Traditional Cultic Sites and Associated Religious Practices in the Highland Province of Pshavi (Northeastern Georgia): Mapping and Documentation

Traditional culticamirani. sites and XIV-XV. associated 2006 religious practices 29 Kevin Tuite Paata Bukhrashvili Traditional cultic sites and associated religious practices in the highland province of Pshavi (northeastern Georgia): Mapping and documentation. 1. GRANTEES NAME: International Caucasological Research Institute (ICRI); in Georgian: kavkasiologiis saerTaSoriso samecniero-kvleviTi sazogadoebrivi instituti. The ICRI was registered with the Georgian Justice Ministry on 17 July 1997, registration # 03041. 2. CONTACT INFORMATION: project director: Dr. Paata Bukhrashvili e-mail: [email protected] cell phone: 899-22.15.69 home telephone: (995.32)-33.12.77 organization website: www.caucasology.com 3. PROPOSAL SUMMARY. The goals of the proposed research project are as follows: 1. Detailed inventory of the sacred buildings and sites of the northeastern Georgian province of Pshavi. 2. Mapping of sacred sites for each commune in Pshavi, based on precise geographical coordinates, to be gathered with GIS technology. 3. Recording and mapping of the traditional layout of each commune, including borders, locations of abandoned settlements, and lands belonging to the shrine (forests, wheat and barley fields, pasturelands; vineyards in lowland Georgia). 4. Video and audio recording of rituals performed at shrines, including offerings and invocations, chanting, round-dances. 5. Materials collected by the research team will be deposited in the archives of the ICRI and the Georgian National Museum. Furthermore, video cassettes (and other materials, if requested) will be produced for viewing and use by the local communities. Traditional cultic sites and associated religious practices 30 4. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT AND PARTICIPANTS The proposed research will be conducted in the Georgian district of Pshavi, situated in the northeastern highlands of the country, at the head of the easternmost branch of the Aragvi River (see map). Over a period of 18 months, the research team will conduct an inventory of the sacred buildings and sites of Pshavi, updating and expanding the information contained in earlier studies. One primary goal of the project is the collection of precise geographical data, using Geographical Information System (GIS) technology, to obtain the exact coordinates of shrines, and pinpoint the locations of sacred sites, boundaries and other spatial information obtained from local residents. One important contribution of the proposed research will be the production of detailed maps for each of the eleven ancient communes (Georgian temi: a group of hamlets sharing a central shrine) of Pshavi. In collaboration with shrine officials and long-term residents of the area, the research team will attempt to reconstruct the traditional layout of each commune, including its shrine buildings and sacred sites, borders, abandoned settlements, and lands once belonging to the shrine. (In pre- Soviet times, the main shrine of each commune, or rather its patron deity operating through the priests and shrine officials, possessed sizeable tracts of land, including wheat and barley fields, pastures, forests, and even vineyards near Akhmeta in the eastern province of Kakheti. Produce from the shrine lands was used to prepare food and drink for members of the community at festivals). The team members will also record rituals and ceremonies performed at shrines, including offerings and invocations, songs and round-dances. In addition to the mid-summer festivals of Atengenoba (late July) and Traditional cultic sites and associated religious practices 31 Mariamoba (28 August), the team will make video and audio records of ceremonies during the winter (New Year’s, mid-winter and Lenten ritual cycles), for which far less documentation presently exists. All materials collected in connection with the project will be deposited in the archives of the ICRI, and copies will be given to the Georgian National Museum. The results will also be made available to the Pshavi residents themselves, in the form of video cassettes, maps and other materials, if desired. (a) Field team Paata Bukhrashvili, project director – trained in both ethnology and archaeology, with extensive field experience in Pshavi and other highland regions Zurab Tskvitinidze, archaeologist – Cultural Heritage Field Officer for the AGT (Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey) pipelines project, 2003-2006; experience with GIS technology. Ninuka Abdushelishvili, ethnologist – senior researcher, Institute of History and Ethnology, Georgian Academy of Sciences. Mirian Khutsishvili, ethnographic film-maker – senior researcher, Georgian National Museum; over 30 years’ field experience in Pshavi and Caucasian highlands. Berucha Nikolaishvili, driver – has worked with the project director since 1995 (b) Consultants Philipe Baghiauri, chief priest (tavkhevisberi), Gogolaurta commune Goderdzi Kutsashvili, priest (khevisberi), Gogolaurta commune Siko Tadiauri, priest (khevisberi), Matura commune Kevin Tuite, professor of anthropology, University of Montreal (personal web page www.philologie.com) – unpaid advisor to project team (c) 2 student assistants to be named later Approximate time frame of project: 09-12.2006: consultation with priests and other local informants, beginning of data collection 01-04.2007: documentation of winter ceremonies and rituals 05-06.2007: further work with local informants, collection of geographical data 07-08.2007: documentation of mid-summer festivals 09-12.2007: completion of work with informants and collection of geographical data 01-03.2008: data transfer to computer, preparation of maps, DVDs, cassettes, etc. Traditional cultic sites and associated religious practices 32 5. IMPORTANCE OF THE SACRED SITES AND FORMS OF EXPRESSION The shrines and sacred sites of the northeast Georgian highlands are unlike those found in other regions of the country. Whereas the traditional religious practices of other regions of the country, including adjacent highland districts of eastern Georgia, were strongly influenced by the implantation of Orthodox Christianity, Pshavi remained outside the feudal socio-political order centered in the lowlands. Instead of Orthodox churches, complexes of stone buildings of square or pyramidal shape, similar to those found in adjacent highland areas to the north (notably, Chechnya and Ingushetia), are found in the territory surrounding most communities of Pshavi. (Photographs of two such constructions are shown on the final page). In addition to sacred building and sites, these highland districts are home to unique cultural treasures. Ceremonial performances at the shrines are directed by pagan priests (khevisberi) chosen from particular lineages, who possess specialized ritual, mythological and esoteric knowledge inherited from their ancestors. Their prayers and invocations, addressed to the divine patrons of their communities, represent an irreplaceable component of the Georgian oral heritage. 6. URGENCY OF THE PROJECT Since the beginning of the Soviet period, Pshavi has been losing population, and many once-prosperous settlements have been abandoned. In the ancient communes of Pshavi, only a dozen or so traditional priests remain in service, most of whom are in their 60’s or older. There are grounds for serious doubt that each of these men will be succeeded by a younger clan member who has assimilated the necessary traditional knowledge. Due to the deficient infrastructure and lack of schools that plague the eastern Georgian high-mountain regions, young people in particular are leaving the villages to seek work in the cities of lowland Georgia, or abroad. In the commune of Matura, for example, only three households are occupied year-round, in each case by an elderly married couple whose children have migrated elsewhere. It is imperative that traditional knowledge, especially information concerning the layout of villages in pre-Soviet times, be collected before it is irremediably lost. 7. IMPACT OF THE U.S. CONTRIBUTION Since its foundation in 1997, members of ICRI have been actively collecting ethnographic data in Pshavi and the neighboring province of Traditional cultic sites and associated religious practices 33 Khevsureti – in particular, video and audio documentation of the role of the pagan priest (khevisberi, khutsesi) in the communal festivals of the region. The U.S. contribution through the Ambassador’s Fund For Cultural Preservation will enable the ICRI to obtain the equipment and financing required to study and precisely describe the spatial setting within which these rituals take place. Earlier inventories of the shrines of Pshavi and Khevsureti, such as the three-volume Cultural Monuments of the East Georgian Highlands by Vera Bardavelidze, contain imprecise descriptions of the locations of sites, and few if any maps. Accurate spatial information is important not only for archaeologists wishing to locate the sites for further study; it is also necessary for correct understanding of key elements of the traditional highland culture itself. As portrayed in the oral tradition of the Georgian highlanders, the divine beings which founded the shrines under study moved across the landscape in ancient times. Groups of shrines are said to mark places along the mythical trajectories of deities, where they touched their feet upon the ground, or defeated the ogres (devi) that once inhabited the highland valleys. There are also significant functional differences between shrines located close to or inside villages, and those situated far from human

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