Shulaveri-Shomu culture
| Geographical range | South Caucasus, Armenian Highlands |
|---|---|
| Period | Neolithic |
| Dates | c. 6000 BC — c. 4000 BC |
| Major sites | Shaumiani, Shomu-tepe |
| Followed by | Kura–Araxes culture |
|
Holocene Epoch |
|---|
| ↑ |
| Holocene |
Shulaveri-Shomu culture (Georgian: შულავერი-შომუთეფეს კულტურა) is a Late Neolithic/Eneolithic culture that existed on the territory of present-day Georgia, Azerbaijan and the Armenian Highlands. The culture is dated to mid-6th or early-5th millennia BC and is thought to be one of the earliest known Neolithic cultures.
The name 'Shulaveri-Shomu' comes from the town of Shulaveri, in the Republic of Georgia, previously known as Shaumiani, and Shomu-Tepe.
Shulaveri culture predates the Kura-Araxes culture which flourished in this area around 4000–2200 BC. Later on, in the middle Bronze Age period (c. 3000–1500 BC), the Trialeti culture emerged.Sioni culture of Eastern Georgia possibly represents a transition from the Shulaveri to the Kura-Arax cultural complex.
In c. 6000–4200 BC, the Shulaveri-Shomu and other Neolithic/Chalcolithic cultures of the Southern Caucasus were using local obsidian for tools; were raising animals such as cattle and pigs; and growing crops, including grapes.
The earliest evidence of domesticated grapes in the world has been found in the general "Shulaveri area", near the site of Shulaveri gora, in Marneuli Municipality, in southeastern Republic of Georgia. Specifically, the most recent evidence comes from Gadachrili gora, near the village of Imiri in the same region; carbon-dating points to the date of about 6000 BC.
Many of the characteristic traits of the Shulaverian material culture (circular mudbrick architecture, pottery decorated by plastic design, anthropomorphic female figurines, obsidian industry with an emphasis on production of long prismatic blades) are believed to have their origin in the Near Eastern Neolithic (Hassuna, Halaf).
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