The 5th mission of the “Samtskhe-Javakheti Project”, the Italian-Georgian mission co-directed by Vakhtang Licheli (Tbilisi State University/Archaeological Association of Georgia), Tornike Chilingarashvili (Tbilisi State University) and Roberto Dan (Associazione Internazionale di Studi sul Mediterraneo e l’Oriente – ISMEO).
Last July, the research activities – financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and ISMEO – focused on two archaeological excavations and some reconnaissance activities in the sites of Didi Natsargora and Meghreki, located in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region. The outcomes of this mission will lead to a better archaeological knowledge of the Javakheti upland and the pottery artefacts of this area.
In particular, Didi Natsargora’s site excavations led to the discovery of a stone structure, some ceramic materials dating to the Middle and Late Iron Age, and several pottery fragments from the Early Bronze Age.
Other relevant finds, ascribable to different Iron Ages, were unearthed in the Meghreki site. They revealed some previously unknown cultural aspects of the Javakheti region during the Iron Age. More specifically, archaeologists found an oven traditionally used in central Georgia and a platform in a housing structure, where, among the pottery, they uncovered a decorated terracotta plaque.
