PALEOHYDROGRAPHIC EVOLUTION AND ITS INFLUENCE ON HUMAN SETTLEMENT IN THE KARTHALINY BASIN (GEORGIA)

Abstract

Two Bronze Age human settlements of the Western Karthaliny Basin (Transcaucasia region, Georgia) were studied using a multidisciplinary approach. Satellite data (Corona, Landsat) and aerial images, as well as new archaeological data and a detailed field survey were applied to the study of the hydrographic evolution of the Kura (Mtkvari) River and of its tributaries; its influence on the archaeological sites scattered between the villages of Natsargora and Agara was also examined. Finally, four stratigraphic profiles were analysed; these are situated along the Kura river and on its tributaries flowing from the Greater Caucasus: the Western and the Eastern Prone. Geoarchaeological analyses were carried out in the Bronze Age settlements: the first one -Natsargora- is situated on the top of a mound facing a valley, in an area of low hills, and it lies upon the Neogene bedrock. The position of the site indicates that the drainage system was already in a phase of deepening during the Early Bronze Age. The second one is located on a terrace of the Kura River and corresponds to the mound of Aradetis Orgora. The reconstruction of the palaeosurfaces and palaeochannels, and a radiocarbon date from the base of this site, allowed to outline the changes in fluvial style and drainage network.