Colchian Culture

an archaeological culture in what is now western Georgia, dating from the late Bronze Age and the early Iron Age (13th to seventh centuries B.c.). Known from burial grounds, settlements, and treasure troves, the Colchian culture is characterized by a rich bronze inventory, among which individual iron objects are encountered. The primary centers of metallurgical production were the basin of the Chorokhi River, Abkhazia, and the region of the Racha and Lechkhumi mountain ranges. This accounts for the local variants of the culture. The tribes of the Colchian culture lived in patriarchal-clan communes (there are signs of property differentiation) and engaged in farming. Stock raising and metallurgy were developing in the mountains. The Colchian culture has much in common with the Koban culture.