Tuapse and even farther to the north, the whole Rioni river basin including the mountainous strip, and to the east up to the Kvirila river and its tributaries (Nebieridze 1986; Pkhakadze 1992). The only exception is the low-stream basin of the Rioni river (Pkhakadze 1993). Chalcolithic sites are concentrated mostly in the two West Georgian regions-Rioni-Kvirila basin (lmeretia) and Northwest Kolkhida (Abkhazia) (Pkhakadze 1993). Unlike the Eastern Transcaucasus, these sites are not grouped, although a special concentration of them was found in the Rioni-Kvirila and their tributaries ravines. The sites of this period are represented by two types of settlements:
(l) caves or rock shelters and (2) open-air sites. The openair settlements are represented by thin layers, are of a small size, and are often disturbed and covered by later settlements. The remains of buildings have not been found at the open-air settlements. Remains ofclay plaster suggest the existence of some light wattle-and-daub and/ or framework huts (Munchaev 1982). More extensive archaeological deposits are found in the caves--depth of the cultural layers amounts to 1-2.5 m (Javakhishvili 1971). In some Chalcolithic layers of the caves, several living horizons could be defined. Such are the following: Sagvarjile, where Chalcolithic Layer II amounts to 3 m; Darkveti rock shelter, in which Layers II and III belong in Chalcolithic (Nebieridze 1978); and Samele Klde, where the layers (three layers, 2.S-m deposit) are separated from one another by compact, relatively thick floors (Javakhishviii 1971). Especially rich deposits are found in the front part of the caves, which were better illuminated than the backs-several levels ofcompact clay floors have remained, in which clay or stone hearths are found. Some of the caves, at the entrance, had additional constructions built (Darkveti, Sagvarjile), probably with an aim to increase the living space (Pkhakadze 1992). Because of the small size of open-air settlements and especially of the caves, these could house small populations only-up to several dozens in the caves, and up to 100 or slightly more at the open-air settlements. Presumably, these should represent a single kin group.
Economy
Farming and stock raising were the basis of West Transcaucasian Chalcolithic subsistence, although hunt-
ing and collecting retained an important role. The data corroborating the farming existence are practically unavailable. Indirect evidence-antler and stone mattocks distributed of almost every site, as well as sickle blades, querns, and grinding slabs-points to the existence of farming. On one site at the final stage of the period, the following cultivated cereals were found: three species of wheat (T. aestivum, T. macha Dec. et Men and T. palaeo colchicum Men.), barley (H. vulagare), millet (P. miliaceum), sorghum (Setaria italica ssp. mocharium). At the same site were found the fruit remains of chestnut (Castanea Mill), hazelnut, plane-tree (Platanus L.), acorns, and hornbeam (Fagus L.) nuts (Lisitsina and Prishchepenko 1977). In conditions of humid climate, even in the historic times of the western Transcaucasus, wheat, millet, and sorghum all played a significant role, which is evidenced by ethnographic data as well. This fact suggests that millet and sorghum could be the leading cultivates in the Chalcolithic period as well (Kikvidze 1988). Stock raising is evidenced by osteologic material found at Chalcolithic sites. Inhabitants had cows, pigs, goats, sheep, and dogs. At the majority of sites, cow was the most common domestic animal, although at some sites the pig bones definitely exceeded the cow bones. Almost everywhere, goats and sheep held a subordinate place. At every site, except the Chikhori settlement, which belongs to both Chalcolithic times and the early Bronze Age, the number of game animal bones exceeded the number of domestic animal bones. In Darkveti, game made up 81.4 percent of the faunal assemblage; in Sagvarjile cave 66.7 percent; in Tetri cave over 60 percent. These facts indicate the high importance of hunting (Kalandadze 1994; Nebieridze 1986). Finds of stone sinkers at coastal sites point to the existence of fishing. The gathering of vegetable foods also played an important role in Chalcolithic subsistence (Pkhakadze 1992).
The primary utensils used by Samele-Kldeian were
(I) flat-bottomed and round-bottomed handmade ceramics with incised rims; (2) chipped-stone tools, among which flint arrowheads and spearheads should be noted;
(3) polished axes and chisels. Handmade ceramics, mostly globular and/or ovoid-bodied jars and pithos, have straight or everted rims. Pottery lips often have straight or inclined incisions. Perforations under the mouth are found occasionally. Just occasionally wartlike relief or incised ornaments are found. Flatbottomed pottery is often heeled, sometimes with leaf or rug imprints on the bottom. The surfaces of ceramics are often finished by a comblike tool. Such decoration of rims and surfaces resembles ceramics of the Sioni subtradition sites, on the one hand, and ceramics of the pre-Maikopian Eneolithic in the Northwest
Caucasian Chalcolithic 43
Caucasus, on the other. The clay has quartz, mica, sand, and, rarely, straw tempering. The pottery surface is smoothed and polished. Along with such ceramics, there coexists thin-walled pottery made of well-baked pure clay of red color or painted red (Javakhishvili 1971).
Chipped-stone tools are mostly made of local highquality flint. The volume of obsidian is insignificant. At earlier stages, the chipped-stone tools are made of blades; at later stages, the volume of flakes used for the tools' production increased. The most common tools are scrapers, and burins and drills are found in large numbers as well. As a characteristic attribute, the bifacially retouched, both tangedor tangless leaf-shaped, spear and arrowheads with straight or incised bases are noteworthy. At later stages, sickle blades, made by the same bifacial retouch technique, are found (Nebieridze 1986). Both microliths and macroliths are encountered occasionally. The latter are mostly distributed in coastal areas. On some sites stone hoes, mostly of Sochi-Adler type, are found, which by their shape are similar to Hassuna hoes. These hoes are more characteristic of the Northwest Transcaucasian sites. Ground-stone tools include querns and grinding slabs, rubbing stones and pestle hammer stones. Most characteristic of the Samele Klde subtradition are the trapezium-shaped (in crosssection) polished stone axes and chisels, made of various rocks (serpentine, argelith). Bone and antler tools are widely distributed, especially in the Rioni-Kvirila basin. Mattocks, picks, and other picking tools are made from antlers, and awls and needles are made from other bones.
Characteristic of the Samele Klde subtradition is the wide distribution of baked-clay spindle whorls, which are flat, conic, or biconic, some with dot or radial ornaments or nail-like incisions (Javakhishvili 1971; Kalandadze 1994). The use of spindle whorls is suggested in both wool and flax fiber spinning. Of special interest is the spread of bracelets made of soft stones, especially characteristic of the Samele Klde subtradition. Flint arrowand spear heads, stone bracelets, and clay spindle whorls, which are unknown in East Transcaucasia, are encountered in Northwest Transcaucasia as well (Formozov 1975). In the West Transcaucasian caves and open-air settlements, copper tools and items related to their production are found, including arrowheads (in Tetri cave), tetrahedral awls (in Samele Klde, Sagvarjile, Chikhori), and fishing hooks (in Sagvarjile). Local production of metals is verified by the clay metal-melting crucibles found at Samele Klde and Dzudzuana (Pkhakadze 1992).
The basic economic unit for the Samele Klde subtradition was the nuclear or extended family. The family could produce almost all the goods necessary for the family. Production of metal tools, bifacia1 flint
44Caucasian Chalcolithic
arrowand spear heads, stone bracelets all certify the existence of specialized artisans.
Sociopolitical Organization
Very little is known of the sociopolitical organization of the West Transcaucasian Chalcolithic population. Settlement life was governed probably by the most authoritative (elder) kin group members. A significant role was probably played by the extended family. Relations between the uniform (single) culture settlements, spread over vast territories, were probably managed by another, more complex, organization, which at present is unknown in the archaeological record.
Religion and Expressive Culture
Anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figurines, found in some settlements, are likely related to fertility and reproduction cults. From this point of view, the Tetri cave data are interesting. Here is where most of sculptures have been found. Tetri cave is a closed, three-compartment, large (3,500 m2) karst cave, utilized for living and even more for religious or ritual ceremonies. The cultural layer in this dark cave is 0.4--0.5 m thick, where three levels of burnt-smeared floors were exposed. In the cave, pits and "imitation" hearths were found, to which were related the above-mentioned sculptures and other "sacrificed" articles (Kalandadze 1994). It should be mentioned that on the 50-m2 front area of the cave the immovable Chalcolithic layer was excavated, the depth of which amounts to 40 cm. Remains of a compact clay floor and large hearth were found here. Materials found in the cave and in front of the cave were identical. Moreover, fragments of the same pottery were found in both the cave and on the outside territory (Kalandadze 1994). This suggests that the major part of the cave was used for ritual ceremonies, because the cave, even in Chalcolithic times, would have been a dark, unilluminated place. Analogous is the case of Vorontsov cave, where uniform material is determined in both the cave and its outside area (Vysotskaya 1963). The existence of burials and grave goods reflects beliefs in life after death.
References
Bendukidze, Oleg (1979). (The Fauna of the Holocene Vertebrates of Georgia). Tbilisi: Metsniereba. (In Russian, English summary).
Formozov, Alexander A. (1975). (Stone and Copper Age of the Kuban River Basin). Moscow: Nauka. (In Russian).
lanelidze, Chichiko P. (1984). (On the Reconstruction of the Environment of Early Farming Culture of Eastern Georgia). In Human and Its Environment. Tbilisi: Metsniereba. (In Russian).
lavakhishvili, Gaioz I. (1971). (On the History of the Early Farming Culture of Western Transcaucasia). Ph.D. diss., Tbilisi: Tbilisi University Press. (In Russian).
Kalandadze, Karlo (1994). (Tetri Mgvime: White cave). Tbilisi: Metsniereba. (In Georgian, Russian and English summaries).
Kikvidze, Iason A. (1988). (Agriculture and Agricultural Cults in Ancient Georgia). Tbilisi: Metsniereba. (In Russian).
Kvavadze, Eliso V., and P. Luara Rukhadze (1989). (Vegetation and Climate of the Holocene in Abkhazia). Tbilisi: Mertsniereba. (In Russian, English summary).
Lisitsina, Gorislava N., and V. Ludmila Prishchepenko (1977).
(Paleoethnobotanical Remains' Finds of the Caucasus and Near East).
Moscow: Nauka. (In Russian).
Maruashvili, Levan (1969). (Physical Geography of Georgia). Tbilisi: Tbilisi University Press. (In Georgian).
Munchaev, Rauf M. (1982). "Eneolithic of Caucasus". In Eneolith of USSR, ed. V. Masson and M. Merpert Moscow: Nauka, 100--164.
Nebieridze, Lamara D. (1978). (Darkveti Multilayer Rock-Shelter).
Tbilisi: Metsniereba. (In Georgian, Russian summary).
Nebieridze, Lamara D. (1986). (Early stages ofdevelopment of Western Transcaucasian Early Farming Culture). Tbilisi: Metsniereba. (In Georgian, Russian summary).
Pkhakadze, Guranda G. (1992). "Chalcolithic Culture in Western Georgia." In Archaeology in Georgia, 2, ed., O. laparidze. Tbilisi: Metsniereba. (In Georgian).
Pkhakadze, Guranda G. (1993). (The Western Transcaucasus in the III Mill. B.C.). Tbilisi: Metsniereba. (In Georgian, Russian and English summaries).
Vysotskaya, Tatiana N. (1963). "Sites of Vorontsov cave." In
Materials for Georgian and Caucasian Archaeology, 3, ed., A.
Apakidze. Tbilisi: Academy Press. (In Russian).
Sioni
TIME PERIOD: c. 6500-5500 B.P.
LOCATION: The eastern Caucasus including the Terek, Mtkvari (Kura), and Araxes river basins.
DIAGNOSTIC MATERIAL ATTRIBUTES: Distribution of metal
(copper-bronze) articles, handmade flat-bottomed, straightor everted rim ceramics, some of which had incised lips and combed surfaces. At the later stages, profiled, angular-rim straw-tempered ceramics are found, some of which were painted.
CULTURAL SUMMARY
Environment
The Sioni subtradition developed in the middle phase of the Atlantic period, when, against the background of general increase of temperature and humidity character-
istic of the Atlantic period, a relative worsening ofclimate occurred, manifested in decreased temperature and a significant increase of aridity (Kvavadze and Rukhadze 1989). The climate of the East Caucasus Chalcolithic did not differ significantly from the climate of the preceding Neolithic and was close to the climate conditions of today. Summers were hot and dry; winters were mild in Transcaucasia and significantly colder in the North Caucasus. In East Georgia, the area of the foothill forests increased, and the area of the light forests increased as well. Grass and bush plants still were the principal formations of the plains (Gogichaishvili 1984). The following wild animals served as game: deer, wild goat, wild sheep, wild boar, beaver (Castor fiber), fox, wild cat, raccoon, marten, some species of birds. The rivers were rich in fish (Bendukidze 1979). Because of the mountainous relief, the climate as well as highly diversified soils alternate with elevation. On the valleys of the East Caucasus, the arid plain soils are distributed, such as gray and gray-brown ones. The riverside valleys were represented with fertile alluvial soils highly suitable for farming. In foothills and mountains, mostly pedalfers were evident (Maruashvili 1981). The East Caucasus is rich in various stones, flint and obsidian outcrops, copper, and other ores.
Settlements
Most settlements are of an open-air type, although occasionally cave and rock-shelter dwellings are recorded (Chikovani 1999; Gogelia and Chelidze 1992). A variety of the Tepe-Tell type settlement is found in the Southeast Caucasus only. Rarely a group of several settlements is encountered, in which a coexistence of small and large settlements is verified (Narimanov 1987; Varazashvili 1992). More often, villages are located separately. The majority of settlements are small and have only one occupation layer. These settlements are located on the riverside plains, on the fertile depressions suitable for farming, as well as in the foothills and mountains (Kiguradze 2000). On Southeast Transcaucasian sites, mud bricks were principal construction material. Living compartments (7-9 m2) and household constructions are linked to make a multiroom construction. However, larger (up to 26 m2), separately standing rectangular buildings are found as well (Narimanov 1987). The buildings excavated in the Karabakh valley at Leila-Tepesi also are ofrectangular shape. The size of the rooms is quite small, only 5-8 m2 (Aliev 1991). Rectangular mud-brick buildings are suggested on the middle Mtkavri (Kura) river Kechili settlement (Narimanov 1987). Mud-brick architecture only has
Caucasian Chalcolithic 45
been determined in the lower layers of Berikldeebi (Shida Kartli, East Georgia), where a 2-m-wide fortification wall, with smaller compartments attached, has been excavated. Both the wall and the 14.5-by-8-m temple of the same layer were built of mud bricks (lavakhishvili 1998; Kipiani 1997).
Stone buildings were excavated in Sioni (Kvemo Kartli, East Georgia), where a segment of a circular building 12 m in diameter was found, and in Ginchi (Dagestan, Northeast Caucasus) where, besides the dwellings, fragments of a defensive wall was discovered (Gadjiev 1991). On a number of sites, including Tekhuta (Ararat valley), semisubterranian structures were found (Torosyan 1976). On a large number of the sites, pits have been excavated. Sometimes wattle-and-daub stucco replicas were found, which suggest light wattle-and-daub constructions at these sites. Probably framework buildings were distributed here as well. At some large sites, especially in the Southeast Caucasus, several thousand inhabitants could live; however, at the majority of sites, the population was much smaller-no more than 100 persons.
Economy
The Sioni peoples intensively developed farming and stock raising. Farming was based on both irrigated and nonirrigated cultivation (Narimanov 1987). Generally three species of wheat (T. aestivum, T. durum, and T. sphaerococcum), two species of barley, and one of vetch (Vicia L.) were cultivated (Chikovani 1999; Lisitsina and Prishchepenko 1977). Along with farming, stock raising played an important role. Sionians kept cows, goats, and sheep, the bones of which are present in large numbers in the archaeological record; swine bones were relatively scarce and make up only 5-6 percent of the whole assemblage. Domestic dog bones have been found (Chikovani 1999; Vekua 1992). At Alikemek-Tepesi, bones of two different horse varieties were found as well. The latter finding makes some investigators believe that horses were domesticated (Narimanov 1987), although this idea is not shared by other authors. There are few game bones in the overall osteological material (4-5 percent), which indicates that hunting had an auxiliary role in the economy. Primary game animals were deer, wild goat, wild boar. Fish and bird bones were also found (Narimanov 1987; Vekua 1992). Because at the sites of the Alazani river valley (East Georgia) bones of domesticated animals make 95.7 percent, and because the number of cow bones significantly exceeds that of small cattle while swine bones are insignificant, some investigators suggest that transhuman stock raising had developed already (Vekua 1992). This notion could be
46Caucasian Chalcolithic
doubted, although the mastering of various ecological zones-plains, foothills, and highlands-points to a significant role of stock raising.
The primary utensils used by Sionians were (l) handmade ceramics; (2) chippedand ground-stone tools;
(3) bone and antler tools; and (4) occasional copper and bronze articles. Ceramics of the early Sionians were hand molded, mostly flat-bottomed, with inorganic (sand or basalt) tempering, the surface often with mica addition. Vessels are mostly ovoid-bodied jars or pots with a sinuous profile, although angular neck-to-body transitions are encountered as well (necks are straight or everted). Hole-mouth jars are found, too. Rarely tray or panlike ceramics, with surrounding penetrating holes under the mouth, are found. More scarce are bowl-like ceramics. The pottery bottoms are mostly heeled, sometimes with spiral basket or mat impressions. The surface of some pottery is worked with a comblike tool, which serves as an ornament. The pottery is adorned with perpendicular or oblique incisions on the lip, with depressions on the lip and serated rims made with a comblike punch. Mouths of some pottery are sinuous or wavy when viewed from the top, and some are wavy when viewed from the side. Besides the mouths, incised decorations are very rare. Relief ornaments, if compared with the Shulavery culture, are rarely encountered (Chikovani 1999; Kiguradze 2000; Menabde and Kiguradze 1981; Narimanov 1987; Varazashvili 1992). Some ceramics have small-holed earlike impressions, and some have massive, handles oval in section (Gadjiev 1991; Narimanov 1987; Varazashvili 1992). At a later stage, strawtempered clay ceramics appear, which were rare at earlier stages. These are characterized by sharply profiled mouths with a multiangular mouth-to-body transition and mostly represent large pythois. This pottery was apparently made on the potter's wheel. Its distribution must be attributed to the Anterior Asian world. The few findings of painted pottery, which were encountered in the Ararat valley and South Azerbaijanian sites and also in Kverno Kartli and Dagestan, can also be attributed to influence from the south. The style of painting and execution technique are not similar everywhere. At Alikemek-Tepesi only, over 200 painted fragments were found, which exceeds all other painted fragments found on all sites so far. Their majority are imported and must be of North Mesopotamian, East Anatolian, or North Iranian origin. The other, smaller, part is an imitation of local make. Some imported ceramics belong to the socalled North Ubaidian industry.
Chipped-stone articles are made mostly of local South Caucasian obsidian. Flint products are found as well. Except in the Mugan valley and Dagestan,
obsidian products significantly exceed flint ones on all sites. At the earlier stages of the tradition, the number of blades and flakes is almost equal, although most of the tools are based on blades. At this very stage, some tools and blades are covered with flat, subparallel squamous retouch. Among the tools, bUrlns, scrapers, drills, grinders, and sickle blades are found. At the later stages of the tradition, flakes significantly exceed the blades; tools are scarce and negligently made, although at almost all sites are found separate well-worked long knifelike blades. Bone and antler tools are also common, although less so than at Shulaveri sites. Ground-stone hand grinders, mortars, and grater-presses are found, although fewer than those at Neolithic sites. At a number of the sites, separate copper-bronze articles are found, most common of which are rectangular-sided awls. Knifelike articles, bracelets, beads are found.
Artisans, specialization can be suggested because of finds of pottery kilns at Southeast Transcaucasian sites (Alikemek-Tepesi and Leila-Tepe) and the spread of large pots made on the potter's wheel (Aliev 1991; Narimanov 1987). Likewise, local production of metal articles points to the existence of specialized metal artisans (Aliev 1991). The tools for production of beads-drills, reamers, fret saws, and awls-as well as sardonyx, turquoise, and mother-of-pearl beads and pendants, show their local origin (Arazova 1999).
Sociopolitical Organization
The general consumer of everyday goods and food products was the nuclear or extended family. Small settlements probably housed representatives of one kin group. Larger settlements may have housed several kin groups or even a more complex unity. At such large settlements, ruling organizations are likely to have been present, although the claim, because of the lack of data, is tenuous. The existence of defense walls may suggest a threat of external offense and the presence of a more complex political organization.
Religion and Expressive Culture
Although little is known about the religious beliefs of this period, religion and rituals played a significant role in everyday life. This is verified by the solitary circular "adobe cottage" found in Alikemek-Tepe with whitewashed walls and added paintings, which appears to be a chapel (Narimanov 1987). In Berikldeebi, a singular monumental temple has been excavated, the design and size of which (14.5 x 8 m) resemble contemporary and later Near eastern temples (Kipiani 1997). Some of
the pits found at Sioni subtradition settlements also point to a link with cult rituals. This is verified by the sequence of ash and tools placed in these pits. At some sites, burials of the dead on the territory of settlement were verified and burials outside the settlements were identified as well. At some sites (Leila-Tepe and Berikldeebi), there burial ofjuveniles in clay vessels occurred (Chikovani 1999; Aliev 1991), this again points to an influence from Anterior Asiatic traditions. The existence of strict rules for burial and inclusion into the graves of tools suggest beliefs in life after death.
References
Aliev, Namik G. (1991). "Late Chalcolithic Sites of Azerbaijan." Ph.D. diss., Institute of Archaeology, Leningrad.
Arazova, Roza (1999). "Trasological study of stone implements from early agricultural settlements of Azerbaijan." Azerbaijan Archaeology, 1, 1-2. Baku: Khazar University Press, 20-23 (In Russian).
Bendukidze, Oleg G. (1979). (The fauna of the Holocene vertebrates of Georgia). Tbilisi: Metsniereba. (In Georgian, Russian summary).
Chikovani, Guram Ch. (1999). "Shida kartli in V-IV mill. B.C" Ph.D. diss., Tbilisi: Center for Archaeological Research Publication. (In Russian, English summary).
Gadjiev, Mahomed G. (1991). (Early Agricultural Culture of Northeast Caucasus). Moscow: Nauka. (In Russian).
Gogelia, David D., and M. Lydia Chelidze (1992). "Eneolithic." In Archaeology ofGeorgia, 2. Tbilisi: Metsniereba, 17-69. (In Georgian).
Gogichaishvili, Liana K. (1984). "Vegetation of Holocene in the lowland and footheel of Kvemokartli." In Human and Its Environment. Tbilisi: Metsniereba, 11-15. (In Russian).
lavakhishvili, Alexander I. (1998). "Aus Grabungen in Berikldeebi (Shida Kartli)." In Georgica, Heft 21. Konstanz: Universitatsverlag Konstanz, 7-20.
Kiguradze, Tamaz B. (2000). "The Chalcolithic-Early Bronze Age Transition in the eastern Caucasus." In From the Euphrates to the Caucasus: Chronologies for the 4th-3rd Millenium B.C., Actes du colloque d'Instanbul, 16-19 Decembre 1998 C. Marro and H. Hauptmann, ed. Paris: Varia Anatolica XI, 321-328.
Kipiani, Guram. (1997). "Berikldeebi: The fence walls and temple." In Bulletin of Georgian State Museum 42-B. Tbilisi: Metsniereba, 13-57 (In Georgian).
Kvavadze, Eliso V., and P. Luara Rukhadze (1989). (Vegetation and Climate of the Holocene in Abkhazia). Tbilisi: Mertsniereba. (In Russian, English summary).
Lisitsina, Gorislava N., and V. Ludmila Prishchepenko (1977).
(Paleoethnobotanical Remains' Finds of Caucasus and Near East).
Moscow: Nauka. (In Russian).
Maruashvili, Levan (1981). (Physical geography of Caucasus). Tbilisi: Metsniereba. (In Georgian).
Menabde, Medea, and B. Tamaz Kiguradze (1981). (Archaeological sites ofSiom). Tbilisi: Metsniereba. (In Georgian, Russian summary).
Narimanov, Ideal H. (1987). "The culture of Earliest Farming and Stock-Breeding Population of Azerbaijan." Baku: Elm. (In Russian, English summary).
Torosian, Rafik M. (1976). (The Early Agricultural Settlements of Tekhut [IV millenium B.C.]). Erevan: Academia Publishing House. (In American, Russian sumary).
Varazashvili, Vazha V. (1992). (Early Farming Culture of Iori-Alazani Basin). Tbilisi: Metsniereba. (In Russian, English summary).
Caucasian Chalcolithic 47
Vekua, Abesalom (1992). ("Stock-Breeding and Hunting of Chalcolithic tribes of Eastern Georgia." In Appendix to V. Vazha Varazashvili. (Early Farming Culture of Iori-Alazani Basin). Tbilisi: Metsniereba, 96-100.
SITES
Alikemek T epesi
TIME PERIOD: c. 6600-6300 B.P.
LOCATION: Mugan valley, Southeast Azerbaijan.
DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY
Local Environment
Alikemek Tepesi is located on the right bank of the Injachai river, near Uchtepe village. The climate of the Mugan valley is arid and continental. Average annual temperature is 14° C, and annual precipitation is only 240 mm. Gray-brown soils characteristic of an arid climate are found here (Maruashvili 1981).
Physical Features
Alikemek Tepesi is an artificial hill 4 m high and covering an area of 1 ha (Mahmudov and Narimanov 1972). The cultural layer is 5 m thick. The upper intermixed layer has Chalcolithic, Middle Bronze, and Classical period materials (Mahmudov and Narimanov 1972). The main early period layer contains six construction horizons, including the uppermost zero horizon. In each of the horizons, mud-brick constructions were found, which in the two (0-2) upper horizons are rectangular, although some curved walls were found as well. In the lower horizons, circular buildings, with added rectangular compartments, were more frequent. Pylons were often used in constructions (Mahmudov and Narimanov 1974). Planning was not evident in any of the horizons. Constructions were set very densely. In the center or beside the wall of each of the buildings was an open hearth, sometimes two or three of them. In the floor of some of the buildings, large (about 1 m high) thick-walled barrel-like or cylindrical vessels were buried. Architecture of the lower (3-5) horizons resembled the architecture of Nakhichevan's Qiul-Tepe I (Munchaev 1982). Almost all the horizons have evidence of pottery kilns (Mahmudov and Narimanov 1974). Especially noteworthy is the circular semi-adobe cottage excavated in Horizon 3. The walls of this construction
48Caucasian Chalcolithic
were plastered with clay mortar, then whitewashed and painted with geometrical ornaments. This building could be of religious significance (Narimanov 1987). In the upper (0-3) horizons, in the spaces between the buildings, 10 burials were excavated with the deceased in tightly flexed position, on the left or right side. The skeletons were painted. Each of the deceased, in front of the face, had a clay vessel (Mahmudov and Narimanov 1976).
Cultural Aspects
The basis of Alikemek Tepesi population actIvity was farming and stock raising. In the upper layers of the site, grains of soft wheat (Tr. aestivum) and two species of barley were found. In the lower layers were also found grains of hard-(Tr. durum) and round-grain (Tr. sphaerococcum) wheat, barley (H. lagunculiforme), and oats (Avena sativa) (Kiguradze 1986; Narimanov 1987). In the osteological material, game animals made up less than 5 percent of the assemblage. Most numerous were cattle, making up 43.3 percent of the assemblage; bones of sheep and goats together made 35.2 percent, pigs 6.1 percent, dogs 2.6 percent. A fairly high percentage of horse bones is noteworthy here-7.5 percent, which suggests early domestication of the horse (Munchaev 1982; Narimanov 1987). In the chipped-stone material flint exceeded the volume of obsidian (21. 7 percent) by almost four times. Obsidian was imported here from the Kelbajari mines, 300 km from the site. Blades and flakes were utilized evenly. The most numerous tools were sickle blades. Next in quantity come scrapers, knives, side-retouched blades, burins, and drills. Polished celts and chisels, querns and grinding slabs, pestles and rubbing stones were present as well.
Bone tools were represented by awls and spatulae. Antler hoes were encountered (Arazova 1974). Beads made of flat seashell disks, pendants of teeth, various stone and copper beads have been found on the site (Munchaev 1982).
Pottery is abundant and interesting. In most cases, the flat-bottomed pottery, from all horizons, is made of clay with vegetable material tempering. In all the horizons are found painted ceramics in large quantities. The pottery of the lower horizons is uniform in both design and technology, most having a coated and polished surface. There are saucepan and barrel-like pots, which have hand-like lugs, also bowls and bowl-like crockery. These ceramics have their analogues in the material of the Neolithic-to-Eneolithic transition site, Nakhichevan's Kiul-Tepe I. In the upper horizons, different kinds of pottery appear, the surface of which is covered with haphazard lines, applied with a comblike
tool. Incisions on the pottery mouth are frequent. Single vessels are ornamented with knobs and zigzag relief sculpture. In the first horizon, a fragment with an oversculptured finger-pinched strip was found (Munchaev 1982; Narimanov 1987). These signs link the upper horizons with the Sioni circle sites. Painted pottery has geometrical patterns (triangles, often one in the other) made with black, brown, or red paint over cream, light brown, or brownish-pink coating. Diamonds, wavy lines, and zigzag lines surround the vessels; rectangles are painted checkerwise, and vertical-horizontal and inclined intercrossing lines, that make a net motif are common. Some of the painted pottery has analogues in the pottery found in Nakhichevan's Kiul-Tepe I and Meli valley. Although in Nakhichevan's Kiul-Tepe lower layers undoubted Halafian imports are present, at AlikemekTepesi imitated forms and separate motifs characteristic of Halafian wares are encountered (Munchaev 1982).
References
Arazova, Rosa B. (1974). "Chalcolithic age stone implements from Azerbaijan." Ph.D. diss., Baku. (In Russian)
Kiguradze, Tamaz (1986). Neolithische Siedlungen von Kwemo-Kartli, Georgien. Munich: C. H. Beck Verlag. (In German)
Mahmudov, Farman, and Ideal Narimanov (1972). "On the excavations at Alikemektepesi settlement." Archaeological Discoveries in 1971. Moscow: Nauka. (In Russian)
Mahmudov, Farman, and Ideal Narimanov (1974). "Alikemektepesi Excavations." Archaeological and Ethnographical Investigations in Azerbaijan in 1973. Baku: Elm. (In Russian)
Mahmudov, Farman, and Ideal Narimanov (1976). "Mugan Expedition Excavations." Archaeological Discoveries in 1975. Moscow: Nauka. (In Russian)
Maruashvili, Levan (1981). (Physical Geography of Caucasus, part 2). Tbilisi: Metsniereba. (In Georgian, Russian summary)
Munchaev, RaufM. (1982). "Chalcolithic of Caucasus." In Eneolithic (Chalcolithic) of the USSR, ed. V. M. Masson and N. I. Merper. Moscow: Nauka. (In Russian)
Narimanov, Ideal H. (1987). (The earliest culture offarming and stockbreeding population of Azerbaijan). Baku: Elm. (In Russian, English summary)
Berikldeebi
TIME PERIOD: 5900-5700 B.P.
DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY
Local Environment
Berikldeebi is located at the junction of the Mtkvari and Prone rivers, on the Mtkvari left bank high terrace,
659 m above sea level, 33 m above the Mtkvari and Prone junction level (Kipiani 1997). The Shida Kartli region of Georgia is characterized by plains and hilly relief and a semicontinental, moderately warm climate. Average annual temperature is about 12° C, annual precipitation ranges between 400-500 mm (Maruashvili 1970).
Physical Features
The settlement, situated on the top of a promontory, covers 4,000 sq m. It is 120 m long, 30 m wide, and 3- 5 m high. The settlement is multilayered; the cultural layer begins below 20-50 cm of deep humus. The Chalcolithic layer, fifth from the top, is located below the Late Bronze, Middle Bronze, Early Bronze Bedenic culture, and Eneolithic-Early-Bronze Mtkvari-Araks culture layers (Glonti and lavakhishvili 1987; Glonti et al. 1986). The lower layer consists of two horizons. The lowermost horizon (VI) is 25 cm deep and is of a dark color and sharply differs from both the bottom and upper horizons (V2). The black clay contains fine coal particles (lavakhisvili 1998; Kipiani 1997). In this horizon, no remains of building construction were found (Glonti and lavakhishvili 1987); however, some kind of adobe cottage-like construction, 3.25 m in diameter and 25 cm deep, was found, which had a rammed clay floor. In the center of this compartment, a I-m-diameter hollow with a rammed clay floor was found, which, in turn, had a 25 cm diameter and a 15-cm-deep depression (Kipiani 1997). In the same layer, remains of some other circular construction, the so-called Kromlekhi, has been found. In this layer, four pairs of post pits, located crosswise, were found, which, like the Kromlekhi, are considered as cult-related constructions (Javakhishvili 1998; Kipiani 1997). In the same horizon (VI), 33 pits of various dimensions were excavated (Glonti and lavakhishvili 1987; Kipiani 1997). In the V2 horizon, monumental mud-brick architecture is present.
The north side of the settlement was guarded by a strong, 2-m-wide mud-brick wall. At least 80 m of the wall are preserved and are built with mud bricks on dense clay grout. The mud-brick size is 44 x 20 x 8 cm, or 48 x 25 x 8 cm. The wall is seven bricks wide. The grout thickness between the bricks is equal in both horizontal and vertical seams. From the inside of the wall, massive buttresses, 1 m long and 1-1.5 m wide, were attached at 3-4 m distance from one another (Glonti and lavakhishvili 1987; lavakhishvili 1998; Kipiani 1997). To the same horizon (V2) belongs a large rectangular building of 44.5 x 8 m, which contains one large room and two smaller (2.75 x 2 m and
Caucasian Chalcolithic 49
3 x 2 m) chambers. The walls are about 90 cm thick. This construction, like the wall, lies on "the black layer". This solitary construction, because of its size and
scale is considered to be a cult building or chapel (lav~khishvili 1998; Kipiani 1997). In the Chalcolithic
layer, remains of several burials have been excavated (lavakhishvili 1998).
Cultural Aspects
In both horizons of layer V, two types of the pottery are encountered: (l) well-baked large pithoi with 2-cm- thick walls and 50-cm-wide mouths, made of wellpurified clay tempered with straw and finest quartz grain. The upper part of the vessels is so symmetrical that their manufacturing on the potter's-wheel is highly probable. The open mouths are sharply bent out and angularly profiled. Technologically and texturally, they resemble hemispherical bowls and medium-sized spherical open-mouthed pots: (2) In the second group are medium, 50-cm-high vessels with egg-shaped, slightly bUlging bodies and cylindrical or opened mouths. Unlike the first group, these are made somewhat poorly, with coarse quartzand mica-tempered clay. Their shapes are less differentiated, the surface is rough, and the baking is uneven (Glonti and lavakhishvili 1987; lavakhishvili 1998). Besides these two groups, occasional fragments represent thin-walled ceramics with polished surfaces and made of fine clay. Pottery of the first group, which should be distributed here under the Southwest Asian influence, is linked with such late stage Chalcolithic sites as Teguta in Armenia and Leilatepe in Azerbaijan, which are analogous also to Uboid Tepe Gawra XII-XI and Amuk F. Pottery of the second group is a continuation of the local, Sioni circle, subtradition. The chipped-stone industry is represented mostly by obsidian flakes; however, some well-processed macroblades were found as well. Querns and grinding slabs are found here as well. In this layer, a copper tetrahedral awl, fragments of a knifelike tool, and a spiral bronze-wire bracelet were found. Bone tools are represented mostly by awls. A clay spinning whorl was found as well (Glonti and lavakhishvili 1987). The basic industrial activity of Berikldeebi was farming and stock raising.
References
Glonti Lili and Alexander lavakhishvili (1987). "New data on the mul;ilaye~ site of Eneolithic-Late Bronze period of the Shida
Kartli."' Proceedings of the Institute of Archaeology. Moscow: Nauka, 192. (In Russian)
50 Caucasian ChaIcolithic
Glonti, Lili, Guram Nemsadze, and Alexander lavakhishvili (1986). "Report on Excavations of 1979-1981, in Berikldeebi, Kareli District)." In Archaeological Expeditions of the Georgian State Museum, 8c Tbilisi: Metsniereba. (In Georgian, Russian summary) lavakhishvili Alexander (1998). "Ausgrabungen in Berikldeebi (Shida Kartli." Georgica, Heft 21. Constanz: Universitatsverlag Konstanz. Kipiani, Guram (1997). "Berikldeebi: The Fence and the Chapel."
Bulletin of State Museum of Georgia, XLII-B. Tbilisi: Metsniereba. (In Georgian)
Maruashvili, Levan (1970). (Physical geography of Georgia). Tbilisi: Tbilisi University Press. (In Georgian)
Ginchi
TIME PERIOD: c. 6200-5700 B.P.
LOCATION: Located in Dagestan in the small gorge of Ginchi in the high plain of Gidatli, near the river Gideril Or.
DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY
Local Environment
Situated at an altitude of 1,600 m above sea level, the region around Ginchi experiences a harsh climate with severe winters and short summers. Although some farming is practiced, the environment lends itself better to stockbreeding.
soon gave way to the stockbreeding of domesticated species in the upper levels. Although Ginchi is clearly a one-period site, the upper deposits contained a small number of sherds that suggest new influences pointing to the Kura-Araxes complex. Metal objects were not represented in the technological repertoire at Ginchi, which includes mostly flint blades and bone tools and a limited number of ground-stone objects-grinding slabs and querns. Pottery was handmade and included both coarse, thick-walled vessels with grit inclusions and fine, thin-walled containers that are slipped and burnished. Colors ranged mainly from red to brown. In the former category, shapes included deep bowls, bag-shaped vessels with flat bases, occasionally with small loop handles, and trays with perforations around the rim. Ornamentation was distinctive, with serrated rims, incised herringbone bands, and relief horizontals with impressions. Fine wares were few in number. They were well fired, produced a klinky sound when struck, and are small in size (Gajiev 1991). Twelve sherds were found with painted decoration executed in red-brown. Motifs included dots, straight lines, zigzags, and net patterns. On the basis of these stylistic features, we can place this repertoire broadly within the Alikemek Tepesi and Dalma horizons (Munchaev 1982).
References
Gajiev, Magomed G. (1991). (The Early Farming Culture of Northeast Caucasus). Nauka: Moscow. (In Russian)
Munchaev, Rauf M. (1982). "The eneolithic of the Caucasus." In The Eneolithic of USSR, ed. V. M. Masson and N. 1. Merpert. Nauka: Moscow, 93-164. (In Russian)
Physical Features
The site covers an area of 1,500 sq m with a deposit of 1.5 m. A defensive wall 2 m wide, 1.15 m high and 15 m in length is the most distinctive physical feature (Gajiev 1991). Established in the lower levels, it was associated with a large rectangular house and a smaller circular house about 4 m in diameter. Their walls were about 1.5 m thick and constructed without mortar. Simple, open round hearths with diameters ranging from 0.6-l.9 m and nine round-shaped pits were also found.
Cultural Aspects
Ginchi represents a local development of an early farming community, but like the Transcaucasus it was no doubt in contact with communities farther south and part of a much wider cultural orbit (Gajiev 1991). There are indications that hunting formed a large component of the economy in the earliest deposits, but this practice
Leilatepe
TIME PERIOD: 5900-5700 B.P.
LOCATION: Karabakh steppe, Agdam district of AzerbaiJan.
DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY
Local environment
The region is characterized by an arid continental climate. Average annual temperature ranges from 12-14° C; annual precipitation is only 20 mm. The summer is hot, the highest temperature reaching 42°C.