
Researchers have uncovered new details about a 3,000-year-old fortress in the Caucasus Mountains, using drone technology to explore the ancient settlement. The study, led by Dr. Nathaniel Erb-Satullo of Cranfield University in the UK, sheds new light on the region’s early societies and how they developed.
Dmanisis Gora, the site of the research, is a fortress settlement dating back to between 1500 and 500 BCE. Situated at the crossroads of Europe, the Middle East, and the Eurasian Steppe, the Caucasus has long been a cultural hub. Initial excavations revealed a fortified area, but researchers soon discovered the site was much larger than expected.
Expanding the view with Drone technology
A visit to the site in autumn, after the summer grasses had died back, revealed additional fortification walls and structures scattered across a vast area outside the inner fortress. The sheer size of the settlement made it difficult to assess from the ground, prompting the use of drone mapping to capture a comprehensive view.
Dr. Erb-Satullo’s team employed a DJI Phantom 4 RTK drone, which produced nearly 11,000 high-resolution images.
Advanced software stitched these images into detailed digital elevation models and composite aerial photos, allowing researchers to map subtle features of the site. The survey revealed the settlement was over 40 times larger than previously believed, including a 1-kilometer-long defensive wall protecting the outer settlement.
“The use of drones has allowed us to understand the significance of the site and document it in a way that simply wouldn’t be possible on the ground,” Erb-Satullo said.
Linking the past to the present
To better understand how the landscape evolved, researchers compared the drone imagery with satellite photos taken during the Cold War and declassified in 2013. This comparison helped identify which features were ancient and which were more recent. It also highlighted areas damaged by modern agriculture.
Geographic Information System (GIS) software was used to analyze these datasets, revealing patterns in the site’s layout and changes over time.
The findings suggest that Dmanisis Gora expanded due to interactions with mobile pastoral groups. Researchers hypothesize that the settlement’s outer areas may have grown and shrunk with the seasons, reflecting the movements of people and livestock.
Uncovering artifacts of the past
Further excavations at the site have uncovered tens of thousands of artifacts, including pottery shards and animal bones, providing a glimpse into the lives of the people who built the fortress. These discoveries are helping researchers understand daily life, agricultural practices, and population patterns in Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age societies.
Dmanisis Gora, a large fortress of the Late Bronze Age in the Caucasus Mountains revealed by drone mapping. Not Celtic, but an interesting discovery in this area. pic.twitter.com/lO9dMK5Piq
— Celtic La Tène (@celtic_latene) January 10, 2025
With the site extensively mapped, future studies aim to explore topics like population density, livestock movements, and how ancient communities adapted to their environment. The research has been published in the journal Antiquity.