The Tsalka Plateau ( ka, წალკის ქვაბული) is a

volcanic plateau A volcanic plateau is a plateau produced by volcanic activity. There are two main types: lava plateaus and pyroclastic plateaus. Lava plateau Lava plateaus are formed by highly fluid basaltic lava during numerous successive eruptions throu ...

in central

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, in the upper reaches of the

Khrami River , name_etymology = , image = Khrami River Kirach Muganlo.jpg , image_size = , image_caption = The Khrami near Kirach Muganlo, Georgia , map = KhramiRiver800px.svg , map_size = , map_ ...

, roughly corresponding to the territory of the

Tsalka Municipality __NOTOC__ Tsalka ( ka, წალკის მუნიციპალიტეტი, ''Ćalḱis Municiṕaliťeťi; ;'' ) is a municipality in Georgia's southern region of Kvemo Kartli, covering an area of . As of 2021 it had a population of 19 ...

and a small portion of the adjacent Borjomi Municipality. It is considered part of the greater

Javakheti Plateau Javalkheti Plateau ( ka, ჯავახეთის პლატო) is a volcanic plateau within the Caucasus Mountains that covers the Samtskhe-Javakheti region of Georgia, along the border with Turkey and Armenia. Its elevation is over 2,000 ...

Geography

The Tsalka Plateau is located at the altitude of 1500 to 1700 metres and occupies 398.3 square kilometres in total. The elevated parts are covered by grasslands, whereas the lower parts are used for agricultural purposes. The average yearly temperature is 5.9°C, with 4.8°C in January and 16°C in July. The annual precipitation rate is 740 millimetres. The Tsalka Reservoir occupies the centre of the plateau. Most likely covered largely by forests from Neolithic through Middle Bronze Age ca. 1500 BC, the land today represents mainly ancient

dolomitic Dolomite () is an anhydrous carbonate mineral composed of calcium magnesium carbonate, ideally The term is also used for a sedimentary carbonate rock composed mostly of the mineral dolomite. An alternative name sometimes used for the dolomiti ...

lava and is largely infertile.Philip Kohl
The Making of Bronze Age Eurasia
Cambridge University Press; p. 63 Before the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, crop growing on the plateau was hindered by severe weather conditions, hail and field mice, which is why animal husbandry and beekeeping were more preferred forms of agriculture. The Tsalka plateau is home to the ancient

Trialeti culture The Trialeti-Vanadzor culture, previously known as the Trialeti-Kirovakan culture, is named after the Trialeti region of Georgia and the city of Vanadzor, Armenia. It is attributed to the late 3rd and early 2nd millennium BC. Trialeti-Vanadzor ...

, with

tumuli A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones built ...

dating back to the second millennium BC, discovered in the 1930s.Munchaev 1994, p. 16; cf., Kushnareva and Chubinishvili 1963, pp. 16 ff. Some tumuli have stone-lined "procession ways" of more than 100 metres in length, sometimes linking them to each other.

References

{{Reflist Lava plateaus Mountains of Georgia (country) Landforms of the Caucasus