Dating Tabakoni

The chronology of a Bronze Age settlement mound in Colchis

Bibliographic Data

ID7472095
AuthorsTobias Mörtz (0000-0003-4016-5195, Universität Hamburg, corresponding author), Levan Tchabashvili (0009-0000-8660-2042, University of Georgia), Joni Apakidze (0000-0001-9330-5898, Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Zentrale), Svend Hansen (0000-0002-6714-4629, Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Zentrale), Karl-Uwe Heussner (0000-0003-0842-9795, Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Zentrale)
Year2026
Volume100
Issue409
Pages56-74
Publication date2026-02-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAntiquity (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0003-598X • E-ISSN: 1745-1744
PublisherAntiquity Publications (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.15184/aqy.2025.10254
OpenAlexW4416726665
LanguageEN
References cited8

Between 2011 and 2017, excavations by a joint German-Georgian team at the Tabakoni settlement mound in the Colchis lowlands of western Georgia uncovered complex wooden constructions preserved in the waterlogged soils. Combined radiocarbon and dendrochronological dating, the first undertaking of its kind in Colchis, reveals that construction on a stable foundation for the site began in the twentieth century BC and identifies early evidence for the cultivation of millet. Subsequent occupation phases saw the careful levelling of previous structures and the addition of backfill, gradually building up the mound until it was ultimately abandoned in the second half of the first millennium BC

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