The Zilchi Burial Mound

The Zilchi Burial Mound - an archaeological monument dating to the first quarter of the 2nd millennium BC.

It is located on the Iori Plateau, east of the Kvemo Kedi settlement in the Zilchi Valley (Dedoplistskaro Municipality). The Kakheti Archaeological Expedition (led by K. Pitskhelauri and Z. Makharadze) identified a group of kurgan-type burial mounds at this site.

The archaeologists excavated a stone-filled burial mound with a diameter of 14 meters and a height of 0.8 meters. Beneath the stone fill, a rectangular pit with rounded corners was revealed (length 3.3 meters, width 2 meters), filled with stones and originally covered with wooden beams. The grave is oriented toward the northeast.

At a depth of 2.2 meters in the southwestern part of the burial, human remains were discovered. The deceased were placed on their right side in a contracted position, with the head pointing toward the west. Several artifacts were recovered from the burial: a rock crystal bead near the neck; a bronze spear and a clay goblet near the hands; and a second goblet behind the back. It is probable that the deceased lay upon a wooden funerary bed.

Beneath the skeleton at the bottom of the pit, a clay jar was found. At the feet of the deceased lay the complete skeleton of a lamb, two large jars (dergi—one of which contained a small pot), various animal bones, and a cow's skeleton missing its skull. The two clay goblets, jar, and pot found in the grave are classified as kitchenware, while the two large dergi are of a utilitarian/agricultural nature. The material is preserved in the Sighnaghi Historical-Ethnographic Museum.

Literature: Махарадзе З., Курган №1 Долины Зилича, Тб., 1986; Пицхелаури К.,  Мамаиашвили Н. и др., Кахетская археологическая экспедиция, კრ.: Полевые археологические исследования в 1981 году, Тб., 1984.

R. Rusishvili