Front matter of the volume 37

Preliminary Report on the 2022 Archaeological Works in Dedoplistskaro Municipality conducted by the joint expedition of Tbilisi Ilia State University and Halle Martin Luther University

Marneuli municipality is situated in Kvemo (Lower) Kartli region of Georgia. It occupies the territory along both banks of the Algeti River. Kvemo Kartli archaeological expedition of the S. Janashia State Museum uncovered and investigated nine kurgans in the area. All the tumuli were consist of pit tombs, covered with 1.5-2.0 m high soil and stone barrow mounds. They were individual inhumation graves. Kurgan no. 3 was the earliest among them. As to the other one no. 9 it was arranged in a rectangle pit and thus attracted the special attention of the scholars. Artifacts are kept in the depository of the S. Janashia Georgian National Museum..

The presented work is devoted to the phenomenon of ritual damage to metal objects of the Bronze-Early Iron Age in Georgia, which were found in the burials and hoards. According to the authors, the homogeneity of the types of damaged objects found in the burials and hoards should indicate the deliberate damage of metal products before they were placed in the ground, which should have had a certain ritual purpose.