Cyclopean Fortresses, Royal Cities or Mountain Shelters?

Abstract

The present article is devoted to a new study of two archaeological complexes, Abuli and Shaori in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region of Georgia, that are known in the research literature. The sites discussed in this article have been visited and studied multiple times during the first three years of activities in the region in the frame of the Georgian-Italian Samtskhe-Javakheti Project. They have been carefully examined from both architectural and environmental perspectives and new hypotheses about their function have been proposed. Due to their unique geographical position and architectural features, the protohistoric fortified shelters of Abuli and Shaori may be considered exceptional archaeological sites not only in the archaeological panorama of Georgia but in the entire South Caucasus region.