3,000-Year-Old Fortress Discovered in Caucasus Reshapes Ancient History

Aerial presumption of Dmanisis Gora, a 3,000-year-old fortress colony successful the Caucasus Mountains. Credit: Nathaniel L. Erb-Satullo et al. / CC BY 4.0

Researchers person uncovered caller details astir a 3,000-year-old fortress successful the Caucasus Mountains, utilizing drone exertion to research the past settlement. The study, led by Dr. Nathaniel Erb-Satullo of Cranfield University successful the UK, sheds caller airy connected the region’s aboriginal societies and however they developed.

Dmanisis Gora, the tract of the research, is simply a fortress colony dating backmost to betwixt 1500 and 500 BCE. Situated astatine the crossroads of Europe, the Middle East, and the Eurasian Steppe, the Caucasus has agelong been a taste hub. Initial excavations revealed a fortified area, but researchers soon discovered the tract was overmuch larger than expected.

Expanding the presumption with Drone technology

A sojourn to the tract successful autumn, aft the summertime grasses had died back, revealed further fortification walls and structures scattered crossed a immense country extracurricular the interior fortress. The sheer size of the colony made it hard to measure from the ground, prompting the usage of drone mapping to seizure a broad view.

Dr. Erb-Satullo’s squad employed a DJI Phantom 4 RTK drone, which produced astir 11,000 high-resolution images.

Advanced bundle stitched these images into elaborate integer elevation models and composite aerial photos, allowing researchers to representation subtle features of the site. The survey revealed the colony was implicit 40 times larger than antecedently believed, including a 1-kilometer-long antiaircraft partition protecting the outer settlement.

“The usage of drones has allowed america to recognize the value of the tract and papers it successful a mode that simply wouldn’t beryllium imaginable connected the ground,” Erb-Satullo said.

Linking the past to the present

To amended recognize however the scenery evolved, researchers compared the drone imagery with outer photos taken during the Cold War and declassified successful 2013. This examination helped place which features were past and which were much recent. It besides highlighted areas damaged by modern agriculture.

Geographic Information System (GIS) bundle was utilized to analyse these datasets, revealing patterns successful the site’s layout and changes implicit time.

The findings suggest that Dmanisis Gora expanded owed to interactions with mobile pastoral groups. Researchers hypothesize that the settlement’s outer areas whitethorn person grown and shrunk with the seasons, reflecting the movements of radical and livestock.

Uncovering artifacts of the past

Further excavations astatine the tract person uncovered tens of thousands of artifacts, including pottery shards and carnal bones, providing a glimpse into the lives of the radical who built the fortress. These discoveries are helping researchers recognize regular life, cultivation practices, and colonisation patterns successful Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age societies.

Dmanisis Gora, a ample fortress of the Late Bronze Age successful the Caucasus Mountains revealed by drone mapping. Not Celtic, but an absorbing find successful this area. pic.twitter.com/lO9dMK5Piq

— Celtic La Tène (@celtic_latene) January 10, 2025

With the tract extensively mapped, aboriginal studies purpose to research topics similar colonisation density, livestock movements, and however past communities adapted to their environment. The probe has been published successful the diary Antiquity.