The paper will present and discuss the preliminary list of diagnostic ceramic features used by the Georgian-Italian GIGAP project for dating the sites of the 2023-2025 Gardabani survey. Although Gardabani region is strategically located in the Middle Kura valley between Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, it was until recently the object of few archaeological investigations, making it, from an archaeological point of view, a poorly known area. A first chronological framework for local pottery, to be implemented and anchored to absolute dates by means of future excavations in the area, was established by focusing on visually identified fabric types, as well as on selected diagnostic items with parallels in excavated sites in the neighbouring regions. Pottery collected thus far on the field was identified as spanning from the Late Chalcolithic (?) to the Medieval/post-Medieval period, with the Late Bronze/Early Iron Age standing out as an especially well-represented phase. The later Iron Age/Hellenistic to Late Antiquity period is apparently also well represented, but needs to be further specified and internally better subdivided. Possible reasons for the absence (or non-identification) of pottery belonging to other periods (Neolithic, Early/Middle Bronze Age, etc.) will also be discussed.

First Author: Michela Ferracin

Co-Authors: Joel Lovat, Francesco Bianchi, Elena Rova

Keywords:
Southern Caucasus
Pottery
Survey
Gardabani