Skip to main content

Caucasian Bronze Age

  • Chapter
Encyclopedia of Prehistory
  • 365 Accesses

Abstract

The climate during the Caucasian Bronze Age was similar to that of today: basically continental with warm to hot summers and cold winters and varying with altitude, with pronounced diurnal variations particularly during summer months at the higher elevations. There is a general decrease in precipitation from west to east with the greatest rainfall in the subtropical Colchidean depression of western Georgia. Given shifts in settlement location and the abandonment of drier areas, such as the Mil-Karabagh steppes, at the beginning of the Caucasian Bronze Age, some researchers have postulated increased aridization; similarly, others have postulated another such shift at the end of the Early Bronze Age as reflected in the abandonment of numerous Kura-Araxes culture sites. Both theories need more primary empirical substantiation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

Suggested Readings

  • Chernykh, E. N. (1992). Ancient Metallurgy in the USSR. Cambridge: ambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Khachatrian, T. S. (1975). Drevnyaya Kul’tura Shiraka III-I tys. do n.e. Erevan: Erevan University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koridze, D. L. (1965). K istorii kolkhskoi kul’tury. Tbilisi: Metsniereba.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krupnov, E. I. (1960). Drevnyaya Istoriya Sevnernogo Kavakaza. Moscow: Academy of Sciences.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuftin, B. A. (1941). Arkheologicheskie raskopki v Trialeti. Tbilisi: Georgian Academy of Sciences.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kushnareva, K. Kh. (1977). Drevneishie Pamyatniki Dvina. Erevan: Armenian Academy of Sciences.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kushnareva, K. Kh. (1993). Yuznyi Kavkaz v. IX-II tys. do n.e. St. Petersburg: Russian Academy of Sciences. (Trans into English as The Southern Caucasus in Prehistory. Stages of Cultural and Socioeconomic Development from the Eighth to the Second Millennium B.C., University of Pennsylvania Museum Publications, Philadelphia, 1997.)

    Google Scholar 

  • Kushnareva, K. Kh., and V. I. Markovin (1994). Epokha Bronzy Kavkaza i Srednei Azii: Ranyaya i Srednyaya Bronza Kavkaza. Moscow: Nauka.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lordkipanidze, O. (1989). Nasledie Drevnei Gruzii. Tbilisi: Metsniereba. (Trans into German as Archäologie in Georgien: Von der Altsteinzeit zum Mittelalter, VCH Acta Humaniora, Weinheim, 1991.)

    Google Scholar 

  • Markovin, V. I. (1978). Dol’meny Zapadnogo Kavkaza. Moscow: Nauka.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miron, A., and W. Orthmann (1995). Unterwegs zum Goldenen Vlies: Archäologische Funde aus Georgien. Saarbrücken: Stiftung Saarländischer Kulturbesitz.

    Google Scholar 

  • Motzenbäcker, I. (1996). Sammlung Kossnierska: Der Digorische Formenkreis der Kaukasischen Bronzezeit. Berlin: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin—Preußischer Kulturbesitz.

    Google Scholar 

  • Munchaev, R. M. (1975). Kavkaz na zare bronzovogo veka. Moscow: Nauka.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pizchelauri, K. N. (1979). Vostochnaya gruziya v kontse bronzovogo veka. Tbilisi: Metsniereba. (Trans into German as Jungbronzeitliche bis ältereisenzeitliche Heiligtümer in Ost-Georgian, Verlag Beck, Munich, 1984.)

    Google Scholar 

  • Santrot, J. (1966). Arménie: Trésors de l’Arménie ancienne. Somogy: Paris: Editions d’Art.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2001 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Kohl, P. (2001). Caucasian Bronze Age. In: Peregrine, P.N., Ember, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Prehistory. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1187-8_4

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1187-8_4

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-7131-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-1187-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics