An academic has utilized drone mapping to explore a 3000-year-old ‘mega fortress’ in the Caucasus mountains, unveiling information that alters perspectives on the site and supports a worldwide reevaluation of ancient urban development and settlement patterns.
Dr. Nathaniel Erb-Satullo, a Senior Lecturer in Architectural Science at Cranfield Forensic Institute, UK, has been employing drone mapping techniques to study a 3000-year-old ‘mega fortress’ located in the Caucasus mountains. Since 2018, he has collaborated with Dimitri Jachvliani, his co-director from the Georgian National Museum, to investigate this site. Their findings significantly enhance our comprehension of the location and also contribute to a global reevaluation of ancient urbanism and settlement growth.
Fortress settlements in the South Caucasus emerged between 1500-500 BCE, marking a remarkable advancement in the region’s prehistoric timeline. Positioned at the crossroads of Europe, the Eurasian Steppe, and the Middle East, the Caucasus has a rich history of diverse cultural influences.
The exploration of the fortress, called Dmanisis Gora, started with preliminary digs on a fortified promontory flanked by two deep gorges. A follow-up visit in the fall, after the summer grasses had wilted, revealed the site was far larger than initially anticipated. Outside the main fortress, remnants of additional fortification walls and various stone structures were distributed over an extensive area. Ground observations did not allow for a comprehensive understanding of the entire site.
“This realization led to the decision to utilize a drone for aerial assessment of the site,” remarked Dr. Erb-Satullo. “The drone captured nearly 11,000 images that were stitched together with advanced software, creating high-resolution digital elevation models and orthophotos—composite images providing a directly overhead view of every detail.
“These datasets helped us identify subtle landscape features and create precise maps of all fortification walls, graves, agricultural fields, and other stone constructions within the larger settlement. The survey results indicated that the area was over 40 times larger than previously believed, including a significant outer settlement fortified by a 1km long wall.”
The research team employed a DJI Phantom 4 RTK drone, which delivers positional accuracy within 2cm and exceptionally high-resolution aerial images. To accurately map human-made structures, the team meticulously verified each feature using the aerial images for correct identification.
To trace the evolution of the landscape, the orthophotos were compared with photographs taken 50 years ago by a Cold War-era spy satellite that were declassified in 2013. This comparison provided valuable insights regarding the age of various features, revealing which were newer and which were older. It also allowed the researchers to evaluate areas of the ancient settlement affected by modern agricultural practices. All the collected data were compiled using Geographic Information System (GIS) software, revealing patterns and alterations within the landscape.
“The utilization of drones has enabled us to grasp the importance of the site and document it in a manner that ground-level examination could not achieve,” noted Dr. Erb-Satullo. “Dmanisis Gora is not only a vital discovery for the Southern Caucasus but has broader implications for understanding the structure and evolving processes of large settlements. We hypothesize that Dmanisis Gora expanded due to interactions with mobile pastoral communities, and the outer settlement may have grown and shrunk seasonally. With the site now thoroughly mapped, future research will delve into aspects like population density and dynamics, livestock movements, and agricultural methods, among other topics.”
This information will provide researchers a deeper understanding of Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age societies and their operational dynamics. Since completing the aerial survey, Dr. Erb-Satullo has continued excavations at the site, uncovering tens of thousands of pottery fragments, animal bones, and other artifacts that provide further insight into the culture of the fortress builders.
This research has been supported by the Gerda Henkel Foundation, the Gerald Averay Wainwright Fund, and the British Institute at Ankara.
