New insights into the Mesolithic and Neolithic layers of the Darkveti rock shelter in the Imereti Region, Western Georgia

Chkhatarashvili, Guram (author), Tskvitinidze, Nikoloz (author), Tsikaridze, Nikoloz (author), Davenport, James A. (author), Glascock, Michael D. (author)

The Darkveti multi-layered site in the Imereti region of Georgia offers valuable insights into prehistoric human activity. Despite extensive research conducted in the 1960s and 1970s by Lamara Nebieridze, certain aspects of the site's chronology and inhabitants' mobility remained unclear. This study aims to address these gaps through collaborative, interdisciplinary research involving Georgian and foreign scientists. The primary objective is to precisely date the cultural layers belonging to the Mesolithic and Neolithic epochs using absolute dating methods. By combining archaeological evidence with palaeontological, geoarchaeological, and palaeobotanical data, this study aims to reconstruct the palaeoenvironment and subsistence strategies of the Darkveti inhabitants. Additionally, the analysis of stone tools and lithic raw materials will shed light on technological developments and possible connections with neighbouring regions. The findings will contribute to a better understanding of the cultural dynamics, mobility patterns, and adaptations of prehistoric communities in the Imereti region and the wider Caucasus.

• Language: English
• Keywords: Georgia, Darkveti, Mesolithic, Neolithic
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: Str. 446-459
• Numbering: Vol. 52
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-180585
• ISSN on article: 1854-2492
• DOI: 10.4312/dp.52.2

Copyright

Podatek o licenci CC BY-SA 4.0 je naveden na pristajalni strani članka (glej zgoraj izvorni URL). (Datum opombe: 11. 3. 2026)

• Publication date in RUL: 11.03.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Documenta Praehistorica
• Shortened title: Doc. Praehistor.
• Publisher: Založba Univerze v Ljubljani
• ISSN: 1854-2492
• COBISS.SI-ID: 220673792

Licences

• License: CC BY-SA 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
• Description: This Creative Commons license is very similar to the regular Attribution license, but requires the release of all derivative works under this same license.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Nov vpogled v mezolitske in neolitske plasti spodmola Darkveti v regiji Imereti, zahodna Gruzija

Abstract

Večslojno najdišče Darkveti v regiji Imereti v Gruziji ponuja dragocen vpogled v človekove dejavnosti v prazgodovini. Kljub obsežnim raziskavam, ki jih je v šestdesetih in sedemdesetih letih 20. stoletja opravila Lamara Nebieridze, sta kronologija naselbine in poselitvena mobilnost ostali nejasni. Namen naše študije je odpraviti te vrzeli z interdisciplinarnimi raziskavami, v katere so vključeni znanstveniki iz Gruzije in tujine. Osnovni cilj je natančno datiranje mezolitskih in neolitskih kulturnih plasti s pomočjo absolutnih metod. S povezanimi arheološkimi, paleontološkimi, geoarheološkimi in paleobotaničnimi podatki želimo rekonstruirati paleookolje in strategije preživetja prebivalcev Darkvetija. Poleg tega analiza kamnitih orodij in litičnih surovin osvetljuje tehnološki razvoj in povezave s sosednjimi regijami. Ugotovitve prispevajo k boljšemu razumevanju kulturne dinamike, vzorcev mobilnosti in prilagoditev prazgodovinskih skupnosti v regiji Imereti in na širšem Kavkazu.

• Keywords: Gruzija, Darkveti, mezolitik, neolitik