Intellectual Innovations in Georgia (11th-9th Centuries BC): Excavations at Grakliani Hill

Abstract

The multilayer archaeological site Grakliani hill is located in one of the main contact zones of Transcaucasia. It shows a very intensive level of communication with other cultures from the 2nd millenium BC till the 3rd century BC and a high level of development of Kartli (Iberia Caucasica) society. Two inscriptions made in unknown script (probably a local version of Aramaic script) were discovered in a shrine of the 11th-9th centuries BC. A group of weights and tokens, also of the 11th-9th centuries BC was discovered in the excavations of Grakliani Hill and the satellite site of Tsina Gora. The Achaemenid period remains are also of special interest, including Greek style architecture details.