Abstract
The village of Kulanyrkhua is situated to the North-East of the town of Gudauta on a scenic hilly area between two rivers: from the West there is the Gudou River, from the East – the Doherty River. During a decade of the research (2004-2014) in the village the monuments of late antiquity – the early Middle Ages, or “Tsebelda” culture were discovered in the village on three hills: Osiaa-Rhu, Adei Guara and Adzhkatsa. On the hill Osiaa-Rhu the burial ground and the settlement is recorded. On the hill of Adei Guara there is only burial ground; on the hill of Adzhkatsa there are traces of metallurgical production and a temple. In addition to the village of Kulanyrkhua, the monuments of Tsebelda culture were discovered in the neighboring villages: Abgarkhuk and Anukhva. The specifi ed monuments of culture were detected also in the Gagra district. These include Khashupse burial grounds and defensive complex; Achmardinsky burial grounds. Earlier it was thought that Tsebelda culture is localized only in Apsilia, in the East of Abkhazia in the valley of Tsabal, and so it was allocated as separate culture. However, the detection of a large number of monuments belonging to the same culture, in the Gudauta and Gagra areas removes the issue of ethnic origin of Tsebelda culture exclusively to Apsilia. Therefore, it can safely be called Abkhazian culture of the 1st – 6th centuries AD. Geographically continuous area of its extension both to the East and to the West of the Republic illustratively demonstrates the evidence of the ethnic origin of the monuments of Tsebelda culture to the common ancestors of the modern Abkhazians, in particular, the Abasgoi, the Sanigs, the Apsilae and the Misimians. In addition, the proximity of the material culture of these tribes became one of prerequisites for the unifi cation of the ancient Abkhazian principalities into a single nation, the basis for the formation of a common ethnic identity and self-name of the Abkhazian Kingdom.
Keywords
Tsebelda culture, Abkhazia, Gudauta district, Kulanyrkhua, the Apsilae, the Abasgoi
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