MILLSTONES FROM THE NEOLITHIC SETTLEMENT OF ARUKHLO I IN THE SOUTH CAUCASUS: RESULTS OF INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH

JONI ABULADZE; INGA MARTKOPLISHVILI; RUSUDAN CHAGELISHVILI

JONI ABULADZE PhD in Archaeology Senior Researcher at the Otar Lordkipanidze Archaeological Research Institute of the Georgian National Museum 3, Purtseladze Street, Tbilisi 0105, Georgia http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0502-4672
INGA MARTKOPLISHVILI PhD of Philosophy in Life Sciences Senior researcher at the Georgian National Museum 3 Purtseladze street, Tbilisi 0105, Georgia http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0893-7119
RUSUDAN CHAGELISHVILI PhD in Geology and Mineralogy Chef Curator at the Geology and Palaeontology department of the Georgian National Museum 3 Purtseladze street, Tbilisi 0105, Georgia http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9567-8735

Abstract

Despite nearly a century of research, the process of the emergence and development of food-producing economy remains a relevant topic of study. Each new interdisciplinary study provides important information about the lifeway of Neolithic population, the first farming community. In this regard, the interdisciplinary study of millstones undoubtedly yields valuable information. As is well known, their primitive forms appeared together with the domestication of cereal crops, at the very emergence of the elements of early agricultural culture, and they subsequently became one of the defining features of early farming societies.

In the South Caucasus, the Neolithic way of life, characterized by sedentary farming and animal husbandry, emerged in the 6th millennium BCE. This culture is known as the Shulaveri-Shomutepe Culture. One of its most well-known and significant sites is Arukhlo I, located in Georgia, in the Kvemo Kartli region.

The present study reports the results of typological, petrographic, and palynological analyses of millstones discovered at Arukhlo I between 2005 and 2016.

Based on the analysis of interdisciplinary research, we reconstruct certain aspects of economic activity. We discuss the daily practices of the population living in the Kvemo Kartli region of Georgia approximately 8,000 years ago: the types of millstones they used, how they produced them, and the sources of raw material for their production.

The analysis of the studied material clearly demonstrated that, in addition to cereals, millstones were used to grind a variety of plants, including medicinal species, as well as pigments and other products.

Keywords: Arukhlo, quern, grinder, basalt, tuff, rhyolite.