კვიციანი, ზვიად / Kvitsiani, Zviad2024-07-152024-07-152024-02-14თბილისის უნივერსიტეტის დაარსებისადმი მიძღვნილი სამეცნიერო კონფერენცია. თსუ 106, თეზისები, 2024, გვ.: 51-56 / Scientific conference dedicated to the foundation of Tbilisi University. TSU 106, Abstracts, 2024, pp.: 51-56https://dspace.tsu.ge/handle/123456789/2483Iron metallurgy was sufficiently developed in Svaneti, the archaeological evidence of which are the metallurgical fields and iron smelting furnaces, iron slags, iron scraps, ceramic nozzle pipes of furnaces, iron agricultural and military tools, and other items discovered by 2011-2023 Svaneti archaeological expedition conducted by TSU in Chuberi community villages: Kvemo (lower) Marghi, Kv. Ipari, Khaishi, Kedani, Luha and Lakhami. Ancient iron artefacts are often found in Western Georgia. In this regard, Chorokhi and Chuberi valleys were the first to attract attention. Numerous remains of furnaces found in the Nenskra Valley, namely on the northern slope of the village of Lakhami (about 110 hectares) and near the beginning of the Enguri Valley, on the left bank of the river, in the villages Jvari and Lia, must have been connected with this iron production center. The discovered iron furnaces, as well as waste materials from processing - iron scraps, processed iron, stone-built and plastered stoves - date back to the 8th-6th centuries BC. The amount of the recorded material and the scale of the territory allow us to say that the iron mined in Svaneti, Racha and Chorokhi River basin was supplied not only to Kolkheti, but also to the states of Asia Minor. At that time, iron mining and processing was an indicator of the existence of a high civilization. As a result of excavations in 2023, iron metallurgical workshops of the early Middle Ages were confirmed in Lower Ipari, which is the first case in the archaeology of Western Georgia. One of the archeologically particularly interesting micro-regions in Svaneti is the Lower Ipari area. This is where the archaeology of Svaneti began in 1925. The iron production workshops of the village of Kv. Ipari are located 200-300 meters from the left bank of the Enguri River, at the foot of the eastern slope of the mountain, on an 80-90% inclination (Fig. 1-2). In 2023, the archaeological research and search carried out by the TSU Svaneti archaeological expedition in Kv. Ipari obtained a number of additional evidence proving that this micro-region was one of the powerful centers of metal production in Georgia. As a result of archaeological study, clay quarries related to metallurgical production of iron in the early Middle Ages were revealed (Fig. 4), (which is the first case in the archaeology of Svaneti), an exceptionally large number of clay pipes (Fig. 3), slags (Fig. 5), industrial waste (Fig. 7), the so-called cast metal fragments of mallets (Fig. 6), stone ambroses of different sizes (Fig. 8), which is also the first case, stainless iron fragments left in the pipe itself, iron scraps, ceramic dishes. As a result of the conducted works, we can draw the following conclusions: The Enguri area is filled with monuments of iron production, according to the available materials, it is clear that objects related to iron production in this region began to operate in the 8th-7th centuries BC, and taking into account the Kura workshops of Kvemo Ipari, this tradition on a larger scale continues even in the early Middle Ages.otherThesis