Work

Dating Tabakoni: the chronology of a Bronze Age settlement mound in Colchis

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Between 2011 and 2017, excavations by a joint German-Georgian team at the Tabakoni settlement mound in the Colchis lowlands of western Georgia uncovered complex wooden constructions preserved in the waterlogged soils. Combined radiocarbon and dendrochronological dating, the first undertaking of its kind in Colchis, reveals that construction on a stable foundation for the site began in the twentieth century BC and identifies early evidence for the cultivation of millet. Subsequent occupation phases saw the careful levelling of previous structures and the addition of backfill, gradually building up the mound until it was ultimately abandoned in the second half of the first millennium BC.

Source: Antiquity

DOI: 10.15184/aqy.2025.10254

Authors: Tobias Mörtz, Levan Tchabashvili, Joni Apakidze, Svend Hansen, Karl-Uwe Heußner

Institutions: Universität Hamburg, University of Georgia, University of Georgia, Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Zentrale, Sokhumi State University

Language: English

Topic: Archaeology and ancient environmental studies

Subfield: Paleontology

Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,550

Funder: Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung