Abstracts - International Initiative for Georgian Cultural Studies

ANCIENT GEORGIA
Merab Khalvashi
Batumi State University and the Archaeological Museum. Georgia
Imported Amphorae at Pitchvnari
The study of the amphorae discovered in ancient cemeteries and cities (Kios, Thassos, Lesbos, Mende,
Heraclea, Sinope, etc) has yielded substantial evidence that help to establish a type and intensity of relations
that the region had with the outside world.
The import of amphorae into Pitchvnari is related to the Greek settlement founded that was following
the Attic colonization. The materials unearthed on the settlement site and the necropolis related to it, suggest
that the import of amphorae began in Pitchvnari in the 470-460s BC and lasted until approximately
330 BC. The relations were characterised by different degrees of intensity becoming relatively regular
from the first quarter of the fifth century BC. In the early years of the third quarter and in the fourth quarter
Colchis was engaged in intensive relations with the outside world. Kios and Thassos played a key role in
this relationship.
The statistical correlation between the amphorae found in fifth to fourth century Greek cemeteries and
those unearthed in the fifth century Colchian cemeteries confirms the presence of commercial ties between
the aforementioned centres and the Greek colony of Pitchvnari. It appears that the works reached the local
population thanks to the trade ties with Greek communities.
Irine Varshalomidze
Batumi State University and the Archaeological Museum. Georgia
Roman Coins from Gonio-Apsaros
Gonio-Apsaros is one of the most important sites of the southeast Black Sea littoral. Numismatic finds
provide a primary source for the study of political and commercial characteristics of urban life in Apsaros.
From 1995 to 2007, the archaeological expedition at Gonio-Apsaros unearthed more than 150 Roman
coins. The study of these coins offers the following findings on the political and commercial connections
relevant to the flow of coins to the region:
The first group comprises 29 coins from the first century, 15 of which were struck in Antioch, four in the
kingdom of Pontus, two in Rome, two in Lugdunum, and one each in Bosporus, Judea, Gadara and Ephesus.
Most of the coins are of copper. Numismatic evidence points to the political and economic relations
between Apsaros and Syria during the second half of the first century;
The second group is represented by 36 coins minted in the second century, of which 15 were struck in
Rome, 13 in Caesarea, two in eastern mint, three in Trebizond, and one in Neocaesarea. Most of these coins
are of silver;
The third group united 38 coins, of which 23 were minted in Caesarea, five in Rome, three in Trebizond,
two in Thessalonica and one in Sinope.
The period between the first and the third centuries saw the advance of urban life. The study of the numismatic
evidence has shown that Apsaros was then under the influence of Asia Minor. It also appears that
it had most intense political and economic relations with Cappadocia and the southern cities and towns of
the Black Sea coast.
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