Shulaveri-Shomu Neolithic communities
Shulaveris Gora / შულავერის გორა
Mudbrick buildings, plant and animal remains, tools, storage, pottery, and residue evidence illuminate early farming communities and varied connections in southern Caucasus lowlands.
Evidence, landscapes, community scale, political organization, and connections
Mountain, river, Black Sea, Caspian, Anatolian, Iranian, and steppe connections
River plains, soils, rainfall, crops, herds, wild resources, clay, stone, and routes between highlands and lowlands shaped local settlements.
Political organization and community scale
Households coordinated construction, farming, herding, storage, food preparation, and craft. Evidence does not establish one centralized Shulaveri-Shomu state.
Late-antique transformation, living heritage, and modern reception
Archaeological authorities across modern borders steward related sites. The classification cannot determine modern national priority, ethnicity, ancestry, or descent.
A scholarly grouping of related but variable sites, not a people-name.
Building arrangements and uses varied by phase and site.
Household practice cannot be reduced to a single agricultural transition model.
A concise, sourced timeline
These milestones are orientation points, not a complete history.
Households, subsistence, labor, language, belief, craft, exchange, and mobility
Languages named in this profile
- No deciphered written language evidence
- Architecture and pottery cannot assign spoken language
Language family: Unknown from archaeological evidence
Circular mudbrick structures preserve household-scale planning and repair.
Plant and animal evidence documents farming alongside local ecological use.
Early wine interpretations rely on residue and contextual analysis, not modern national ownership.
Elite graves, fortresses, royal inscriptions, churches, palaces, imported objects, and state heritage narratives are often more visible than households, women, children, farmers, herders, fishers, craftspeople, migrants, captives, enslaved or coerced people, and rural communities. Evidence gaps must not be filled with evolutionary hierarchy, ethnic purity, foreign-founder, empty-land, lost-civilization, or simple population-replacement narratives.
Ask about this reviewed profile
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Sources used for this page
Prefer Armenian, Azerbaijani, Georgian, and other relevant national and regional heritage institutions, living-community institutions, accountable archaeological missions, peer-reviewed projects, and UNESCO records. Register inscriptions and ancient or later texts with date, genre, language, audience, and viewpoint. Do not register Wikipedia or add rock-art, cave, sacred-site, burial, artifact, or human-remains imagery without per-file licensing, attribution, access-policy, community consideration, and ethical review.
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C1
Dmanisi Hominid Archaeological Site
UNESCO World Heritage Centre · State-submitted archaeological heritage record · 2007; current tentative-list record
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C2
Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape
UNESCO World Heritage Centre · International archaeological heritage record · 2007; current record
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C3
The Culture of Shengavit
History Museum of Armenia · National archaeological museum resource · Current museum research resource
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C4
Areni-1 Cave
UNESCO World Heritage Centre · State-submitted archaeological heritage record · 2026; current tentative-list record
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C5
Archaeological Collection
History Museum of Armenia · National museum archaeological collections resource · Current institutional resource
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C6
Historical Monuments of Mtskheta
UNESCO World Heritage Centre · International cultural-heritage record · 1994; current record
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C7
Vani Archaeological Museum
Georgian National Museum · National archaeological museum and site resource · Current museum resource
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C8
Department of Ancient Archaeology
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, National Academy of Sciences of Armenia · National academic archaeological research resource · Current research resource
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C9
Citadel, Ancient City and Fortress Buildings of Derbent
UNESCO World Heritage Centre · International archaeological and architectural heritage record · 2003; current record
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C10
Nokalakevi Archaeological Project
Anglo-Georgian Expedition to Nokalakevi · Accountable archaeological fieldwork and publication resource · Current archaeological project resource
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C11
Ancient Archaeology Department
Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences · National academic archaeological research resource · Current research resource
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C12
Museum Reserve Erebuni
Yerevan Municipality · Public archaeological museum resource · Current municipal museum directory
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S1
Early Neolithic wine of Georgia in the South Caucasus
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · Peer-reviewed archaeological science · 2017
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S2
Shulaveri archaeological collections and research
Georgian National Museum · National museum archaeological resource · Current institutional resource
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S3
Ancient Archaeology Department
Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences · National academic archaeological resource · Current research resource
Editorial review: August 5, 2026