Satsurblia Cave Natural Monument ( ka, საწურბლიას მღვიმე ) is a paleoanthropological site located 1.2 km from Kumistavi village, Tsqaltubo Municipality, in the

Imereti Imereti ( Georgian: იმერეთი, ) is a region of Georgia situated in the central-western part of the republic along the middle and upper reaches of the Rioni River. Imereti is the most populous region in Georgia. It consists of 11 mun ...

region of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, 287 meters above sea level. The karst cave was first excavated in 1976 by A. N. Kalandadze. In the Middle Ages the cave was used as a refuge.საწურბლიას მღვიმის ბუნების ძეგლი
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Morphology

Satsurblia Cave is a karst cave, formed in the Sataphlia-Tskaltubo karst massif. The cave has many

stalactite A stalactite (, ; , ) is a mineral formation that hangs from the ceiling of caves, hot springs, or man-made structures such as bridges and mines. Any material that is soluble and that can be deposited as a colloid, or is in suspension (chemistry ...

stalagmite A stalagmite (, ; ; ) is a type of rock formation that rises from the floor of a cave due to the accumulation of material deposited on the floor from ceiling drippings. Stalagmites are typically composed of calcium carbonate, but may consist ...

travertine Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and rusty varieties. It is formed by a process ...

s and large

gourd Gourds include the fruits of some flowering plant species in the family Cucurbitaceae, particularly '' Cucurbita'' and '' Lagenaria''. The term refers to a number of species and subspecies, many with hard shells, and some without. Many gourds ha ...

s of limestone. The entrance to the cave is 6 m wide. The first cave tunnel is 80 m long and has 12 to 150-degree slope. The tunnel evolves into steps of 1 - 1.5 m height. At 125 meters from the entrance there is a 5 meter thick flat plate in a large hall measured 30 meters by 25 meters.

Fauna

The inhabitants of the cave are '' Plutomurus'' and ''

Oxychilus ''Oxychilus'' is a genus of small air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropods in the subfamily Oxychilinae of the family Oxychilidae, the glass snails. Species The following species are recognised in the genus ''Oxychilus'': ...

''.Barjadze, Sh., Arabuli, T., Mumladze, L., Maghradze, E., Asanidze, Z., Kutalia, T
Satsurblia Cave
Cave Biodiversity of Georgia, Open Access Database, 2019. Institute of Zoology at Ilia State University

Archaeology

Prehistoric people first occupied the cave from around 25,500 to 24,400 BP. The next period of human occupation at Satsurblia took place from around 17,000 to 16,200 BP. The hiatus in human occupation at Satsurblia coincides with the

Last Glacial Maximum The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), also referred to as the Last Glacial Coldest Period, was the most recent time during the Last Glacial Period where ice sheets were at their greatest extent between 26,000 and 20,000 years ago. Ice sheets covered m ...

. Lithic artefacts, bone artefacts, charcoal,

flax Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. In 2022, France produced 75% of t ...

fibers, and pottery were discovered at the cave. The lithic artefacts show similarities to eastern

Epigravettian The Epigravettian (Greek: ''epi'' "above, on top of", and Gravettian) was one of the last archaeological industries and cultures of the European Upper Paleolithic. It emerged after the Last Glacial Maximum around ~21,000 cal. BP or 19,050 BC ...

sites. Perforated pendants made out of

and polished bovid bone were also discovered. The remains of yellow, red and brown

ochre Ochre ( ; , ), iron ochre, or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colou ...

were also found at the site. Unlike most other Paleolithic sites found in Georgia that relied primarily on hunting one species, the people of Satsurblia appeared to have hunted a slightly more diverse range of species. The animal remains found at Satsurblia were dominated primarily by

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...

, followed by

red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or Hart (deer), hart, and a female is called a doe or hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Ir ...

; the remains of

aurochs The aurochs (''Bos primigenius''; or ; pl.: aurochs or aurochsen) is an extinct species of Bovini, bovine, considered to be the wild ancestor of modern domestic cattle. With a shoulder height of up to in bulls and in cows, it was one of t ...

steppe bison The steppe bison (''Bison'' ''priscus'', also less commonly known as the steppe wisent and the primeval bison) is an extinct species of bison which lived from the Middle Pleistocene to the Holocene. During the Late Pleistocene, it was widely dist ...

, '' Capra caucasica'', and roe deer were also found. Some

brown bear The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear native to Eurasia and North America. Of the land carnivorans, it is rivaled in size only by its closest relative, the polar bear, which is much less variable in size and slightly bigger on av ...

, wolf, fox, and

Eurasian beaver The Eurasian beaver (''Castor fiber'') or European beaver is a species of beaver widespread across Eurasia, with a rapidly increasing population of at least 1.5 million in 2020. The Eurasian beaver was hunted to near-extinction for both its fur ...

remains were also found at the site.

Genetics

In 2013, archaeologists found a

temporal bone The temporal bone is a paired bone situated at the sides and base of the skull, lateral to the temporal lobe of the cerebral cortex. The temporal bones are overlaid by the sides of the head known as the temples where four of the cranial bone ...

fragment of an ancient human in the cave. Direct AMS dating of the bone yielded an estimated date of 13,300 BP for the age of the bone. Researchers successfully extracted DNA from the

petrous part of the temporal bone The petrous part of the temporal bone is pyramid-shaped and is wedged in at the base of the skull between the sphenoid and occipital bones. Directed medially, forward, and a little upward, it presents a base, an apex, three surfaces, and three ...

and managed to recover low coverage genomes. The ancient individual from Satsurblia was male with black hair and brown eyes; however, the individual is one of the earliest found to carry the derived

HERC2 HERC2, or HECT and RLD domain containing E3 ubiquitin protein ligase 2, is a giant Ubiquitin ligase, E3 ubiquitin protein ligase, implicated in DNA repair regulation, pigmentation and neurological disorders. It is encoded by a gene of the same na ...

allele for blue eyes. The Satsurblia individual also likely had light skin, as he was found to carry the derived SLC24A5 allele for light skin. The Satsurblia individual was also lactose intolerant and did not carry the derived EDAR allele commonly found in East Asians and Native Americans. The Satsurblia individual belongs to mtDNA Haplogroup K3 and Y-DNA Haplogroup J1-Y6313*. About 1.7-2.4% of the Satsurblia individual's DNA was

Neanderthal Neanderthals ( ; ''Homo neanderthalensis'' or sometimes ''H. sapiens neanderthalensis'') are an extinction, extinct group of archaic humans who inhabited Europe and Western and Central Asia during the Middle Pleistocene, Middle to Late Plei ...

in origin.

Caucasus hunter-gatherers

The Satsurblia individual is genetically closest to an ancient individual, dating to around 9,700 BP, found at the Kotias Klde rock shelter in Georgia. Together, they form a genetically distinct cluster referred to as '' Caucasus Hunter-Gatherer'' (CHG). In comparison to modern human populations, the Satsurblia individual is closest to the modern population in Georgia. The Caucasus hunter-gatherers contributed significantly to modern European populations by way of the Yamnaya people. Around half of the Yamnaya people's DNA come from the Caucasus hunter-gatherers, with the other half being derived from Eastern Hunter Gatherers. The Caucasus hunter-gatherers also contributed genetically to modern Central Asians and South Asians.

References

Bibliography

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External links

Europe's fourth ancestral 'tribe' uncovered

Some popular medicinal plants and diseases of the Upper Palaeolithic in Western Georgia
{{Navbox prehistoric caves Natural monuments of Georgia (country) Caves of Georgia (country) Protected areas established in 2011 Prehistoric sites in Georgia (country) Neanderthal sites Mesolithic Homo sapiens fossils Geography of Imereti