CERTAIN ISSUES OF CARNELIAN BEADS AND PENDANTS FROM THE SAMTAVRO CEMETERY

Abstract

The present paper is an introduction of the research on the carnelian beads and pendants discovered in the Samtavro Cemetery – on one of the most important sites from the eastern part of Georgia, where from the Early Bronze Age (middle of the third millennium BC) the 3000 years history of the community buried here is continuously represented and it is the main reason why this monument was selected for study the typological and chronological classification of carnelian beads. Here we can trace the development of carnelian beads and pendants over a fairly large chronological framework: in 311 various types of burial complexes dated back to the 17^th c. BC – 8^th c. AD 14,655 units of beads and pendants were attested. According to the mineralogical studies, it was determined that most of the raw material used for carnelian artefacts are identical to the agate-chalcedony deposits in Georgia; as for classification, we grouped the beads and pendants into five main chronological groups and determined the general features characteristic of each period.

 Key words. Cemetery; Carnelian; Bead; Pendant;