When archaeologists in Georgia conducted test excavations at a 3,000-year-old fortress, they worked in tall grass in the summer. However, when they returned in the fall, They discovered that the plant was hiding something shocking from before.
Using drone technology Researchers in the UK, Georgia and the US have produced a map of Dmanisis Gora, a Bronze Age “mega fortress” in the Caucasus Mountains. and discovered that the complex is 40 times larger than previously suggested. Their research is detailed in a Jan. 8 study published in the journal ancient timesIt can provide insights into the growth and urbanization patterns of ancient settlements around the world.
“Using drones helps us understand the importance of the site. and capturing images in a way that would not have been possible on the ground.” Nathaniel Erb-Satullo from the Cranfield Institute of Forensic Science who participated in the study said in Cranfield University statement– “Dmanisis Gora is not only an important discovery for the South Caucasus region. But there is also broader significance for the diversity in the structure of large settlements and their formation processes.”
The Caucasus is a geographic region covering the areas of Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia. and is an ancient crossroads of many different cultures. including the local population Large fortified settlements began to develop in the South Caucasus region between 1500 and 500 BCE, according to the study.
Erb-Satullo and his co-director Dimitri Jachvliani from the Georgian National Museum and participants in the study. It began investigating Dmanisis Gora in 2018 after the first test excavations. The team returned to find that the autumn landscape had revealed additional fortress walls and The stone structure was far from the inner fortress they had encountered before. It was clear that this complex was much larger than they had thought. But they found it impossible to record how big it was from the ground.
“That's what sparked the idea of using drones to assess locations from the air,” Erb-Satullo said. The researchers used the drones to take nearly 11,000 images of the location, which they then combined to create Digital Elevation Models and Orthophotos: Aerial photographs are edited to take into account elements such as the angle from which they were taken.
“These datasets allow us to identify sensitive topographic features. and create accurate maps of fortress walls, tombs, field systems, and other stone structures. “The results show that the area is more than 40 times larger than originally thought, including a large outer community protected by a wall. The fortress is 1 km long.” One kilometer is approximately 0.62 miles.
Erb-Satullo and his colleagues compared the orthophotos to declassified Cold War-era spy satellite images from 2013 to analyze how the site has evolved over the past five decades. come It emphasizes the encroachment of modern agriculture.
Although modern expansion threatens this place, But researchers hypothesize that thousands of years ago, Dmanisis Gora itself grew an impressive city. “Because of its interactions with mobile pastoralists,” Erb-Satullo explains, “its large external settlements may expand and contract with the seasons,” he adds.
The team now hopes to use the newly collected data to examine additional elements such as population density and concentration. moving livestock and agricultural practices
Finally, drone mapping of Dmanisis Gora sheds light on the massive fortress. as well as the broader pattern of Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age society as a whole. It is another example of Declassified spy satellite images with the help of archaeologists Decades after this photo was taken