The Doghlauri burial ground in the context of Bronze and Iron age peopling in Georgia
The Aradetis Orgora archaeological site with its burial area Doghlauri is located in the Kareli municipality, Georgia. This archaeological complex is one of the most important of the whole Shida Kartli region, at the historical heart of the country. The ancient complex covers a surface of 40 ha and the settlement develops on three mounds. The Main Mound (Dedoplis Gora) was occupied from the 4th millennium BC to the Early Medieval period, with evidence of a nearly complete stratigraphic sequence from the end of the 4th to the mid-1st millennium BC. The other mounds were mainly occupied in the Late Bronze/Early Iron Age. The cemetery extends over 8 ha on a flat area on the second river terrace to the north of the settlement, separated from the Main Mound by a small water stream. A Georgian team unearthed more than 450 burials, dated back to the Early Bronze Age (Kura-Araxes culture) and to the Late Bronze Age (Lchashen-Tsitelgori culture), but the emergency conditions due to the rescue excavation led a partial documentation of the findings. The sample included in this study comprises the human remains from both periods (each of these phases is marked by distinctive features) recovered in 2012 and 2015, in course of study in the framework of the joint Georgian Italian Shida Kartli Archaeological Project. We present data on taphonomy, burial customs and funerary practices, paleodemography, physical anthropology, paleopathology, C14 on EBA and LBA burials and paleonutrition, to be compared with other coeval sites of the Caucasian area.
Keywords: Аrchaeological site, Bronze Age, Early Iron Age, Funerary practices, Physical anthropology, Paleodemography Paleopathology, C14, Paleonutrition.