Facial reconstruction of a 2,600-year-old man from Mtskheta, Georgia
In the Early Iron Age, the area of modern Mtskheta was home to four distinct cultural groups, each characterized by its own weapon arsenal.
1. The Samtavro culture, whose people had been present in the area longer than the other three groups and were characterized by their leaf-shaped daggers. Genetically, they belonged to the Trialeti/Lchashen genetic cluster and were likely Indo-European, possibly Armenic-speaking.
2. The Kakheti culture, whose people were characterized by a wide range of weapons, including daggers, swords, and spears. They originated farther east of Mtskheta and were genetically similar to the previous group, belonging to the Trialeti/Lchashen genetic cluster. They likewise likely spoke an Indo-European language, possibly Armenic.
3. The Koban-Colchian axe wielders, who likely originated to the north, from the Koban metropolis of Liakhvi (Tlia site), which was established in the Late Bronze Age following an expansion of Kobanian tribes, likely from the area of Brili in Racha. Genetically, they were characterized by high CHG ancestry and were likely Kartvelian-Svannic speakers.
4. Another group of Koban-Colchian axe wielders, who also incorporated spears and other weapons into their arsenal. Their genetic profile was similar to that of the aforementioned Kobanians, but with less CHG. They were likely Kartvelian-Georgian speakers originating from the Samtskhe and Borjomi areas, from sites such as Atskuri and Chitakhevi, and were expanding into other regions of modern Georgia.
As time progressed deeper into the Iron Age, the contest for control of the Mtskheta area have been won by the last, Georgian group, as a few centuries later, during Antiquity, the historical record of the Iberians (East Georgians) begins with Mtskheta as their capital.
The reconstructed individual belongs to a period characterized by Kartvelian dominance in the area, and was described by the anthropologist Malkhaz Abdushelishvili (1952) as follows:
Grave burial No. 309. Northern section. 1948 (Kalandadze).
Male skull, although fragmented, has been restored quite well. In superior view, it is very long and pentagonal in shape. In the sagittal plane, the following features are noted: strongly developed brow ridges, a sloping forehead, a rounded and gradually descending vertex toward the occiput, and a rounded, slightly projecting occiput. The face is medium-high and apparently broad, with slight alveolar prognathism. The relief is rather strongly expressed. The skull is large and massive.
He had a large cranial length of 197 mm, a medium cranial width of 141 mm, a medium-large mandibular width of 102 mm, and a cranial capacity of 1,520 cmยณ.
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