A nearly 3,500-year-old “mega-fortress” has been identified south of Tbilisi, Georgia, by an international team of archaeologists. With an area of almost 80 hectares, the fortress is one of the largest in the world, but the specialists have not yet been able to explain neither who built it, nor what was its role on the border between Europe and Asia .
Dmanisis Gora, as it has been named by specialists, is not unique in this part of the world. In fact, it is just one of the many Bronze Age fortresses that have already been identified in the Caucasus Mountains area. But it is, by far, the greatest of all.
Archaeological excavations began in 2018, but scientists have only recently been able to understand its extent. Too big to be seen from the ground, the fortress was only revealed after more than 11,000 drone photos were taken, which were then stitched together to create a complete picture.
Thus, archaeologists were able to calculate that Dmanisis Gora was, in reality, more than 40 times larger than the original estimate.
“Only with the help of aerial photographs can we identify hidden topographical details, such as the remains of defensive walls, tombs, agricultural areas, and even stone structures whose role has not yet been explained,” explained Dr. Nathaniel Erb-Satullo, researcher at Cranfield University in Great Britain and head of the international team of specialists.
The largest fortress in the South Caucasus
One of the most impressive features of the fortification at Dmanisis Gora is the remains of the two rows of defensive walls that surround it.
According to the study that was published in the journal Antiquitythe concentric walls were created at the same time as part of a unitary system. In practice, none of them can be considered impenetrable without the other.
The two walls, up to two meters thick, were built in the same style, with massive rocks, united without death. All these data indicate, unequivocally, their contemporaneity, say the authors of the study.
“We are not only talking about the largest fortress in the South Caucasus, from the end of the Bronze Age, but also the largest from the Iron Age,” added the specialists.
The great mystery that hangs over the fortification
In any case, problems arose when archaeologists had to answer some key questions in relation to the authors of the construction, but also to their role. And that’s because very few artifacts have been discovered to date.
The lack of informative objects led to two hypothetical scenarios. The first would be that the fortress was inhabited by very few people, while the second scenario suggests that it was abandoned shortly after its construction.
However, both hypotheses are improbable, according to the authors of the archaeological research, given the enormous effort made to erect a fortification of gigantic proportions.
An alternative may be that the fort was occupied seasonally, possibly as a shelter for shepherds during the fall or spring. Such an explanation can justify both the importance of the place and the lack of traces of a permanent population.
However, each statement must be proven with evidence, and in its absence, the fortress of Dmanisis Gora remains shrouded in mystery.
Despite the huge area it occupies, Dmanisis Gora is not the largest settlement of the Bronze Age.
With “only” 80 hectares of surface, the Caucasian fortress covers only one inch of the 17.65 square kilometers of the fortification from Cornesti-Ancuri (located between Arad and Timisoara), the largest Bronze Age fortress ever discovered in Europe.
