438 Smiths,Warriors, and Womenfolk

Styrfaz

Not far from Tli is the cemetery of Styrfaz, also excavated by Tekhov.A circle of river pebbles, 4 to 6 m in diameter, bound tombs at Styrfaz. Eleven stone circles were found, each with a number of tombs at its centre. These tombs were of two types: either rectangular pits with stone-lined walls and a floor of earth, or rectangular stone cist tombs.The circles also contained quantities of charcoal, animal bones, pottery sherds, and red ochre, tangible evidence of the funerary rite. Burials at Styrfaz were in the foetal position, either on the left or right side.Three stone circles (nos. 5, 10, and 11) had more than one tomb. Tomb 1 (stone circle 5) was a collective tomb with the remains of at least ten individuals piled up in its north-west corner. Next to it, Tomb 2 contained only a single individual. Two concentric circles of stones defined Circle 10, with which eleven tombs were associated. Each contained an individual burial: three (Tombs 1–3) were found on the western outer edge of the circle and eight (Tombs 4–11) within the circle.The twenty-six tombs from Styrfaz are generally placed within the early phase at Tli. Other significant cemeteries include Kvasatali, Nuli, Lisa Zemo-Ojola, and Dvani, each of which has an assemblage that overlaps with part of the extensive Tli horizon.

WHY METALS MATTERED

In the past few chapters we have witnessed the gradual rise and spread of bronze products in the Caucasus, from the formative period of the earliest copper alloys, mainly arsenical, through the predominant use of tin bronzes. As we approach the bronze-iron transition, it is worthwhile to assess, however briefly, the changing role of bronze usage in the Caucasus.

The so-called Bronze Age Hypothesis, which attempts to explain the significance of bronze in Europe, is a useful starting model. It has been summarised by Christopher Pare in a series of key points:

•Bronze was fundamental in both economic production and social reproduction.

•It was therefore essential for societies to obtain bronze (or copper and tin).

•As the vast majority of societies did not have local supplies of copper and tin, they were obliged to participate in exchange networks that linked them, directly or indirectly, with distant sources of metal.

•Consequently, and compared with earlier periods, the Bronze Age was characterised by a massive increase in exchange.

•The exchange system lent itself to control by emerging elites, which tend to be more noticeable in the Bronze Age than in previous periods.41

41 Pare 2000: 24.