Abstracts - International Initiative for Georgian Cultural Studies

ANCIENT GEORGIA
Nino Gomelauri
G. Chubinashvili National Center of Georgian Art History and Monuments Protection. Georgia
Georgia and Eurasia in the 2 nd -1 st Millennia BC according to Minor Bronze Plastics
Located between Europe and Asia, Georgia has since ancient times been engaged in a variety of historical
and artistic processes, which has found reflection on its material culture, in general, and artistic works,
in particular. Diverse artistic trends which crossed the borders of Georgia and Transcaucasia in pre-historic
times left their mark on the art of the period.
Bronze objects dating from the second to first millennium BC allow us to trace the ties Georgia had with
Anatolia and Persia. Two groups of bronze sculptures discovered in the territory of Georgia provide further
evidence on these relations: One group, dating from the mid-second millennium and found in eastern Georgia
and the entire central Transcaucasia, is genetically akin to the central Anatolian materials dating from
the early Bronze Age; the other group, unearthed in the territory of Georgia, and dating from the second
quarter of the first millennium, finds an affinity with contemporary artistic output of north-west Persia.
The aforementioned ties, according to these materials, have a specific character. The artistic tradition,
which must have arrived from Anatolia, together with a strong wave of ethnic elements, is a certain continuation
of Anatolian tradition. It found a strong foothold in the territory of Georgia and the entire Transcaucasia
and its legacy in eastern Georgia can be traced from the late Bronze Age to the adoption of Christianity.
The artistic trend exported from Persia, however, reflects cultural ties between Georgia and Persia and
compared to Anatolian tradition, is smaller in scope and weaker in terms of its influence.
The materials unearthed on the territory of Tbilisi not only point to the relations between Georgia and
the Persian world but also allow us to locate them within a broader cultural context of Eurasia during the
first millennium BC, reflecting the historical processes related to the increased activities of nomadic tribes
in Eurasia.
Manana Tsereteli
Georgian National Museum. Georgia
Colchian Ritual Axe (Semantics and Artistic Style)
Bronze metallurgy reached its apex in Transcacasia at the end of the second millennium BC and the
beginning of the first millennium BC, which explains the wide spread of artistic metalwork items that
date to this time. The high level of craftsmanship of such pieces points to the presence of workshops
that were staffed with skilled craftsman. A Colchian axe, adorned with zoomorphic figures, seems to be
the most notable example of this varied unity. Referring to abstract ideas and symbolizing visions rather
than depicting real, concrete environment, the images represented are nonfigurative in their essence. Thus,
the major element of stylization of the period is abstractness. Therefore, the representations rendered in
such style shall not be considered as images of specific zoomorphic species but rather as generalized,
fictional images devoid of naturalism at any stage of evolution and of every-day details of life. Zoomorphic
motifs shall in this case be viewed as a general model of a religious world outlook in which various visual
manifestations are adapted to functional needs (Colchian axe and head ornaments) and differ according to
the material employed (bronze, silver and gold).
Despite gradual desacralization, zoomorphic imagery was extensively used by Georgian and Caucasian
artists before the Christian Period. The following are the findings from a semantic and stylistic analysis
of the archaeological evidence belonging to a limited period of time (from the early Iron Age to the late
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