Otros efectos de las sanciones 1 Las sanciones que las empresas pueden aplicar, según

On the whole, the Bronze Age is poorly attested by material recovered from the region around Vani. Previous survey and excavation at sites to the east and west of Vani have recovered material from 11 sites datable to the Bronze Age, with most of this material coming in the form of bronze tools from chance surface collections and dated to the Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age transition (12th - 9th centuries BCE) (Fig 2). The most important of these sites is Dablagomi, where excavations revealed settlement deposits of the Bronze Age on a hill named

Natsikhvarigora (A019). The village lies 12 kilometers to the west of Vani nestled in the hills forming the southern border of the Rioni river valley. On the eastern slopes of the hill,

excavations directed by Vera Tolordava uncovered Kuro-Arax pottery and Colchian pottery of the Early Bronze Age.4 Excavators report finding daub as well as a pressed clay feature they interpreted as a floor. This EBA phase has a published date of the first half of the 3rd millennium, but the Kura-Araxes cultural complex has now been placed as early as the 4th millennium BCE and the material from Dablagomi likely needs to be re-evaluated.5

Place Site # EBA MBA LBA EIA C H FM R Med

Dapnari A004 - - SF SF B, S B, S - - -

Dablagomi, Natskikhvarigora A019 S - S S B B, S - - -

Mtisdziri, Mtisdzirisgora A029 - - SF SF SF - - - -

Shuamta, Melashvilebisgora A033 - - S S S S S - -

Sulori, Sakakile A039 - - SF S S, H S S - -

Dzulukhi, Bughnari A040 - - SF SF - - - - -

Zeda Bzvani A050 - - S S S S S - -

Phereta, Serisdziri, Parousla Hill A061 - - S S S - S - -

Kveda Tsikhesulori, Ketchinara B009 - - S S B, S B, S S - H

Saprasia, Jijouri B020 - - SF SF - - B, S -

Bagineti D001 - - SF SF - - - - -

Ukhuti D003 - - SF SF - - - - -

Table 4.1: Bronze Age locations recorded by the Vani Regional Survey. B=Burial, C=Church/Sanctuary, F=Fortification, H=Hoard, Q=Quarry, S=Settlement, SF=Stray Find, U=Unknown.

4 _{Kuftin (1950), 138-139}

5 _{The periodization of the Kura-Araxes in Transcaucasia has most recently been worked out by} Karinė Kushnareva (1997), 53-54, who places it between ca. 3500-2300 BCE, and divides it into four sub-periods (EBI-IV). Philip Kohl argues that the Kura-Araxes phenomena did not penetrate into Western Transcaucasia. Kohl (2007), 86-102; Kohl (2009).

No clear evidence of Bronze Age activity was recovered from intensive survey to the east of Vani. During a return visit to Kveda Bzani, a village located approximately 8.5 kilometers to the and previously visited by the Vani Regional survey, a collection of pottery was made from the eroded scarps of two hills in the area called as Natsikhvari and Chitoula (“Place of Birds) (Fig. 3). The hills are oriented northwest-southeast and separated by a low saddle and a modern dirt road. From the southern slope of the northwestern hill, a handful of ceramic fragments of a pinkish-brown fabric were found. Two of these fragments preserved portions of a rim, and though no joins were found, their form suggest they came from the same vessel, likely a large pot or pitharion. One of the rim fragments has a pair of pyramidal projections that are similar to vessels of the Middle or Late Bronze Age (Fig. 1), but the identification of this material as coming from the Bronze Age is by no means certain.6

Figure 4.1: Possible Bronze Age rim fragment recovered from Kveda Bzvani.

Place Site # EBA MBA LBA EIA C H FM R EM

Kveda Bzvani, Natsikhvari E015 - U U S S S S - -

Table 4.2: Bronze Age locations recorded by the Eastern Vani Survey. B=Burial, C=Church/Sanctuary, F=Fortification, H=Hoard, Q=Quarry, S=Settlement, SF=Stray Find, U=Unknown.

The lack of resolution for activity in the region during the Bronze Age is important. One possible reason for a lack of evidence for the Bronze Age, particularly to the east of Vani, could be the result of the reliance of regional investigation on the reporting of finds by local

6 _{Personal correspondence with S. Kharabadze, D. Kacharava and G. Kvirkvelia. There is} disagreement about what date should be given to this material. Kvirkvelia has suggested an

inhabitants. Most of the material which has been dated to the Bronze Age comes from chance surface finds by local habitants where the exact find location was unknown or unrecorded. Where excavations have taken place, only Dablagomi yielded material of the Bronze Age from stratified contexts. Late Bronze material was recovered from Sakakile, but this material was found accidently on the surface and not from stratified contexts.7 Indeed, the majority of the material datable to the Bronze Age comes in the form of bronze tools which are generally identified as coming from the transitional period between the Bronze and Early Iron Ages, and rather than being a clear indication of Late Bronze Age activity, may rather be the result of over reliance on typologies of metal objects in dating contexts of the Bronze and Early Iron Ages. Indeed, for periods before the appearance of datable Greek imports, metal objects are the primary means of dating.

Leaving the chance finds aside, there are five sites in the region identified as settlements of the Late Bronze Age or a transitional period between the Bronze and Iron Ages. Four of these places, Dablagomi and Shuamta to the west, Ketchinara north of Vani and Phereta to the east, share important topographic relationships. Each of these locations sits in the upper river valleys (zone three) in the foothills. The exception to this pattern is Zeda Bzvani, which sits within the ridge of hills that separates the Sulori and Qvinitisqaro River valleys. Due to their proximity, the material recovered by the EVS, if from the Bronze Age, could be associated with the material from Zeda Bzvani.

7 _{Inauri (1990).}