Urartian-type Swords from the Samtavro Cemetery
Evidence of Military Contacts and Conflicts in the South Caucasus
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12797//SAAC.29.2025.29.05Keywords:
bronze, iron, bimetallism, weaponry, Caucasus, UrartuAbstract
This paper investigates Urartian-type bimetallic swords unearthed from the second stage of Iron Age pit graves in the Samtavro cemetery. The Samtavro Necropolis in Shida Kartli, Georgia, represents a complex stratigraphic and chronological model, combining the successive stages of the Late Bronze and Iron Ages as well as the Classical and Late Antiquity. Based on a typological study of this group of swords, their provenance and distribution are discussed and compared with the counterpart artefacts found in Eastern Anatolia and North-Western Iran. The lack of any representational art or written sources inhibits the research from establishing a clearer picture of relations and mobility systems between the populations in the West and Central Caucasus and the Kingdom of Urartu in the region of Van. The paper focuses on the transmission, emulation and adaptation of Urartian metalworking techniques. However, the research aims to analyse the local replicas, morphological variants and Urartian influences that occurred in the first half of the 1st millennium BC in the context of burial practices and goods, relying solely on morphological and contextual methods. From this perspective, the research attempts to provide new insights into inter-tribal connections, eventual military pursuits and warfare in Shida Kartli and neighbouring regions.
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