Fibres of Linum (flax), Gossypium (cotton) and animal wool as non-pollen palynomorphs in the late Bronze Age burials of Saphar-Kharaba, southern Georgia

Abstract

Pollen analyses were performed on sediment samples from ten different Saphar-Kharaba burials dating to the 15th–14th centuries b.c. Along with pollen and spores, a large amount of micro-remains of textile fibres was found near skeleton bones and especially under big bones. It was established that in all the studied samples 95% of the remains of the clothing and shroud of the deceased was made of Linum (flax) and Gossypium (cotton). Wool fibres were found in very small quantities. Based on pollen spectra and the number of the fibres found in the samples taken from under the skull it became possible to identify the sex of the deceased and especially that of children, which is rather difficult to do using palaeoanthropological methods alone. The discovery of cotton fibres in the burials of the early late Bronze Age is new not only for the Georgian region under consideration, but also for the whole Caucasus. This might indicate trade relations of the peoples of the southern Caucasus with India, where at that time cotton textiles were manufactured.