Archeologists Make Stunning Find, 3,000 Year Old Fortress is 40 Times Larger Than Expected

Archaeologists returned to an ancient fortress in the country of Georgia and found it was more than forty times bigger than anyone expected.

Key Facts:

– The site is called Dmanisis Gora, dating back nearly 3,000 years.
– Drone surveys showed the fortress to be 40 times larger than earlier estimates.
– Researchers from the U.K., Georgia, and the U.S. took nearly 11,000 aerial photos to map the site.
– Dmanisis Gora is located in the Caucasus region, spanning parts of Georgia, Russia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia.

The Rest of The Story:

When a team from Cranfield Forensic Institute and the Georgian National Museum first visited Dmanisis Gora in 2018, they discovered only a small portion of the sprawling Bronze Age fortress.

At the time, they thought they were dealing with a typical Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age settlement.

But when they returned in autumn, receding vegetation revealed additional walls and stone structures.

Intrigued by these discoveries, the archaeologists decided to use drone technology to gain a broader perspective.

They captured thousands of aerial images, piecing them together into comprehensive elevation maps and orthophotos.

This approach confirmed that the outer fortification wall extends nearly a kilometer—enclosing a settlement far larger than expected.

To explore how the fortress evolved, researchers compared their drone data to declassified Cold War-era spy satellite images.

They noticed changes in the site’s layout caused by modern agriculture.

The scholars now believe Dmanisis Gora’s remarkable growth may have been driven by the seasonal presence of mobile pastoral groups who brought livestock and labor to the area.

These movements likely shaped the fortress’s outer defenses and helped define the community’s lifestyle over centuries.

The Bottom Line:

Dmanisis Gora offers new insights into large-scale settlements of the Late Bronze Age, showing how ancient communities adapted and expanded their defenses.

Drone and satellite imagery brought fresh clarity to the fortress’s true size.

Researchers hope these findings encourage better preservation efforts and a deeper understanding of how early urban centers formed across the region.

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By studying Dmanisis Gora, archaeologists may uncover lessons about the cultural interplay that shaped societies thousands of years ago.