Abstract
The Tsebelda period in the history of Abkhazia is a special, very important stage, fi lled with stormy military and political events, during which the basis for coming Abkhazian Kingdom was formed. Did this fi nd its refl ection in the sites near the village of Kulanyrkhua, located on the territory of ancient Abazgia? In the two necropolises in this village, with a total of 38 burials, there are only two burials containing weapons: one for each one. The set of weapons in both sites is approximately the same, and the artifacts themselves are similar. There is a large number of analogs of found artifacts in the burial grounds of this time, excavated in the area of Tsebelda. However, given the small number of such burials, we cannot regard them as evidence of militarization of the village population: most likely, these graves of warriors refl ect only the social status of the dead. Among the monuments of Kulanyrkhua, there are no traces of any fortifi cations at the time. Comparing the sites near Kulanirkhua with the simultaneous settlement of Markul in Eastern Abkhazia, on the territory of ancient Apsilia, we note that the Markul settlement has clear traces of military tension of that epoch, but we do not fi nd any in Kulanyrkhua. This can be interpreted at the moment either as a sign that the main military events have bypassed the village, or to conclude that our knowledge of this site is too small, and we should wait for new discoveries in the future.
Keywords
Archaeology, Abkhazia, Abazgia, Tsebelda period, warriors’ burials, weapons.
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