Kommentaren zum archäologischen Kontext des Grakliani-Gora von 5.-4. Jahr- hunderten V. Chr.

Abstract

Significant events took place in Kartli during the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages. The unification of production began, economic progress became apparent, and large cult centres emerged. In the 11th–10th centuries BC (at least by the beginning of the 1st millennium BC!), I believe a local script variant (possibly Aramaic?) appeared. A portion of the archaeological material discovered in Iberia from the later period, specifically the 5th–4th centuries BC, is interconnected with the Achaemenid world. A large settlement and sanctuaries from this period have been excavated at Grakliani Gora. This is a fact of exceptional scholarly value, as extensive cultural layers of a settlement synchronous with Achaemenid provincial “palaces” have not been documented at any other site in Eastern Georgia (following Grakliani, only a few buildings from this era have been excavated in Darakoi). Despite significant cultural and ethnic influences, the core ethnic identity of the Kartli population, as it appears, remained unchanged during this period.