Discovering the highlands in southern Georgia

The southern Georgian highlands of Javakheti, forming part of the wider Samtskhe-Javakheti province, remain one of the least-explored regions of the South Caucasus. Since 2017, the Samtskhe-Javakheti Project (SJP), a joint Georgian–Italian initiative, has combined systematic survey and targeted excavations to reconstruct the cultural history of the Javakheti Plateau, with a particular focus on protohistoric settlement patterns, defensive architecture and symbolic material culture.

The SJP adopts a multiscalar approach, integrating remote sensing, GPS mapping and geographic information systems-based analysis to document settlement distribution and environmental dynamics. Fieldwork follows a standardised recording system for surface artefacts and architectural features, complemented by stratigraphic excavations at selected sites. The project’s main research aims are to investigate: 1) how settlement strategies evolved in relation to environmental and social change; 2) how symbolic and domestic spaces overlapped; 3) how highland-lowland interactions shaped material culture. The results presented here directly address these aims, showing how settlement organisation reflects adaptive strategies, how symbolic artefacts and installations illuminate ritual-domestic intersections, and how both survey and excavation data demonstrate sustained connectivity between highlands and lowlands.

Previous archaeological work in the region, including earlier surveys and excavations (e.g. Narimanishvili Reference Narimanishvili2019a & Reference Narimanishvilib), laid important foundations for understanding Late Bronze and Iron Age (c. 1500–500 BCE in the South Caucasus) fortifications. Further contributions by the University of Melbourne and the Georgian National Museum at Rabati and Chobareti, together with two associated surveys in Samtskhe-Javakheti, underscore the region’s potential for reconstructing fortified landscapes, settlement organisation and long-term cultural trajectories. The SJP expands this framework by extending systematic documentation into the high plateau of Javakheti and by integrating new excavation datasets that complement these initiatives.

Surveying the plateau: forts, settlements and tombs

During eight years of research, SJP surveys have documented more than 168 archaeological sites (Figure 1), ranging from prehistoric settlements to medieval monasteries. Most identified sites are classified as fortifications, settlements or necropolises, with a strong presence of high-altitude refuges and enclosed structures often described as ‘Cyclopean architecture’ (Narimanishvili Reference Narimanishvili2019b).

Figure 1.

Distribution of surveyed sites (2017–2024) (© Samtskhe-Javakheti Project).

The survey indicates recurrent phases of occupation rather than uninterrupted habitations. Sites such as Abulis Gora and Saro-1 show repeated use from the Bronze Age onward, suggesting long-term ties to the landscape. Extensive necropolises found near Bertakana and Lake Tabatskuri confirm persistent funerary traditions. The SJP is also re-evaluating the role of megalithic fortresses in the region. Rather than functioning solely as defensive citadels, several appear to have operated as temporary refuges used by mobile pastoralist groups during seasonal movements or periods of insecurity (Licheli et al. Reference Licheli2022).

Baraleti Natsargora

In 2023–2024, excavations began at Baraleti Natsargora, a prominent mound at the centre of the plateau (Figure 2). Excavations exposed multiple occupational layers, evidence of repeated burning episodes, a substantial defensive wall, and traces of Iron Age domestic architecture, including partition walls and clay installations. These recurrent burning episodes substantiate the toponym Natsargora (“hill of ashes”). Its occupation sequence spans from the Early Bronze Age to the Iron Age (c. 3500–500 BCE in the South Caucasus).

Figure 2.

Aerial view of Baraleti with excavation areas (© Samtskhe-Javakheti Project).

A finely decorated, bronze solar disk was recovered during preliminary surveys (Figure 3). With concentric bands of knobs, angular motifs and regularly spaced perforations, the disk exemplifies a regional tradition of symbolic metalwork linked to solar imagery and funerary display. Comparable examples from southern Georgia are often associated with the graves of females (Gambashidze Reference Gambashidze1999), suggesting that the Baraleti specimen, now in the Akhalkalaki Museum, likely originated from a nearby burial.

Figure 3.

Bronze solar disk from Baraleti Natsargora (SJP025) (Drawing by F. Laurita © Samtskhe-Javakheti Project).

Meghreki Fortress: architecture and clay iconography

Further east, Meghreki Fortress (Figure 4) provides another deeply stratified settlement, partially exposed by modern road construction. In 2023–2024, excavations revealed continuous reoccupation from the Early Bronze Age (Kura-Araxes; c. 3500–2500 BCE) through the Iron Age (c. 1200–500 BCE) and into the medieval period (c. fourth–fifteenth centuries CE). Architectural sequences include perimeter walls, storage areas and domestic compounds. Two domestic structures containing clay installations, likely ovens or raised platforms, are provisionally dated to the Late Iron Age/Achaemenid horizon (c. sixth–fourth centuries BCE) (Figure 5). Both feature decorative systems of fired clay plaques with incised and painted geometric motifs (Figure 6). Some plaques carry red, white and dark blue pigments. Such decoration is uncommon in the South Caucasus, although parallels at Digasheni and Amiranis Gora suggest that patterned plaques may mark ritualised or high-status domestic spaces (Orjonikidze Reference Orjonikidze1988). At Meghreki, the number and context of the plaques indicate a broader and possibly longer-lived tradition bridging domestic and symbolic spheres.

Figure 4.

Southern aerial view of Meghreki Fortress; the road-cut exposure is visible along the lower edge of the image (foreground) (© Samtskhe-Javakheti Project).

Figure 5.

Corner of room 1 at Meghreki (SJP127) with hearth remains (© Samtskhe-Javakheti Project).

Figure 6.

Decorated clay plaque from room 2 at Meghreki (SJP127) (Drawing by F. Laurita © Samtskhe-Javakheti Project).

Reconstructing cultural landscapes and chronologies

The integrated analysis of survey and excavation data from Meghreki and Baraleti Natsargora refines the cultural and chronological framework of the Javakheti Plateau. Both sites present multiphase use, including intensive Iron Age occupation, a period of fortified settlement expansion across the region (Dan & Cesaretti Reference Dan and Cesaretti2022, Reference Dan and Cesaretti2023). Yet the record reveals not only conflict but also cultural persistence, material creativity and adaptive strategies shaped by the plateau’s demanding environment. The SJP highlights a landscape structured by recurrent settlement patterns, resource exploitation and symbolic practices, an arena of mobility and negotiation rather than isolation. These results also contribute to wider supra-regional discussions on resilience, mobility and frontier dynamics across the South Caucasus and eastern Anatolia, demonstrating that Javakheti participated in broader highland traditions of fortification and ritual expression.

Future directions

With hundreds of sites now mapped and two excavations underway, the SJP is establishing a new framework for understanding this long-overlooked region. Future campaigns will expand excavations, refine ceramic typologies and undertake radiocarbon dating to consolidate chronological sequences. Emphasis will be placed on integrating environmental data and ethnographic analogies to reconstruct mobility systems and highland–lowland connectivity. The study of symbolic artefacts such as solar disks and decorated plaques promises to deepen our understanding of belief systems and identity markers in protohistoric communities. Through this work, the SJP continues to reveal the Javakheti Plateau not as a marginal landscape but as a dynamic crossroads where stone and ash record intertwined histories of resilience, ritual and adaptation.