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A Distinguished Warrior's Burial from Dmanisi

Archaeology > Kakha Kakhiani

The region of Dmanisi is famous for its multitude and diversity of historical monuments.
Dozens of archaeological sites from various periods have been discovered and studied in the
area, many of which were uncovered in the process of new constructions.

n October 2014, when the Silknet

Company was digging a trench
for laying a fiber-optic cable at
the Ortsklebi locality near the village
of Gantiadi in the Bolnisi Municipality, the workers came across boulders
and fragments of clay pottery. Digging
was temporarily suspended and the
Georgian National Museum's Dmanisi
museum-reserve team began archaeological excavations.

As a result the archaeologists established that the boulders covered a burial

site. An iron spearhead, clay pottery
and the remains of cattle indicated that

a burial ceremony had been carried out

in this site, then found a burial pit 2.5
meters long, wider at the western end
and narrower at the eastern end.
The grave was that of a distinguished warrior from the 8th7th c BC. He
was buried in the western part of the
pit, apparently on a bed, with his upper
and lower extremities folded, lying on
the right side, the head facing the east.
On the floor behind the head there
were four pieces of clay pottery two
jugs, a pot with a mesh filter on one
side, and a small pot. In front of his
face was a mug with handles. There
was also a bronze item made of two
small ornate pipes and two rings and
round bronze shin guard holders, a large iron knife, a small iron dagger, agate
and cornelian beads of various shapes,
three cowry shells and a bell-shaped
shell. Such shells are not typical for the
Caucasus and would have been brought to the region.

Clayware discovered in the burial

was made on a potter's wheel and fired, resulting in shades of black or grey.
All were decorated with designs in relief or incised lines. Of special note was
a wide-mouthed pot with two handles,
a kettle-like spout and a mesh-like filter
in it. This type of ceramic object is rarely found in burial sites from this period
in Georgia.
Among the metal items were iron
combat weapons, bronze shin guard
holders and an item made of two small
pipes and two rings. Shin guard holders kept the shin guards on a warriors
legs. Similar rings have been discovered in other cemeteries, usually near
the lower extremities of the deceased
or on their ankles. The item made of
two small pipes and two rings is interesting, as the pipes are decorated
and the bronze rings, with a rhombic section, are open-ended. Almost
identical items have been discovered
in the Mashavera Gorge cemetery of
the same period and, as a rule, in the
graves of distinguished warriors, riders
and wealthy women.
GEORGIAN NATIONAL MUSEUM

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