Kamarakhevi Burial Ground

The Kamarakhevi Burial Ground is an ancient necropolis dating from the 5th to the 3rd centuries BC. It is situated south of the village of Tsitsamuri (Mtskheta Municipality), on an open plain along the left bank of the Aragvi. Archaeological excavations conducted in 1953 and 1976–77 (under the direction of A. Apakidze, R. Ramishvili, and T. Jgharkava) uncovered 111 burials. The pit graves were dug into loamy soil at depths ranging from 1.25 to 2 meters. Within these oval or rectangular pit graves, a single deceased (rarely two) was buried in a flexed (crouched) position; males were laid on their right side, while females were laid on their left side. The deceased were typically covered with textiles or hides—and occasionally with leafy branches—after which a thin layer of soil (50–70 cm) and river cobblestones was deposited over them. This stone mound burial was subsequently overlaid with soil again.

Stone cist graves emerged during the later phase of the necropolis's utilization. The walls of these graves were constructed from flat boulders and were occasionally capped with similar stones. The flexed individuals inside had flat river cobbles placed beneath their heads as headrests. The graves were rich with red-fired and greyish-black pottery, some of which was painted with red ochre (tsernaki). Female burials contained various adornments (bronze bracelets, cylindrical-headed pins, small bells, chains, temporal rings, beads, and finger rings), while male burials contained weaponry (iron spearheads, curved knives, short swords, daggers, and other implements). Materials such as clover-leaf-lipped trefoil jugs, tripod bowls, and mugs discovered at Kamarakhevi bear morphological similarities to assemblages subsequently documented within the Alazani-Yaloylutepa culture.

Literature: მცხეთა. არქეოლოგიური კვლევა-ძიების შედეგები, ტ. 2, თბ., 1978; რამიშვილი რ., კამარახევის სამაროვანი, «მასალები საქართველოს და კავკასიის არქეოლოგიისათვის», 1959, ტ. 2.

R. Ramishvili