Arukhlo (also known as Aruchlo, Arukhlo I) is a Neolithic settlement of
Shulaveri–Shomu culture
The Shulaveri–Shomu culture, also known as the Shulaveri-Shomutepe-Aratashen culture, is an archaeological culture that existed on the territory of present-day Georgia (country), Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia, as well as parts of northern Ir ...
, located just to the west of the village of Nakhiduri, in
Kvemo Kartli
Kvemo Kartli ( ka, ქვემო ქართლი ) or "Lower Kartli", is a historic province and current administrative region (mkhare) in southeastern Georgia. The city of Rustavi is the regional capital.
Location
Kvemo Kartli is a region ...
,
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a country in the Caucasus region on the coast of the Black Sea. It is located at the intersection of Eastern Europe and West Asia, and is today generally regarded as part of Europe. It is bordered to the north and northeast by Russ ...
, which is about 50 km southwest of the capital
Tbilisi
Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...
. It is the westernmost site of the Shulaveri-Shomutepe group.
The Arukhlo group of settlements consists of five mounds at the confluence of the Khrami and Mashavera rivers, which later join the Kura River. 8 kilometers from here are found some other sites of the Shulaveris group, Imiris Gora, Shulaveri Gora, and Khramis Didi Gora. These settlements occupy an area of about 800 hectares.
Aruchlo I mound rises about 6m from the modern ground surface. It was originally excavated from 1966 until 1985.
New excavations in Aruchlo started in 2005. The excavators determined that the settlement was occupied in the period of 5800-5400 BC.
The settlement consists of small round buildings that may have been used for storage or other activities, because they may be too small to live in.
According to 14C data, there is a clear break in settlement after 5400/5300 BC at this and other sites of the Shulaveri-Shomutepe group. For several centuries afterwards, no remains of rural settlements can be documented in the area. Some
Sioni culture settlements emerge only later in the fifth millennium, but the information about them is not very clear.
Metallurgy
Early copper metallurgy has been documented here and at some other related sites, such as
Göy-Tepe
Goytepe (); ''Göy-Tepe'', is a Neolithic archaeological complex located in the Tovuz District of Azerbaijan. Goytepe is affiliated with the Shulaveri-Shomu culture and it is the largest settlement of the early period of Neolithic era in the Sou ...
, and Mentesh Tepe
in the
Tovuz district
Tovuz District () is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. It is located in the north-west of the country and belongs to the Gazakh-Tovuz Economic Region. The district borders the districts of Gadabay, Shamkir, Samukh, Agstafa, as well as t ...
of Azerbaijan.
[ -]
at academia.edu
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Dated to 5800-5300 BC, fragments of a copper bead have been found in Aruchlo. Three small vessels with copper residues were also found, and interpreted as crucible
A crucible is a container in which metals or other substances may be melted or subjected to very high temperatures. Although crucibles have historically tended to be made out of clay, they can be made from any material that withstands temperat ...
s by the excavators.
Copper items are rare in Shulaveri-Shomu culture. Yet they become more common towards its end, at the end of the 6th millennium BCE, especially in the middle Kura valley. "Compositional analyses of some of these ornaments and small tools revealed that they are made of unalloyed copper".[Thomas Rose 2022]
Emergence of copper pyrotechnology in Western Asia.
PhD thesis, Beer-Sheva. 342pp. p.90
In particular, in Aratashen
Aratashen (, also Romanized as Arratashen; also, Artashen; until 1978 Zeyva Hayi – meaning "Armenian Zeyva", Zeyva, Bol’shaya Zeyva and Nerkin-Zeyva) is a town in the Armavir Province of Armenia. It is located on the Ararat Plain.
Archae ...
(Armenia
Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...
), 57 arsenical copper beads were discovered in the Shulaveri-Shomu context.
See also
* History of Georgia
Notes
Literature
* Svend Hansen, Guram Mirtskhulava, Katrin Bastert-Lamprichs 2007
Aruchlo: A Neolithic Settlement Mound in the Caucasus.
Field Report. NEO-LITHICS 1/07
External links
Deutsches Archäologisches Institut
Settlement of Arukhlo (Region of Kvemo Kartli)
georgiavoyage.ge
{{coord, 41.4533, 44.6957, display=title
Prehistoric sites in Georgia (country)
Archaeology of the Caucasus
Buildings and structures in Kvemo Kartli