LORDKIPANIDZE, OTAR, Vani: An Ancient City of Colchis , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 32:2 (1991:Summer) p.151 Vani: An Ancient City of Colchis Otar Lordkipanidze FOR SOME 140 YEARS! reports have appeared of ancient ob­ jects found at Vani, a small town in western Georgia on the left bank of the Sulori River at its confluence with the Rioni River, the ancient Phasis (Fig. 1).2 Beginning in the 1870s 1 The following abbreviations will be used: KS I A =Kratkie Soobshcheniia Instituta Arkheologii SSSR [Short Communications of the Institute of Archaeology of the USSR] (Moscow); Khoshtaria, Collected Papers=N. V. Khoshtaria, Kavkasiur-akhloaghmosavluri krebuli [Caucasian-Near-Eastern Collected Papers] I-VI (Tbilisi 1962-80) (in Georgian and Russian); Lordkipanidze, A G=O. Lordkipanidze, Archaologie in Georgien, tr. D. Mcheidse (Weinheim 1991); Lordkipanidze, D K =Drevnyaya Kolkhida [Ancient Colchis] (Tbilisi 1979); Lordkipanidze, GKK=Gorod-khram Kolkhidi [The City- Temple of Co/chis] (Moscow 1984); Lordkipanidze, Iberia=Antikuri samqaro da qartlis samepo [The Ancient World and Iberia] (Tbilisi 1968) (with Russian summary); Lordkipanidze/Uveque= O. Lordkipanidze and P. Leveque, edd., Le Pont-Euxin vu par les Grecs. Sources ecrites et archeologie. Symposium de Vani (Co/chide), septembre-octobre 1987 (= Centre de Recherches d'lIistoire Ancienne 100, Annales Litteraires de l'Universite de Besanfon [Paris 1990]); Mati/ss= Materiali i issledovania po arkheologii SSSR [Materials and Investigations towards the Archaeology of the USSR]; PAl =Polevie arkheologicheskie issledovaniay [A rchaeological Field Investigations] (Tbilisi); Vani=O. Lordkipanidze, ed., Vani. Arqeologiuri gatkhrebi [Vani. Archaeological Excavations] I- (Tbilisi 1972- ) (in Georgian with Russian and English summaries). All dates unless otherwise noted are B.C. 2 M. Brosset, Rapports sur un voyage archeologique dans la Georgie et dans I'Armenie. Onzieme rapport CSt Petersburg 1850) 4ff. "Vani," a relatively new name for the site, does not appear in ancient or medieval sources. In the geographical description of Georgia compiled by the eighteenth-century Georgian geographer and historian Batonishvili Vakhushti (Bagrationi), the name "Sachino" designates the entire region of which Vani formed part in the late Middle Ages: Batonishvili Vakhushti, Aghtsera sameposa Sakartve/osa [History of Georgia] (=Kartlis Tskhovreba IV [Tbilisi 1951]) 773. The name "Vani" is first attested in the 1770s for a village situated about 7-8 km from the ancient site. In the fifteenth century the village boasted a church of the "Vani Archangel" with frescoes: E. Taqaishvili, Tserkov'V Vane 'V Imerii i eya drevnosti [The Church at Vani in Imereti and its Antiquities] (=I zve stiya Kavkazskogo istoriko-arkheologicheskogo instituta v Tiflise II [Tiflis 1917-25]). The word "Vani," however, occurs in Old Georgian sources as far back as the fifth and sixth centuries A.D., denoting "house" or "haven." In 151 LORDKIPANIDZE, OTAR, Vani: An Ancient City of Colchis , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 32:2 (1991:Summer) p.151 152 VANI: AN ANCIENT CITY OF COLCHIS 11 BLACK .5 EA Figure 1. Ancient Georgia 1 Mtskheu, 2 Nast.1kisi, 3 Samadlo, 4 Tsikhiagor.., 5 Sairkhe, 6 Itkhvisi, 7 Sachkhere, 8 Kut.1isi, 9 Sulori, 10 Shumau, 11 Mlisdziri, 12 Dablagomi, 13 Dapnari, 14 Balumi, 15 Kobuleti-Pichvnari, 16 Poti (Phasis), 17 Sukhumi (Dioscurias) Georgian newspapers frequently noted these discoveries, at­ tracting the attention of native and visiting students of local lore (e.g. G. Tsereteli, A. Stoyanov, and others).3 At the request of the Moscow Archaeological Society, E. Taqaishvili began excavations in 1896 and produced the first scholarly publica­ tions on the antiquities of Vani and its environs, correctly dating the site to the Classical or "Graeco-Roman" period and collecting casual finds now preserved in the State Museum of Georgia (Tbilisi).4 Taqaischvili's excavations were discontinued southwestern and western Georgia several geographical points-mainly monastic sites-bear the name "Vani": I. A. Javakhishvili, Masalebi kartveli khalkhis materialuri kulturis istoriidan [Materials toward the History of the Material Culture of the Georgian People] (Tbilisi 1946) 7ff; Vakhushti 665, 716,719. 3 In general see Lordkipanidze, G K K. 4 E. Taqaishvili, Arqeologiuri mogzaurobani da shenishvnani [Archaeologi­ cal Journeys and Notes] I (Tiflis 1907), and (supra n.2) III 86; see also Otchoti Arkheologicheskoi Komissii Za 1896 god [Reports of the Archaeological Commission for 1896] 109£; P. S. Uvarova, Kollektsii Kavkazskogo museya [Collections of the Caucasian Museum] (=M useum Caucasicum 5 [Tiflis 1902]) 2500-13. LORDKIPANIDZE, OTAR, Vani: An Ancient City of Colchis , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 32:2 (1991:Summer) p.151 OTAR LORDKIPANIDZE 153 at the beginning of the present century; nevertheless, gold objects from Vani occasionally found their way into the State Museum of Georgia. 5 In 1936 N. A. Berdzenishvili headed an expedition to Vani. His subsequent exploratory work, yielding fragments of tiles, amphorae, black- and red-glazed pottery, made obvious the need of large-scale excavations. 6 But sys­ tematic work was not begun until 1947 by the Archaeological Expedition of the Institute of History of the Georgian Acad­ emy of Sciences under the late N. V. Khoshtaria. In 1947-1963, work was conducted (with some intervals) chiefly on the top of the hill (Fig. 2.34-35), with excavations on the lower terraces as well.7 Excavations, discontinued in 1963 and resumed in 1966, have continued to the present by the Archaeological Expedition of the Centre for Archaeological Studies of the Georgian Acad­ emy of Sciences under the direction of the author. During this period cultural layers, structures, and rich burials were un­ earthed on all three terraces (Fig. 2.1-33, 36). Simultaneously, systematic exploration of the territory surrounding the ancient city has been underway with the intent of (a) compiling an archaeological atlas of the historico-geographical region, (b) studying the main stages of its historico-cultural development, and (c) tracing the zone of influence of the ancient city (the so­ called urbanized zone) in order to conceptualize it as a single structural whole. 8 5 B. A. Kuftin, Materiali k arkheologii Kolkhidi [Materials toward the A rchaeology of Colchis] II (Tbilisi 1950) 7ff, pI. 1. 6 N. V. Khoshtaria, "Vanis arqeologiuri shestsavlis istoria [The History of the Archaeological Study of Vani]," in Vani I (1972) 87; on the history of the archaeological study of Vani see also Lordkipanidze, G K K. 7 See N. V. Khoshtaria, "Arqeologiuri gathkhrebi sopel Vanshi 1947 tsels [Archaeological Excavations in Vani in 1947]," in Mimomkhilveli I (Publica­ tions of the Institute of History, ANGSSR: Tbilisi 1947) 296-308, "Arkhe­ ologicheskie issledovaniya v Vani i Vanskom raione v 1952 g. [Archaeological Studies of Vani and Vani District in 1952]," in Masalebi Sakartvelosaa Kavkasiis arqeologiisatvis [Materials toward the History of Georgia and Caucasus] II (Tbilisi 1959) 149-62, "Arkheologicheskie raskopki v Vani [Archaeological Excavations in Vani]," in Collected Papers II 64-80. 8 The results of the excavations are regularly published in Vani, the collected papers of the Vani Archaeological Expedition; see also the annual PAl. Archaeological materials from the excavations are preserved at the State Museum of Georgia in Tbilisi and at the Vani State Archaeological Museum established in 1985. LO RD K IPA N ID ZE, O TA R, Vani: An Ancient City of Colchis , G reek, Rom an and Byzantine Studies, 32:2 (1991:Sum m er) p.151 z ;: ~ i'-.) '";:l f;l ;:l o -. <: II> 2. ----~, ... \\ - - ~ \ I l ... ~-1 - 2'lt0:t }/! ~jl' /'\! : ,_, ! I \ / ! I 'I !I' /) ;: ; " , , ///I! ,i: !, ::' ': : ': /,i ( I, /1 {I / /' / .. /' " / ( I /t ( " ,I!! I " , : " ( , ,I ; j II j I / : : ,',': I : I " I' 1/ {; I {, I' 1" I I I I I , ' I ! I I': ,i " I I "',1', : I i I;" /: " [// /2Ji-':I,~2f, ,r " I I! / I : / " / '~'F' ' I I I' I, // I 1/ v I I I I I { ,- / " I /28 C " t ,I " I /,' / ! F'/ \ I I,' ,/ / 1./(" \ it'i I // ,/ ,"i:~;29 f I f I / / I I (I ' I / ,I 1/ /' / / " I " l II \ //// / \ , , , , I I " I I I I. 2J~4 /21: ", ''- .. ... ,\ \ ~ \::.\1.\\ a~ B1 " \ \ '-. " 118 I Ii , I i I I ;~I~=rJj-20; I:\"~'11 \ " I 17 : : . " \ 44 I (I \ , I »~51!' 1 I ' \ ' 1 2 t , , / '\ I " 6 1 , \ "', I 1 (( ( \ " : 1; ( ,I.' : ,,' '''':'S'' ( I ' ( I, \ " ..... , , 11 I , .. ,' \: \ " \ \\'\' " /,' I,,: 1 I \ \ -'// I ::.; , I , , , ( /,' :!; : ' ! (I' f ' I 'I I. ' I / ( I' I I I .' '/J I \ I -', \ I \ , ,/ /, ': \ I ""~I 2 f, I I '. I '~ 'I , I I I I .. "" ... ' " • '. 5', Ii. . ; ! ' I f: I " 8. I: '/,- I ( / ' 'I ", , ,\, '6., .. .'/ ..••. i !: .: '''/i/,cc""" ' I, I r' ! // ,', ! / ,;;.{ i, i //>:~) l7iir~7 / " I / /',>:/ " - _1 ",', ,',' ,,//I//III~/ \ ,;;i~r;~~~~~:~c;Cj"i'i~:;; ;: \, I { I I /' " - , ;'1" I I / :1/,'/,,//1 ,;~, ,/"',' I " I ' ( '< 5 I (:;.'$J. 31 I ,~o I I ' • I I I ~: 0;""" '(1" I / \ I~\ 'yff~ ~~-....~? / ( , f { \ ,n I"~.J, I I I ( I I' J l'" I~,"'" ( ,I I I '. " )'1 Y / ~: / / ' I '~'u / I III , // f I " ~ ..... -.. /, I I I : ->I~~ __ 1_= -: __ "-__ _-'I:?? , ' .' , , -- - /' I, -, '( I ,',' / I I. 'I , ('" ' : f 8 // " / ,I,',' " , I , ' " / ,,' ,',' 1// " I I I ! /,' ( '. .' I " "( \ ( I ( (/ / I j10 ' I ;, I' I f \ , "u /... ./ )/>c" /...... , ~, I : ~ I 1-++--1-+-+-1- o 10 20 50 100M .... \J1 -4>- <: >­ Z ...... >­ Z >­ Z n ...... tTl Z ..., n ~ o 'Tl n o r-' n ::c ...... Vl LORDKIPANIDZE, OTAR, Vani: An Ancient City of Colchis , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 32:2 (1991:Summer) p.151 OTAR LORDKIPANIDZE 155 The site of Vani is situated in the western outskirts of the modern town, on a low triangular hill of approximately 8.5 ha., flanked on two sides with deep ravines that served as natural defenses in antiquity. The hill dominated the vast, fruitful valley. From here important ancient trade routes passing close to Vani could be controlled, including the route from India to the Caspian Sea and through Transcaucasia (on or along the Kura [the ancient Cyrus] River, then over the Surami Pass, and on to the Phasis River) to reach the Black Sea at the city of Phasis. 9 Other significant routes, running from southern Georgia (Meskheti) through the passes of the Lesser Caucasus and from southwestern Georgia (modern Guria), also passed through Vani. 10 The advantageous strategic situation of Vani, con­ veniently sheltered on the hill, doubtless contributed to its ascendency over numerous other settlements of the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages traceable in the environs of Vani. Archaeological studies have revealed uninterrupted occupa­ tion at Vani during almost the entire first millenium. To date, four principal phases of develop men t are identifiable: (1) ca 800- ca 600, (2) ca 600- ca 350, (3) ca 350- ca 250, and (4) ca 250- ca 47. Individual finds indicate continued but much less mtense occupation of the hill in Roman and mediaeval times. Phase I (ca 800-ca 600) Remains of this phase have so far appeared in relatively small quantity-in cultural layers badly damaged or partly destroyed by constructions of subsequent periods: fragments of baked daub with wicker imprints (i.e., remains of plastered wooden 9 Strab. 2.1.15, 11.7.3; Plin. HN 6.52. Archaeological finds demonstrate that individual sections of this route, at first of local significance in the pre­ Hellenistic period, served the spread of Greek imports from the coastal areas of western Georgia to the hinterland and eastern Georgia. In Hellenistic times, when trade attained 'world' scale, a single major trading route developed from Phasis to India: see O. Lordkipanidze, "Antikur khanashi indoetidan shavi zghvisaken mimavali satransito-savachro gzis shesakheb [On the Transit and Trading Route from India to the Black Sea]," Sakart'Velos metsniereba akademiis moambe [Bulletin, Georgian Academy of Sciences] 19.3 (1957) 377-84, and DK 154ff, 191ff. 10 N. A. Berdzenishvili, Sakart'Velos istoriis sakitkhebi [Problems of the History of Georgia] VIII (Tbilisi 1977) 472ff; T. N. Beradze, "Vanis raionis istoriuli geographiidan [From the Historical Geography of Vani District]," Vani III (1977) 37ff. LORDKIPANIDZE, OTAR, Vani: An Ancient City of Colchis , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 32:2 (1991:Summer) p.151 156 VANI: AN ANCIENT CITY OF COLCHIS structures) and pottery. Hence the sacrificial ground in the northeastern part of the central terrace-an area of ca 90 m 2- dating from the eighth to the seventh centuries, has great importance (Fig. 2.23). Unearthed here were several hundred broken clay vessels, fragments of miniature earthenware altars and figurines of various animals, strong traces of fire (ash), and large numbers of animal bones (cattle and pigs) attesting cultic rituals. Almost all pottery from both the sacrificial ground and contemporary levels of the city indicate manufacture with a potter's wheel. Most characteristic are large and small chan­ nelled vessels (jugs, etc.), cups with a narrow conic bottom, basins and various pots, oil presses, etc. (PLATE la, b). The upper part of the handles usually have characteristic horn-like ("zoomorphic") projections, and the overwhelming majority of the vessels show a polished surface decorated with various geometric ornaments (concentric circles, relief or grooved spirals or wavy lines, conic knobs surrounded by radially arranged notches, hatched chevrons, engraved pine patterns, etc. ).11 Analogous pottery is typical of Colchian sites ca 800-ca 650,12 Although numerous terracotta figurines of various animals occur (e.g. deer, rams), particularly interesting are four-footed ]\ See V. A. Tolordava, "Un complexe cultuel des VIIIeme_VIIeme siecles a Vani," in LordkipanidzelUveque 243-47. 12 The introduction of the potter's wheel-generally considered the most vivid indication of the emergence of ceramic manufacture as a separate and independent handicraft-appeared in Colchis long before the commencement of the Early Iron Age in the eighth and seventh centuries: wheel­ manufactured pottery occurs from the end of the second millenium, and is widely found in settlements and burials of the first half of the first millenium. See Kuftin (supra n.5) 121, 143, 256, 276; A. I. Kakhidze, Saqartvelos zghvispiretis antikuri khanis qalaqebi [The Cities oj the Black Sea Littoral oj Georgia in Classical Times (Kobuleti-Pichvnari)] (Tbilisi 1971) 24 (with Russian summary); M. M. Trapsh, Trudi [Works] II (Sukhumi 1969) 51 ff; 1'. K. Mikeladze, Arqeologiuri kvleva-dzieba rionis kvemo tselze [Archaeological Explorations in the Lower Reaches oj the Rioni] Cfbilisi 1978: hereafter 'Mikeladze, Rioni') 24ff (with Russian summary), and Kolkhetis adrerkinis khanis samarovnebi [Colchian Burial Grounds oj the Iron Age] (Tbilisi 1985) 20ff (with Russian summary); T. K. Mikeladze and D. A. Khakhutaishvili, Drevnekolkhidskoe poselenie Namcheduri [The Namcheduri Settlement] (Tbilisi 1985) 13-20; E. M. Gogadze, Kolkhetis brinjaosa da adreuli rkinis khanis namosakhlarta kultura [The Culture oj the Settlements oj Colchis oj the Period oj the Bronze and Iron Ages] (Tbilisi 1982) 51 ff (with Russian summary). LORDKIPANIDZE, OTAR, Vani: An Ancient City of Colchis , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 32:2 (1991:Summer) p.151 OTAR LORDKIPANIDZE 157 figures with multiple heads on opposite ends (PLATE 2a, b). The protomes of two- and three-headed fantastic creatures with characteristic post-like legs apparently belong to figures of this type-unusual among the numerous local zoomorphic representations 13 but widespread as bronze pendants in so­ called Luristan bronze. 14 Yet their date and association with Luristan bronze is questionable, since most derive from private purchases on the market.15 Such figures, also common in the Greek world and generally assigned to the geometric period,16 have been found in eighth­ and seventh-century contexts at Olympia, Delphi, Athens, 13 Hitherto only one bronze pendant with horse heads on a single four­ footed body was known, found in one of the burials of Tli sepulchre and dated by the excavator to the tenth century: B. C. Tekhov, Tliiskii mogilnik [The Tli Sepulchre] I (Tbilisi 1980) pI. 105.6; it is difficult, however, to concur with such an early date, as the presence of bronze situlae typical of the seventh and sixth centuries would point rather to a later period. 14 Cf. P. Calmeyer, Altiranischen Bronzen der Sammlung Brockelschen (Berlin 1969) 14 no. 19, 12 no. 102, and "V or- und fruhgeschichtliche Zeit," in Das Tier in der Kunst Irans (Ausstellung des Linden Museums: Stuttgart 1972) no. 24; P. R. S. Moorey, Catalogue of Ancient Persian Bronzes in the Ashmolean Museum (Oxford 1971) 233 no. 428; P. Amiet, Les antiquites du Luristan (Paris 1976) 67; O. W. Muscarella, Bronze and Iron: Ancient Near Eastern Artifacts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York 1989) 270f. 15 Thus one documented discovery from a complex of the Hellenistic period may be a chance find: cf. R. Girschman, Terrasses sacnies de Bard-e. Nechanden et Masjidi Solaiman (=MemDe!egArchIran 45 [Paris 1976]) 47 pI. CI.8=pl. 27 G 1415.87; Muscarella (supra n.14) 270f. 16 A. Roes, Greek Geometric Art: Its Symbolism and its Origin (Oxford 1933) 107-27, and "Les ex-voto de bronze de l'epoque gcometrique," RA 52 (1970) 195-208; H. W. Hermann, "Friihgriechischer Pferdschmuck vom Luristantypus," JdI 83 (1968) 33-37, Abb. 24-31; cf a Protoattic oinochoe from the Athenian Agora, generally dated to the first quarter of the seventh century: E. Brann, "Late Geometric and Protoattic Pottery," in Agora VIn (Princeton 1962) 79, no. 426, fig. 4, pI. 26. LORDKIPANIDZE, OTAR, Vani: An Ancient City of Colchis , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 32:2 (1991:Summer) p.151 158 VANI: AN ANCIENT CITY OF COLCHIS Crete, Rhodes, Samos, and elsewhere. I7 In Italy these figures frequently appear in seventh- and sixth-century contexts. IS Although at present a firm decision on which culture influenced the Vani figures (four-footed with two heads on opposite ends) is difficult,I9 the earlier emergence and wide 17 Olympia: A. Furtwangler, "Die Bronzen und die iibrigen kleineren Funde von Olympia," in Olympia. Die Ergebnisse der von dem Deutschen Reich veranstalteten Ausgrabung IV (Berlin 1890) 66 no. 477, Taf. xxv; Delphi: P. Perdrizet, "Monuments, figures, petits bronzes, terres-cuites, antiquites diverses," FdD V.1 (Paris 1908); Athens: F. Winter, Die Typen der figurlichen Terrakotten I (=R. Kekule von Stradonitz, Die antike Terrakotten IILI [Berlin 1903]) 3 no. 7: a terracotta figure from Athens with protomes on both sides and human representations from Eleusis; Crete: 1. K. Brock, Fortetsa: Early Greek Tombs near Knossos (Cambridge 1957) 133 no. 1556, pI. 111; Rhodes: H. W. Walters, Catalogue of the Bronzes, Greek, Roman and Etruscan of the British Museum (London 1899) nos. 132-75; C. Blinkenber­ ger, Lindos: Fouilles de I'Acropole (Berlin 1902-14) I 345, no. 1571, pI. 63; Samos: U. L. Gehrig, Die geometrischen Bronzen aus dem Heraion von Samos (Hamburg 1964) 61 no. 10; elsewhere: C. Rolley, "Autres figurines de terre cuite," in Collection Helene Stathatos III: Objets antiques et byzantins (Strasburg 1963: hereafter' Collection Stathatos') 115, no. 65, pI. XIX. 18 Hermann (supra n.16) 129; C. Zervos, La civilis'ition de La Sardaigne (Paris 1954) 29-34; P. Orlandini, "Piccoli bronzi raffiguranti animali, rinvenuti a Gela e Butera," ArchCl 8 (1956) 1-10; G. Lloyd-Morgan, "Some Bronze ] aniform Animal Figures," in Italian Iron Age A rtifacts in the British Museum (London 1986) 47-50. Most noteworthy are coupled bull-protomes on opposite sides of a single four-footed body: cf the figurines from Vani. For analogous figurines see A. de Ritter, Les bronzes antiques du Louvre I (Paris 1913) no. 204; Walters (supra n.17) 58 no. 396; cf E. C. F. Babelon and]. A. Blanchet, Catalogue des bronzes antiques de La Bibliotheque nationale (Paris 1895)484 no. 1183. 19 M. Rostovtzeff, "A propos de quelques bronzes d' Anatolie, de Syrie et d' Armenie," Syria 12 (1931) 1-57, first supposed the eastern origin of such figurines, which M. Pallotino, "Gli scavi di Karmir-Blur in Armenia e il problema della connessioni tra I'Urartu, la Grecia e l'Etruria," ArchCi7 (1955) 120, takes for Urartian: "Si consideri ad esempio il motivo dell' animale (ariete, toro) con doppia proto me estroversa, cosl frequente nella bronzistica etrusca, specie vetuloniese, del VII secolo e di origine sicuramente asiatica, probabilis­ samente urartea." But the casual market purchase of this example renders the analogy unreliable. Cf H. T. Bossert, ALtanatolien (Berlin 1942) 96. H. Hermann developed the idea of the Luristan origin of the four-footed figures with proto mas on opposite sides of a single body, as well as the supposition of their influence on the Greek representations (cf Hermann [supra n.16J 33f). As already mentioned, the absence of these figures from excavated material casts doubt on their origin, although the pendants continued to be called "Luristan" without being included in lists of 'typical' Luristan artifacts: cf e.g. L. Vanden Berghe, Luristan (Brussels 1983) 119 Abb. 63 (fourteen types of Luristan bronzes). Muscarella (supra n.14: 221 ff) lists specimens of this type LORDKIPANIDZE, OTAR, Vani: An Ancient City of Colchis , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 32:2 (1991:Summer) p.151 OTAR LORDKIPANIDZE 159 distribution of such representations in the Greek world suggest a link with Hellenic culture. 20 Indeed the manufacture of one­ piece, bow-shaped fibulae-a variety of the sub-Mycenaean fibulae and frequently found in eighth- and seventh-century Colchis-points to Greek influence. 21 Hence interest arises in kantharos-like vessels with arched handles from the Vani sacrificial ground that are atypical of contemporary Colchian pottery. Perhaps these new elements in Colchian culture ca 800-ca 650 resulted from Greek contacts (still intermittent) in the pre­ colonial era, which were reflected in the great popularity of stories of the Argonauts in the eighth and seventh centuries and in the first geographical and ethno-political reports of Colchis (e.g. geographical references in the Homeric Catalogue of the Trojans, mention of Colchis in Eumelos and of the Phasis River in Hesiod).22 Regular Greek contacts began only ca 550 after the establishment of Greek settlements on the eastern shore of the Black Sea. Furthermore, the sacrificial ground at Vani may have political implications, with the rise of a major cult center, at least in the eighth and seventh centuries, reflecting the dominant position of Vani over surrounding settlements. The spread of Colchian tribes over the Rioni (Phasis) lowland and the emergence of a strikingly original Late Bronze culture ("Colchian" in specialist literature) dates from at least the middle of the second millenium.23 The entire Colchian lowland was economically not under "Luristan bronzes" but in the chapter "Elamic, Iranian, Parthian and Sassanian Artifacts." 20 O. W. Muscarella, "The Archaeological Evidence for Relations between Greece and Iran in the First Millennium B.C.," JNESocColumbiaU 9 (1977) 43f, and (supra n.14) 221ff. 21 Ju. N. Voronov, "Kavkazskie dugovidnie fibuli rannezheleznoi epokhi [Caucasian Arch-Shaped Fibulae of the Early Iron Age]," KSIA 176 (1983); T. K. Mikeladze, Kolkhetis adrerkinis khanis samarovnebi [Early Iron Age Necropoleis of Colchis] (Tbilisi 1985) 47ff (with Russian summary); cf J. Bouzek, The Aegean, Anatolia and Europa (Prague 1985) 153 fig. 176.3. 22 For details see Lordkipanidze, DK 154, and AG 125ff. 23 The Colchians belonged to the west Georgian (west Kartvelian) tribes, whose descendants have lived to the present day in western Georgia (Megrels, Chans) and partially in Turkey (the Laz). The Colchian language, ordinarily called "Zan" by linguists, developed after the gradual disintegration of the proto-Kartvelian parent-language: Th. V. Gamkrelidze and V. V. Ivanov, In­ doevropeiskii yazik i indoevropeitsi [The Indo-European Language and the Indo-Europeans] II (Tbilisi 1984) 880f; Lordkipanidze, AG 3-9. The isolation LORDKIPANIDZE, OTAR, Vani: An Ancient City of Colchis , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 32:2 (1991:Summer) p.151 160 VANI: AN ANCIENT CITY OF COLCHIS developed and had a fairly dense population, but this complex, protracted process required large-scale labor-intensive work to reclaim marshy wetlands for cultivation, as seen in numerous and varied finds at settlements of this period (e.g. metal agricultural implements, querns, household utensils, botanical remains).24 Colchian settlements, clearly a product of the socio-political structure that these processes engendered, were as a rule situated in clusters, with one or two moats surrounding the leading settlement. 25 Thus a firm foundation was gradually laid for political consolidation of the Colchian tribes. Moreover, mastery of iron in the seventh and sixth centuries played an enormous role in the further development of the socio-political and cultural structures of Colchis.26 of the Colchian language and the inception of Colchian bronze culture are assumed from the second quarter of the second millennium: T. K. Mikeladze, Dziebani kolkhetisa da samkhretaghmosavlet shavizgvispire-tis udzvelesi mosakhleobis istoriidan [Studies in the History of the Ancient Population of Colchis and the Southeastern Black Sea Littoral] (Tbilisi 1974) 72, 184 (with Russian and English summaries); cf Gamkrelidze and Ivanov 909 n.3. For a detailed discussion of the Colchian bronze culture see D. M. Koridze, Kolkhuri kulturis istoriisalvis [Toward the History of Colchian Culture] (Tbilisi 1965) (with Russian summary); A. 1'. Ramishvili, Kolkhetis materi­ aluri kulturis istoriidan [From the History of the Materidl Culture of Colchis] (Batumi 1974); O. M. Japaridze, "Dasavlet saqartvelo gvian-brinjaos khanashi [Western Georgia in the Late Bronze Age]," Matsne (Series of History, Archaeology, Ethnography and History of the Arts) 1982.1, 61-88; 1982.2, 41-46; L. P. Pantskhava, Kolkhuri kulturis mkhatvrulz khelosnobis dzeglebi [Relics of Artistic Craftsmanship in Colchian Culture] (Tbilisi 1988) (with Russian summary). 24 See O. Lordkipanidze, Argonavtika da dzveli Kolkheti [The Argonautica and Ancient Co lch is ] (Tbilisi 1985) 62ff. 25 G. Grigolia, "Dasavlet saqartvelos sadziebo-arqeologiuri eqspeditsiis 1969 tslis mushaobis shedegebi [Results of Exploratory Work in 1969 in Western Georgia]," in A rqeologiuri kvleva-dzieba saqartveloshi 1969 lsels [A rchae­ ological Investigations in Georgia in 1969] (Tbilisi 1971) 19; Mikeladze and Khakhutaishvili (supra n.12) 9; M. V. Baramidze, "Pichorskoe posclenie [The Pichori Settlement]," in Mestnie etno-politicheskie obiedinenia Pricherno­ morya v VI I-IV vv. do n.e. [Local Ethnopolitical Entities of the Black Sea Littoral in the 7 th-4th Centuries B.C.] (=Maleriali IV Vsesojuznogo simpo­ ziuma po drevnei istorii Prichernomorya. Tskaltubo- Vani, 1985 [Materials of the Fourth Symposium on the Ancient History of the Black Sea Littoral. Tskaltubo- Vani, 1985] [Tbilisi 1988: hereafter' Symposium IV']) 224-29. 26 The latest evidence shows that the widespread adoption of iron in west­ ern Georgia began already in the seventh century, although some would date it earlier: cf D. Khakhutaishvili, Proizvodstvo zheleza v drevnei Kolkhide [The Iron Manufacture in Ancient Colchis] (Tbilisi 1987). [-rom then on pro- LORDKIPANIDZE, OTAR, Vani: An Ancient City of Colchis , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 32:2 (1991:Summer) p.151 OTAR LORDKIPANIDZE 161 Phase II (ca 600-ca 350) At the end of the seventh or the beginning of the sixth cen­ tury, a new phase of development began at Vani-and indeed Colchis as a whole-marked by changes in material culture, especially pottery, jewelry, and the spread of imported Greek wares. At Vani one of the earliest Greek imports is a fragment of a Chiot chalice from the first half of the sixth century (Vani VII [1983] 26). Numerous and quite diverse finds-remains of wooden structures and an altar hewn in the rocky ground, thick cultural layers, and rich burials with multiple gold, silver, bronze, and earthenware objects-give a fairly vivid illustration of the new, higher level of devclpment in this settlement, which ha~ already become a political and economic center for its region. Many different and highly varied series of pottery appear in cultural layers and in contexts other than cult structures, altars, and burials. Although the pottery, on the whole, continues the tradition of Phase I, new forms emerge: e.g. pithoi and jars, jugs with biconic body and vertical tubular handle, cyclindrical or high-stemmed goblets, and basins with flat bottoms and slanting walls (Fig. 3).27 The abundance of pithoi (generally absent in duction of iron acquires mass character, attested by numerous remains of manufacture (e.g. smelting furnaces, slags, clay nozzles, clay plaster for furnaces: details in Khakhutaishvili). In settlements and especially burials abundant finds of diverse objects of household economy and battle (e.g. ploughshares, hoes, knives, sickles, so-called segment-shaped multifunctional tools, swords, daggars and blades, spear- and arrowheads) demonstrate the exceptionally wide scale of iron manufacturing. Most iron wares from the seventh to the fourth cenury typologically reproduce Colchian Bron7.e Age forms. Such wide-scale mining of metal and manufacture of iron implements required regular barter between the iron-working and farming populations of mountainous and lowland areas, which was intensely carried on as far back as the Late Bronze Age. The economic interdependence of separate regions of Colchis formed one of the solid foundations uniting the population of the whole country into a single economic-and gradually a single political-sys­ tem. Details in O. Lordkipanidze and T. K. Mikeladze, "Kolkhida v VII-IV vv. do n.e. [Colchis in the 7th _4th Centuries B.C.]," in Symposium IV 124f. 27 Such pottery at Colchian settlements appears as early as the seventh century: see A. T. Ramishvili, "Raskopki prichernomorskikh stoyanok v Pichvnari (Kobuleti) v 1960-1964 i 1967 gg. [Excavations of Seaside Stations at Pichvnari]," Sov Arch 1975.1, 136-53. The presence of fully formed types already in the sixth century is reliably attested by their joint discovery with eastern Greek pottery (e.g. lamps, rosette bowls) of the mid-sixth century at the Colchian settlement of Simagre (20 km cast of Poti): see Mikeladze, Rioni 54-68. LORDKIPANIDZE, OTAR, Vani: An Ancient City of Colchis , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 32:2 (1991:Summer) p.151 162 VANI: AN ANCIENT CITY OF COLCHIS 18 \ ) 19 mw, ~CD b (!, 9 '(8 10 Figure 3. Pottery (Phase II) ~ 2.1 XX 22 III 2] \\\ 2", ;~~ @ 28 ///// "'\ 29 1////// f /.1'//// ;0 l-t" goblets; 7-8,11, jugs; 9,15, decorative vases; 10,12,16-18, pots; 13-14, jars; 19, bowl; 20, pithos; 21-30, patterns of orn .. mentation LORDKIPANIDZE, OTAR, Vani: An Ancient City of Colchis , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 32:2 (1991:Summer) p.151 OTAR LORDKIPANIDZE 163 Phase I), used for the storage or transportation of cereals, oil, and honey but mostly for the fermentation and storage of wine, points to the extensive development of viticulture and wine making. 28 Other, typologically diverse vessels (jugs, bowls, phiales) seem to corroborate this point. The local pottery of Phase II, of fairly high quality and uniformally fired, usually with black (occasionally polished) or gray surface, displays not only common technological features but similar ornamental decor: polished vertical lines and rhom­ boid patterns, wavy lines applied with a comb-like tool, spirals, incised concentric circles, and slanting