Grakliani Hill (Georgian: გრაკლიანი გორა, Grakliani Gora) is an archaeological excavation site in eastern Georgia near Kaspi,^[1] showing evidence of human presence possibly going back 300,000 years.^[2]

The site was discovered in 2007, during work to widen the Tbilisi-Senaki-Leselidze highway.^[3] Research is being done by students and faculty from Tbilisi State University.^[4] In 2015, a supposed script was discovered on the altar of a fertility goddess's temple, predating those previously known in the area by at least a thousand years.^[5][6]

The site contains a temple to a fertility goddess from the seventh century BCE,^[1] a pit-type burial^[7] cemetery from the early Bronze Age, and the remains of a building from around 450-350 BCE; the building consists of three rooms with three storage rooms.^[1]

The site had been occupied between the Chalcolithic and the Late Hellenistic periods.^[1]

The excavation of layers yielded artifacts including children's toys,^[8] weapons, icons, and pharmacological devices.^[1] Within the first two months of digging, archaeologists had excavated over 35,000 pieces from hundreds of graves and ruins of settlements that date back to the eighth century BCE.^[9]

Several golden and bronze discs from the sixth century were discovered. These findings attest that this society possessed the technology of gilding and engraving.^[9]

Among the most significant artifacts may be a fourth century BCE printing device.^[2] These were extremely rare seals used to stamp judicial documents; supposedly they originated from Uruk in Mesopotamia. Another notable find is that of a large and decorated ritual oven, an unprecedented find in archaeology.^[9]

According to Licheli, who headed the archaeological expedition, the collective findings affirm the 3000-year-old existence of a Georgian statehood.^[9] The Ministry of Culture plans to turn the site into an open-air museum by the end of 2015.^[3]

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