Bronze Age burials from Doghlauri (Georgia). Preliminary analysis of human remains reveals a change in burial customs

Abstract

The investigation of the Aradetis Orgora site and its burial area, Doghlauri, is providing new data about the Bronze Age in the Shida Kartli province (Georgia). A salvage excavation allowed the discovery of numerous graves and the human remains from 75 of these were later available for the present study. Twenty-three of them date back to the Early Bronze Age (EBA, Kura-Araxes culture) and 52 to the Late Bronze Age (LBA, Lchashen-Tsitelgori culture). Using standard anthropological methods, the minimum number of individuals (MNI) was estimated for each grave and sex and the age at death were assessed.Our preliminary results reveal a clear difference in burial customs between these two periods. The anthropological data coupled with the archaeological documentation suggest that in the EBA many of these graves can be interpreted as collective burials (in 13 Kura-Araxes graves out of 23 more than one individual was represented, with up to six individuals buried in them). Both sexes and almost all the age classes are represented in these. By contrast, in the LBA, single burials are the rule for all age classes and both sexes.