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What is there to see at Tsutskhvati Cave?

A thirteen-floor cave complex in Imereti.

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Short answer

Tsutskhvati Cave, known locally as "Maghara", lies in Tkibuli municipality of Imereti near the village of Tsutskhvati at 260–340 metres above sea level and is a thirteen-floor complex. It is a protected area with no equivalent in the world in its antiquity and number of floors. The first floor is a narrow opening into which the Shabatghele River flows.

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Why

  1. It is a protected area in Tkibuli municipality.
  2. The complex holds a record of climatic change over the last 140,000 years.
  3. Finds suggest that Neanderthals and Homo sapiens apparently coexisted here around 80,000 years ago.

Details

The second floor holds the remains of an old cult building. Floors seven to nine are three cave openings used as fortifications in the feudal era. Well-preserved mortared stone walls, carved steps and qvevri fragments remain. A Neanderthal child's tooth about 50,000 years old was found in a Bronze Age cave on the fifth floor, cave bear and other sacrificed animal bones on the ninth, and Mid-Paleolithic stone tools and fossilised bones above the fourth floor in waterless caves. For other places in Imereti, see What to see in Kutaisi.

Tip

Check opening hours, entry conditions and directions in advance.

What may differ

Check schedules, prices and transport before you go: access and visiting conditions are best confirmed locally or with guides. Road conditions and season can change the picture.

People also ask

  • What to see in Tsutskhvati Cave?
  • Where is Tsutskhvati Cave?

Sources

This answer is for reference only; visiting conditions and roads change, so check official websites.

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