Palynological and Archaeological Evidence for Ritual Use of Wine in the Kura-Araxes Period at Aradetis Orgora (Georgia, Caucasus)

Pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs found in two zoomorphic Kura-Araxes vessels (ca. 3000 BCE) from Aradetis Orgora suggest they were utilized for the ritual consumption of wine and likely represent the beginning of the enduring tradition of animal-shaped wine-drinking containers in Georgia. This hypothesis is supported by archaeological and geoarchaeological data: the vessels resemble later wine-containing vessels from Georgia and elsewhere and were found in a building whose context is suggestive of a small shrine. Their palynological spectra match those of present-day wine and wine containers of other periods. One of the vessels was intact, with only a small access hole, that hindered the contamination of its contents; consequently, its palynological spectrum can be utilized as a standard for determining the presence of wine in other archaeological vessels. The analysis of pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs from different contexts at the Aradetis Orgora settlement and from its cemetery (Doghlauri) yielded other significant results regarding the practice of viticulture and the cultural relevance of wine during the Kura-Araxes period

2013-2015 Activities of the Georgian-Italian Shida Kartli Archaeological Project at Aradetis Orgora (Georgia)

The paper presents the results of three seasons of excavations at Aradetis Orgora in the Kura River valley (Georgia). The site consists of three different mounds and an adjacent cemetery; it was occupied from the late prehistory to the Early Medieval period. Work hitherto concentrated on the Main Mound, where excavations were carried out in three different areas (Fields A, B, and C). Field C is devoted to the continuing investigation of the palatial building of the Late Hellenistic/Early Imperial period, which occupies the present top of the mound, while Fields A and B, located on its opposite slopes, have the aim to clarify the site's pre-classical sequence of occupation. The excavation produced important results not only concerning the Kura-Araxes and the Late Bronze/Early Iron periods, which represent the main phases in the site's history, but also concerning less well known occupational phases (e.g. the Middle Bronze and the Later Early Bronze)

Two Seasons of Georgian-Italian Excavations at Aradetis Orgora (Georgia)

In 2013 and 2014, excavations were carried out at Aradetis Orgora, one of the main archaeological sites of the Shida Kartli province of Georgia, by a Georgian-Italian team of researchers. Work concentrated on the site's main mound (also known as Dedoplis Gora), a hill of natural origin overlooking the left bank of the Western Prone River, near the confluence of the latter with the Kura. The mound was occupied from the late prehistory to the Early Medieval period; its present top is occupied by an important palatial building of the Late Hellenistic/Early Imperial period (kingdom of Caucasian Iberia), in course of excavation since the 1980ies. Excavations were carried out in three different areas. Fields A and B, two stratigraphic soundings on the opposite sides of the mound, revealed a more than 10 m high sequence of pre-classical levels. Preliminary results suggest that a significant occupation of the Kura-Araxes period (Late Chalcolithic/early Early Bronze Age) was followed by a more sporadic presence during the late Early Bronze and (possibly) the Middle Bronze Age. The Late Bronze Age witnessed to large-scale building activities (erection of protection and terracing walls, etc.) at the mound's periphery. The site continued to be occupied throughout the Iron Age, until the erection of the Hellenistic palace. Field C, on the present top of the mound, was devoted to the continuing investigation of the latter. Three rooms of the eastern wing of the palace and part of its pillared portico were brought to light; one of them contained a clay fire altar on the surface of which lay a ritual deposit containing, a.o., a number of small bronze figurines adorned with gold. Remains of Early Medieval structures dug into the palace debris were also investigated. A multidisciplinary sampling program for reconstructing the site's palaeoenvironment and its evolution in the course of the time is also being developed

Early Bronze Age Graves at Doghlauri (Georgia): Results of the 2012-2015 Salvage Excavations

The cemetery of Doghlauri, which is part of the important multiperiod site of Aradetis Orgora in the Shida Kartli region of Georgia, was investigated in 2012-2015 in the framework of a salvage excavation, which brought to the light more than 400 graves. The material from the 67 Early Bronze graves was fully processed in the course of the 2017 field campaign of the "Georgian-Italian Shida Kartli Archaeological Project". It mainly consists of pottery vessels, but includes a significant component of personal ornaments and other small finds in metal and stone. The paper presents an overview of the finds, discusses the chronology of the Doghlauri graves, and draws some preliminary conclusions about the burial customs of the Aradetis Orgora Kura-Araxes population in the framework of the funerary evidence from Shida Kartli and, more in general, from the area of distribution of the Kura-Araxes culture

New Investigations at Aradetis Orgora, a Multiperiod Centre in the Shida Kartli Region in Georgia

Aradetis Orgora is one of the most important archaeological sites in the Shida Kartli region of Georgia. Its main mound, Dedoplis Gora, was occupied from the late prehistory to the Early Medieval period, but is especially famous for a palatial building of the Late Hellenistic/Early Roman period, which is in course of excavation since the late 1980ies. In 2013, the investigation of the Hellenistic palace was joined, in the framework of a joint Georgian-Italian project by the Georgian National Museum and Ca' Foscari University of Venice, by two stratigraphical soundings aiming at highlighting the pre-classical sequence of occupation at the site, which amounts to more than 10 meters. The results of the first two seasons confirm the importance of the settlement during the Kura-Araxes period and since the second half of the second throughout the first mill. BC (Late Bronze and the Iron Ages), and suggest more sporadic occupation in the later part of the Early Bronze (Early Kurgan period), followed by a possible hiatus during the first half of the second mill. BC. Very important discoveries were also made in the Late Hellenistic-Early Roman palace. Three more rooms of this monumental building were excavated; one of them revealed a fire altar, on which several bronze and silver figurines of Greco-Roman divinities were found. The finds of the new excavations are summarily presented as far as they contribute to the reconstruction of the history of the site, and the importance of the latter as a regional centre in the different periods is also discussed

Возмещение экологического вреда: соотношение норм экологического и гражданского законодательства

В статье анализируется соотношение гражданско-правовых и эколого-правовых норм, касающихся возмещения вреда природным объектам. Автор приходит к заключению, что необходимо разграничивать две самостоятельные отрасли законодательства - нормы гражданского законодательства должны применяться только к отношениям по возмещению вреда здоровью, имуществу граждан и юридических лиц, причиненного нарушением норм об охране окружающей среды, а экологического - к отношениям по возмещению вреда окружающей среде в целом и отдельным ее компонентам