The investigation of the Aradetis Orgora site and its burial area, Doghlauri, is providing new data about the Bronze Age in the Shida Kartli province (Georgia). A salvage excavation allowed the discovery of numerous graves and the human remains from 75 of these were later available for the present study. Twenty-three of them date back to the Early Bronze Age (EBA, Kura-Araxes culture) and 52 to the Late Bronze Age (LBA, Lchashen-Tsitelgori culture). Using standard anthropological methods, the minimum number of individuals (MNI) was estimated for each grave and sex and the age at death were assessed.

Our preliminary results reveal a clear difference in burial customs between these two periods. The anthropological data coupled with the archaeological documentation suggest that in the EBA many of these graves can be interpreted as collective burials (in 13 Kura-Araxes graves out of 23 more than one individual was represented, with up to six individuals buried in them). Both sexes and almost all the age classes are represented in these. By contrast, in the LBA, single burials are the rule for all age classes and both sexes.

对 Aradetis Orgora 遗址及其墓地 Doghlauri 的调查正在提供有关 Shida Kartli 省（格鲁吉亚）青铜时代的新数据。抢救性挖掘发现了许多坟墓，其中 75 个坟墓的人类遗骸后来可用于本研究。其中 23 个可以追溯到青铜时代早期（EBA，Kura-Araxes 文化），52 个可以追溯到青铜时代晚期（LBA，Lchashen-Tsitelgori 文化）。使用标准人类学方法，估计每个坟墓和性别的最小个体数 (MNI)，并评估死亡年龄。

我们的初步结果显示，这两个时期的葬礼习俗存在明显差异。人类学数据和考古文献表明，在 EBA 中，这些坟墓中有许多可以解释为集体墓葬（在 23 个库拉-阿拉克斯坟墓中的 13 个坟墓中，有超过一个人被代表，其中最多埋葬了六个人）。男女和几乎所有年龄段的人都在这些中得到了体现。相比之下，在 LBA 中，单一埋葬是所有年龄段和男女的规则。