Acta Palaeobotanica 44(2): 267–279, 2004

Palynological investigations of two burial mounds of the Middle Bronze Age of Tkemlara (southern Georgia)

Summary: The results of palynological studies of 26 samples taken from two burial structures of the beginning of the early Middle Bronze Age are reported. According to the archaeological data burial structure No.2 is dated to the 24th century BC and belongs to the Bedenian culture. Of great interest are spore-pollen spectra of the soil beneath the mounds. The pollen spectra show that in the region studied people were actively engaged in agriculture, horticulture, and viticulture. Among the crops wheat is recorded. Stock-breeding was very intensive. The palaeolandscape of that period differed from the present-day pattern. Pollen of weeds that grow near houses, along roads, and on disturbed sites and rubbish-heaps indicates high population density in the Bedenian culture period. However, the palynological analysis of the samples taken from burial No.1, dated to the 29th – 28th century BC, showed that only a few centuries earlier the population density in the Tkemlara region was not so high. At that period meadows were not wide spread, and almost the whole territory was occupied by forests with moisture- and warmth-loving species such as Zelkova carpinifolia, Castanea sativa, Alnus barbata, Hedera helix, and Smilax excelsior. The climate was much warmer and more humid than nowadays.

Keywords: pollen spectra, burial mounds, Middle Bronze, Bedenian culture, southern Georgia