Akhaltsikhe ( Georgian : ახალციხე [aχaɫtsʰiχe] ), formerly known as Lomsia ( Georgian : ლომსია ), is a small city in Georgia's southwestern region ( mkhare ) of Samtskhe–Javakheti . It is the administrative center of the Akhaltsikhe Municipality and the Samtskhe–Javakheti region. It is situated on both banks of the small river Potskhovi (a left tributary of the Kura ), which divides the city between the old city in the north and new in the south.
33-822: The 9th-century Akhaltsikhe (Rabati) Castle , which was recently restored, is located in the old part of the city. It is one of the main attractions of the Samtskhe–Javakheti region, along with Vardzia , Vale , Okrostsikhe and Zarzma . Akhaltsikhe is the Georgian name of the town, which literally means "new fortress". It is attested in Arabic sources as Akhiskha (and Akhsikhath ), in Persian as Akhesqeh (also spelled as Akheshkheh ), and in Turkish sources as Ahıska . The Azerbaijani village of Axısxa
66-646: A brigade of the Georgian land forces after the fall of the Soviet Union. The highland environment between Akhaltsikhe and Aspindza presents a varied and complex array of archaeological features in different locations, elevations and topographies. This includes the alluvial flood-plain of the Kura River, all the way to the high grasslands. Human habitation is attested already in the Early Bronze Age (4th millennium BC) and later. Artifacts from
99-555: A division of metallurgical production into extractive and processing branches. Amiranis Gora is an important reference point for the study of the Early Bronze Age Kura–Araxes culture , also known as the Early Transcaucasian Culture. The many references include the architecture, burial practices, material culture and metallurgy. Amiranis Gora is one of the best sites with fixed stratigraphy of
132-436: A section. The samples are analyzed to determine their detrital remanent magnetism (DRM), that is, the polarity of Earth's magnetic field at the time a stratum was deposited. For sedimentary rocks this is possible because, as they fall through the water column, very fine-grained magnetic minerals (< 17 μm ) behave like tiny compasses , orienting themselves with Earth's magnetic field . Upon burial, that orientation
165-431: Is also commonly used to delineate the nature and extent of hydrocarbon -bearing reservoir rocks, seals, and traps of petroleum geology . Chronostratigraphy is the branch of stratigraphy that places an absolute age, rather than a relative age on rock strata . The branch is concerned with deriving geochronological data for rock units, both directly and inferentially, so that a sequence of time-relative events that created
198-510: Is also named after it, due to the population of the village originating from Akhaltsikhe. The town is mentioned among the settlements conquered by general Habib ibn Maslama al-Fihri during the reign of Umayyad Caliph Mu'awiya I (661–680). During the Mongol domination of Georgia , local rulers of the House of Jaqeli , who ruled the feudal principality of Samtskhe-Saatabago , were invested with
231-534: Is due to physical contrasts in rock type ( lithology ). This variation can occur vertically as layering (bedding), or laterally, and reflects changes in environments of deposition (known as facies change). These variations provide a lithostratigraphy or lithologic stratigraphy of the rock unit. Key concepts in stratigraphy involve understanding how certain geometric relationships between rock layers arise and what these geometries imply about their original depositional environment. The basic concept in stratigraphy, called
264-541: Is mentioned as Akhaltsikhe castle According to the Georgian Chronicles the city was established in the 9th century by Guaram Mampali , son of the King of Tao . At the end of the 12th century Lomsia turned into a real city with the new name Akhal-tsikhe (New Fortress), which in addition to the fortress had a serious system of city-wide fortifications – high walls, guarded entrance gates and watch towers. From
297-411: Is preserved. For volcanic rocks, magnetic minerals, which form in the melt, orient themselves with the ambient magnetic field, and are fixed in place upon crystallization of the lava. Oriented paleomagnetic core samples are collected in the field; mudstones , siltstones , and very fine-grained sandstones are the preferred lithologies because the magnetic grains are finer and more likely to orient with
330-709: The Government of Georgia allocated 34 million lari from the state budget. As part of the project, the Akhmediye Mosque, the mosque minaret, the madrasah , the Jakeli castle, baths, the citadel, the walls of the fortress and the Orthodox Church were updated on the territory of the fortress. The tunnel leading to the Potskhovi River was also restored. As part of the project, two main streets of
363-431: The law of superposition , states: in an undeformed stratigraphic sequence, the oldest strata occur at the base of the sequence. Chemostratigraphy studies the changes in the relative proportions of trace elements and isotopes within and between lithologic units. Carbon and oxygen isotope ratios vary with time, and researchers can use those to map subtle changes that occurred in the paleoenvironment. This has led to
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#1732793274271396-564: The natural remanent magnetization (NRM) to reveal the DRM. Following statistical analysis, the results are used to generate a local magnetostratigraphic column that can then be compared against the Global Magnetic Polarity Time Scale. This technique is used to date sequences that generally lack fossils or interbedded igneous rocks. The continuous nature of the sampling means that it is also a powerful technique for
429-637: The 13th to the end of 14th centuries it was the capital city of Samtskhe-Saatabago , ruled by the Georgian princely ( mtavari ) family and a ruling dynasty of the Principality of Samtskhe, the House of Jaqeli . In 1393 the city was attacked by the armies of Tamerlane . Despite the Turko-Mongol invasions, the fortress withstood and continued to thrive. After the Treaty of Constantinople in 1590,
462-506: The Kura-Araxes culture. The carbon date for the Kura-Araxes material at Amiranis Gora is 3630-3048 cal B.C., which is very early. Akhaltsikhe is twinned with: Akhaltsikhe Castle Akhaltsikhe (Rabati) Castle ( Georgian : ახალციხის (რაბათის) ციხე ) is a medieval fortress built in the 9th century under the name "Lomsia Castle" in the city of Akhaltsikhe in southern Georgia , recently globally reconstructed. One of
495-485: The Roman and medieval periods are also strongly represented in the area. The important archaeological site of Amiranis Gora is located on the northeastern outskirts of Akhaltsikhe. It was excavated by Tariel Chubinishvili. The earliest carbon date for Amiranis Gora is 3790-3373 cal BC. It was obtained from the charcoal of the metallurgical workshop which belonged to the earliest building horizon of Amiranis Gora This indicates
528-615: The ambient field during deposition. If the ancient magnetic field were oriented similar to today's field ( North Magnetic Pole near the North Rotational Pole ), the strata would retain a normal polarity. If the data indicate that the North Magnetic Pole were near the South Rotational Pole , the strata would exhibit reversed polarity. Results of the individual samples are analyzed by removing
561-533: The castle, the surrounding citadel and the greater city proper. The castle was surrounded by three ramparts and was connected with adjacent areas by tunnels. Within the citadel, aside from the castle, there was a large courtyard, an arsenal, a mint, a bath and a church. In 1752, Georgian ruler Haji Ahmed-Pasha Jaqeli built a mosque within the castle in the style of the Byzantine Orthodox Church Hagia Sophia of Constantinople using
594-686: The centre of the Akhalzik Eyalet of the Ottoman Empire known as Ahıska and it held a resident Ottoman pasha . The town rose to strategic importance and became a leading hub of the Caucasian slave market. By the late 17th century, the town was home to 400 households, consisting of a mixed population of Turks, Armenians, Georgians, Greeks and Jews. In 1828, during the Russo-Turkish War of 1828–1829 , Russian troops under
627-741: The command of General Ivan Paskevich captured the city and, as a consequence of the 1829 Treaty of Adrianople , it was ceded to the Russian Empire . The city initially become part of the Kutaisi Governorate , then of the Tiflis Governorate , becoming the administrative centre of the Akhaltsikhe uezd . In the late 1980s the city was host to the Soviet Army 's 10th Guards Motor Rifle Division , which became
660-488: The fortress in 1810 failed. However, Prince Paskevich successfully stormed the fortress 18 years later, in the great Battle of Akhaltsikhe . After the Treaty of Adrianople in 1829, the Ottomans yielded this part of Akhaltsikhe Region. The fortress and its adjacent buildings were extensively rebuilt and renovated in 2011–2012 in order to attract more tourists to the area. Akhaltsikhe originally consisted of three parts:
693-562: The fortress were repaired, a pavement was equipped, and the facades and roofs of buildings were restored. Stratigraphy Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock layers ( strata ) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks . Stratigraphy has three related subfields: lithostratigraphy (lithologic stratigraphy), biostratigraphy (biologic stratigraphy), and chronostratigraphy (stratigraphy by age). Catholic priest Nicholas Steno established
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#1732793274271726-456: The fortress, earlier mainly Jewish merchants and craftsmen lived in the Rabat quarter, however mainly after reconstruction the name stuck to the all fortress itself. On the official web site of municipality of Akhaltsikhe town and on the official Facebook page of the fortress the name is "Akhaltsikhe (Rabati) Castle" was used or just "Akhaltsikhe Castle." In most of all historical documents castle
759-512: The gap may be due to removal by erosion, in which case it may be called a stratigraphic vacuity. It is called a hiatus because deposition was on hold for a period of time. A physical gap may represent both a period of non-deposition and a period of erosion. A geologic fault may cause the appearance of a hiatus. Magnetostratigraphy is a chronostratigraphic technique used to date sedimentary and volcanic sequences. The method works by collecting oriented samples at measured intervals throughout
792-525: The main attractions of the Samtskhe-Javakheti region along with Vardzia . The original name of the fortress in the 9th century was Lomsia, which can be translated from Georgian as "Lion". At the end of the 12th century, Lomsia acquired the new name Akhal-tsikhe, which literally translates as “New fortress”, the Arabic name "Rabati" means fortress. Rabati was usually called the trading quarter at
825-437: The rock layers. Strata from widespread locations containing the same fossil fauna and flora are said to be correlatable in time. Biologic stratigraphy was based on William Smith's principle of faunal succession , which predated, and was one of the first and most powerful lines of evidence for, biological evolution . It provides strong evidence for the formation ( speciation ) and extinction of species . The geologic time scale
858-484: The rocks formation can be derived. The ultimate aim of chronostratigraphy is to place dates on the sequence of deposition of all rocks within a geological region, and then to every region, and by extension to provide an entire geologic record of the Earth. A gap or missing strata in the geological record of an area is called a stratigraphic hiatus. This may be the result of a halt in the deposition of sediment. Alternatively,
891-405: The significance of strata or rock layering and the importance of fossil markers for correlating strata; he created the first geologic map of England. Other influential applications of stratigraphy in the early 19th century were by Georges Cuvier and Alexandre Brongniart , who studied the geology of the region around Paris. Variation in rock units, most obviously displayed as visible layering,
924-406: The specialized field of isotopic stratigraphy. Cyclostratigraphy documents the often cyclic changes in the relative proportions of minerals (particularly carbonates ), grain size, thickness of sediment layers ( varves ) and fossil diversity with time, related to seasonal or longer term changes in palaeoclimates . Biostratigraphy or paleontologic stratigraphy is based on fossil evidence in
957-429: The theoretical basis for stratigraphy when he introduced the law of superposition , the principle of original horizontality and the principle of lateral continuity in a 1669 work on the fossilization of organic remains in layers of sediment. The first practical large-scale application of stratigraphy was by William Smith in the 1790s and early 19th century. Known as the "Father of English geology", Smith recognized
990-526: The title of atabeg and were allowed to be autonomous. In contemporaneous Persian and Turkish sources, these Jaqeli rulers were referred to as Ḳurḳūra , which derives from Qvarqvare —the name of several Jaqeli rulers. In 1579, during the Ottoman–Safavid War of 1578–1590 , the Ottomans took the town. In the ensuing period, the Ottomans implanted Islam and Ottoman customs. In 1625, the town became
1023-660: The typical structure of a Georgian Orthodox church, with an added madrasah and a minaret. The mosque functioned for 76 years until 1828. Later, in 1850 by order of the Russian emperor , it was consecrated in the name of the Virgin Mary and functioned as a church for another 92 years until 1920. In May 2011, the reconstruction of the Rabati fortress began, which was accompanied by the restoration and completion of many buildings that were destroyed in time immemorial. For this purpose,
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1056-490: The whole territory of Samtskhe-Saatabago came under the rule of Ottoman Empire . Metropolitan John writes in the late 18th century that "despite the fact that a large part of the population has been Islamized, there's still a functioning Orthodox church." After the Treaty of Georgievsk between the Kingdom of Kartli and the Russian Empire was signed, the question of the fate of Akhaltsikhe arose. The first attempt to take
1089-529: Was developed during the 19th century, based on the evidence of biologic stratigraphy and faunal succession. This timescale remained a relative scale until the development of radiometric dating , which was based on an absolute time framework, leading to the development of chronostratigraphy. One important development is the Vail curve , which attempts to define a global historical sea-level curve according to inferences from worldwide stratigraphic patterns. Stratigraphy
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