The Kura-Araxes culture emerged in the South Caucasus in the mid-third millennium BC and flourished for approximately a thousand years. Originating in the South Caucasus, it subsequently spread across a vast area, extending eastward into Iran and westward as far as Palestine.

The Kura-Araxes culture is characterised by village settlements and distinctive architectural traditions. In Shida Kartli, houses were commonly constructed using wattle-and-daub techniques, while further south, in Samtskhe-Javakheti, Kura-Araxes settlements are represented predominantly by stone architecture.

At the Rabati settlement, the Kura-Araxes occupation is represented by a substantial monumental stone structure, associated with characteristic Kura-Araxes ceramic material. The remains provide important evidence for the architectural traditions and settlement organisation of the Kura-Araxes communities in the highlands of southern Georgia.

At the end of the Kura-Araxes culture, around 2500 BC, large burial mounds, known as kurgans, began to appear in eastern Georgia. This period is therefore referred to as the Early Kurgan period. Based on the types of kurgans and the artefacts discovered within them, two archaeological cultures are distinguished: the Martkopi and Bedeni cultures.

The kurgans of both cultures contain a variety of rich and prestigious objects, including jewellery made of semi-precious stones and gold, as well as bronze weapons. Particularly noteworthy is the practice of placing four-wheeled wagons in the burials. These monumental and richly furnished kurgans were probably constructed for members of the high social elite, possibly chieftains, and served as expressions of their power and social status.

In general, compared with the Kura-Araxes culture, the number of settlements decreases during the Early Kurgan period, which has traditionally been interpreted as evidence for a shift towards a more mobile or nomadic way of life. However, the discovery in recent decades of Early Kurgan-period settlements, particularly those associated with the Bedeni culture, has challenged this interpretation. One such settlement is Rabati, where the inhabitants appear to have practised intensive agriculture.

 

 

From around 2000 BC, a new archaeological culture, known as the Trialeti culture, emerged in eastern Georgia. Like the preceding cultures, it is characterised by large kurgans furnished with rich and valuable burial goods.

Settlements associated with the Trialeti culture remain largely unknown. In the Meskheti region, however, a distinctive local variant of the Trialeti culture is documented, differing from the eastern Georgian tradition both in the construction of kurgans and in its ceramic assemblages.

The Rabati settlement is a unique site in Georgia, providing rare evidence of a settlement belonging to this period.

 

Following a period of interruption, occupation at the Rabati settlement resumed during the medieval period, particularly between the 10th and 13th centuries. One of the earliest pieces of evidence for settlement during this period is the 10th-century Church of St George, located south of Rabati.

The Rabati settlement itself has yielded remains of medieval structures, a variety of fragments of glazed ceramic vessels, and twisted glass bracelets. This archaeological evidence confirms that the area of Rabati continued to be actively occupied during the medieval period.

The abandonment of the Rabati settlement may have been associated with the invasions of Tamerlane. No archaeological material dating to the period after these events has so far been identified at the settlement, which may indicate that occupation of the site came to an end at this time.

 

According to local tradition, several centuries ago the brothers Zedgenidze, who had fled from Kartli to Ghobieti, later discovered an abandoned church while hunting in the then-deserted area of Zveli. According to the legend, they settled in the area, marking the beginning of the later reoccupation of Zveli.

Important historical information about the village of Zveli is provided by the Ottoman Vilayet Defter of 1558, which records the village and its 61 resident households. Significantly, neither the name Rabati nor fortification at Rabati is mentioned in the defter. This suggests that, although Zveli was an established settlement by the mid-16th century, the Rabati hill and its associated structures may have had a different status or may not yet have been recognized as a separate settlement.

Today, the Rabati hill is surrounded by the remains of traditional Meskhetian semi-subterranean houses, arranged in terraces around the slope. These distinctive dwellings represent a long-lived architectural tradition and may date back several centuries, potentially as early as the 16th century. Although many of the original houses have survived in a deteriorated condition, modern houses have been constructed on several parts of the hill, replacing traditional Meskhetian dwellings and significantly altering the historic character of the settlement. Such transformation and reshaping of the landscape is not a recent phenomenon, as the Rabati hill has been continuously modified and rebuilt by successive communities over the course of millennia.