From Neolithic to Chalcolithic in the Southern Caucasus: Economy and Macrolithic Implements from Shulaveri-Shomu Sites of Kwemo-Kartli (Georgia)

摘要

In Transcaucasia, the emergence of the first neolithic cultures can be dated to the middle of the 6th millennium BC. The Shulaveri-Shomu culture, which occupies the middle course of the Kura valley, is among the best known Neolithic culture of Transcaucasia. As for the subsistence economy, the presence of a wide range of grinding and abrading tools is mentioned, but no real study of their technological evolution and functional implications has yet been carried out. The present work aims at better defining the techniques of cereal processing and the exploitation of mineral and animal resources through the stone assemblages of four sites of the Kwemo-Kartli region in Georgia. The implication of macrolithic tools in the technical system of the Shulaveri-Shomu culture is also discussed in terms of relative chronology of the sites and comparison with other neolithic and chalcolithic cultures from Transcaucasia. Using the macrolithic implements, the question of the relationship between the Shulaveri-Shomu tepe culture and the southern regions of the Near and Middle East is discussed.