In Search of the Origins of Bronze Openwork Buckles from Georgia

Abstract

The bronze buckles under consideration here have the form of openwork plaques adorned with stylized representations of animals. These have been discovered in highland regions of Georgia: Racha, Zemo Imereti (west Georgia), Shida Kartli and Trialeti (east and central Georgia), which were among the earliest and strongest centres of metalwork. Over two hundred samples of openwork bronze buckles are known at present. They seem to have been mass produced. Buckles have either been unearthed in graves (wide necropolises or separate burials) or discovered accidentally.