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General Info
Site ID
Ar/Ts.016.06
Site Name
Tsaghkahovit BC 010
Site Type
Burial Cluster
Landscape
Tsaghkahovit
Periodization
Late Bronze, Iron 1
UTM Zone
38T
UTM Easting
435154
UTM Northing
4497350
Elevation
2,285m
Association

1.43km east (bearing 98°) of the southern limit of Tsaghkahovit village and just 0.24km northwest (bearing 318°) of Ts Reservoir 1 (map quad B4o).

Topography

Like other burial clusters in the area south of Tsaghkahovit fortress, Ts BC 10 is set in a shallow basin surrounded by raised bedrock outcrops. The burials cluster towards the edges of the basin.

General Description

Ts BC 10 is a moderately sized cluster, 35m north-south by 55m east-west, with approximately 15 cromlechs and 7 small kurgans. The cluster is bound by a U-shaped outcrop on all sides except the northeast, where a 40m long stone wall divides the area of burials from the remainder of the basin. The kurgans predominate in the upslope portions of the cluster while the down slope area is dominated by standard cromlechs. The small size of the kurgans suggests they should be assigned to the Late Bronze Age. It is possible that the complementary shifts in spatial distribution and style reflect the extended use of the cluster over time as mortuary rituals shifted within a single community.

Features & Materials

No surface materials.

Feature 1: is a small kurgan on the southern edge of the cluster. It is strangely elliptical, perhaps due to local taphonomic conditions, measuring 6m along one axis and 4 along the other. The mound is constructed of basalt and tuff cobbles. No encircling outer ring is visible.

Feature 2: is a small cromlech that is similarly elliptically shaped, measuring 3.1m along the long east-west axis and just 2.2m along the short north-south axis. The outer ring is constructed of medium-sized, shaped basalt blocks surrounding a single large, unworked basalt capstone.

Previous Citations

None.

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