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  • Vani A075

    work
    Creator:
    Vani Archaeological Survey
    Description:
    The archaeological site of Vani lies in the northern foothills of the lower Caucasus at the edge of the Phasis River plain, approximately 35 km southwest of Kutaisi and 4 km due south of the present-day course of the river. The site as excavated occupies a steep-sided hillock overlooking the left (west) bank of the Sulori River, a tributary of the Phasis. The hillock rises at its highest point to an elevation of 167 m asl, about 120 m above the plain below. As defined by its late Hellenistic fortification walls, the site occupies an area of approximately 6 ha, spread over three terraces (known as the Lower, Middle, and Upper Terraces). The site has been very extensively explored, but approximately 4 ha or two-thirds of the fortified area is still occupied by modern house plots and remains to be investigated. Vani is one of the most intensively studied archaeological sites in Colchis. Research at the site is ongoing and includes excavation and palaeoethnobotanical studies. Excavations have revealed a continuous occupation sequence extending from the 8th to the 1st centuries B.C. There is also some limited evidence for habitation in the Roman and Mediaeval periods. Especially notable are the rich and unusual graves of the Classical period (6th to 4th centuries), the monumental stone architecture of the Hellenistic period (3rd to 1st centuries), and the extensive evidence for interaction with the Mediterranean and Near Eastern worlds, including not only commercial and luxury imports (Greek transport amphorae, fine bronze and silver utensils from both the Greek world and Persia), but also local production of bronze sculpture and one long Greek bronze inscription. Half a century of scientific excavation has produced a detailed model of the history of the site, and generated a rich series of hypotheses about its purpose and function in different periods. One of the more enigmatic features of Vani as currently understood is the very limited evidence for residential occupation at any time. Subjects of special interest include the regional significance of Vani in the Classical and Hellenistic periods, the nature of relations between this area and the Greek world, and the history of the region in Roman times. While it is clear that Vani was an unusually large and complex site in the 1st millennium B.C., it is less certain that it exercised the kinds of administrative control over local settlement and economic control over local commerce that have sometimes been attributed to it on the model of a Greek town. The purpose of the regional survey project begun in 2009 is to address these subjects by integrating existing knowledge about Vani and its environs into the kind of technological and conceptual framework characteristic of contemporary American survey archaeology. Of particular importance is the use of Geographic information Systems (GIS) as an organizational and analytical tool, and geophysical prospection both in the immediate environs of Vani and at regional sites. In 2009 the survey project investigated an area just outside the archaeological site of Vani to the south using two methods of geophysical prospection, electrical resistivity and magnetic survey. In 2010 excavations were carried out in one of these areas, Area B (B001).
    Keyword:
    Early Hellenistic, Iron Age, Classical, Late Hellenistic, Hoard, Settlement, Sanctuary, Roman, Burial, Fortification, and Mediaeval
    Citation to related publication:
    Archaeological remains at Vani were known as early as the 1850s, and the first report on assemblages found at the site was produced in 1880. First formal excavations began in 1896, but lasted only a few years. Stray finds of gold jewellery were reported in 1929 and 1940. A new intensive program of survey and excavation was carried intermittently from 1936 to 1946. In 1947, the Vani Archaeological Expedition was established. It was first led by Nino Khostaria (until 1963). Otar Lordkipanidze directed the activities from 1966 until 2002, and was succeeded by Darejan Kacharava after his death in 2002. Active excavations at the site concluded in 2007. Bibliography below is not exhaustive; rather, it lists major volumes on the archaeology of Vani. For a complete list of works published until 1995, see Vani IX volume (1996)., Lordkipanidze, Otar, ed. 1972. Vani I. Arkeologiuri gatkhrebi (1947-1969) [Vani I. Archaeological excavations (1947-1969)], vol. I. Tbilisi. (In Georgian with summaries in Russian and English.), Lordkipanidze, Otar, ed. 1976. Vani II. Arkeologiuri gatkhrebi [Vani II. Archaeological excavations], vol. II. Tbilisi. (In Georgian with a Russian summary.), Lordkipanidze, Otar, ed. 1977. Vani III. Arkeologiuri gatkhrebi [Vani III. Archaeological excavations], vol. III. Tbilisi. (In Georgian with Russian summaries.), Lordkipanidze, Otar, ed. 1979. Vani IV. Arkeologiuri gatkhrebi [Vani IV. Archaeological excavations], vol. IV. Tbilisi. (In Georgian with Russian and English summaries)., Lordkipanidze, Otar, ed. 1981. Vani V. Arkeologiuri gatkhrebi [Vani V. Archaeological excavations], vol. VI. Tbilisi. (In Georgian with Russian and English summaries)., Lordkipanidze, Otar, ed. 1981. Vani VI. Arkeologiuri gatkhrebi [Vani VI. Archaeological excavations], vol. VI. Tbilisi. (In Georgian with Russian and English summaries)., Lordkipanidze, Otar, ed. 1983. Vani VII. Arkeologiuri gatkhrebi [Vani VII. Archaeological excavations], vol. VII. Tbilisi. (In Georgian with Russian summaries)., Lordkipanidze, Otar, ed. 1986. Vani VIII. Arkeologiuri gatkhrebi [Vani VIII. Archaeological excavations], vol. VIII. Tbilisi. (In Georgian with Russian summaries)., Lordkipanidze, Otar, Darejan Kacharava, and Arrian Chanturia. 1996. Vani IX. Arkeologiuri gatkhrebi [Vani IX. (Archaeological excavations: Analytical bibliography: 1850-1995)]. Tbilisi. (Parallel texts in Georgian and English.), Lordkipanidze, Otar and Pierre Lévêque. Eds. 1996. Sur les traces des Argonautes. Actes du 6e symposium de Vani (Colchide) 22-29 septembre 1990, edited and translated by A. Fraysse, E. Geny and T. Khartchilava. Paris : Diffusé par les belles letters., Lordkipanidze, Otar and Pierre Lévêque. Eds.1999. La mer Noire, zone de contacts : actes du VIIe Symposium de Vani (Colchide), 26-30 IX 1994. Besançon: Presses universitaires franc-comtoises. , Lordkipanidze, Otar and Pierre Lévêque. Eds.1999. Religions du Pont-Euxin : actes du VIIIe Symposium de Vani, Colchide, 1997. Translated and edited by Arlette Fraysse et Évelyne Geny. Paris : Diffusé par Les Belles letters., Lordkipanidze, Otar. 2000. Phasis. The River and City in Colchis. Geographica Historica 15. Stuttgart: Steiner., Faudot, M., Fraysse, A. and É. Geny, eds. 2002. Pont-Euxin et commerce : la genèse de la Route de la soie : actes du IXe Symposium de Vani, Colchide, 1999. Besançon: Presses universitaires franc-comtoises., Kacharava,Darejan, Faudot, M. and E. Geny, eds. 2002. Autour de la Mer Noire: Hommage á Otar Lordkipanidze. Besançon : Presses universitaires franc-comtoises., Kacharava,Darejan, Faudot, M. and E. Geny. Eds. 2005. Pont-Euxin et Polis. Polis Hellenis et Polis Barbaron. Actes du Xe Symposium de Vani 23-26 septembre 2002: hommage à Otar Lordkipanidzé et Pierre Lévêque. Besançon: Presses universitaires Franc- Comtoises., and Kacharava, Darejan, Guram Kvirkvelia, and Jennifer Chi. 2008. Wine, Worship, and Sacrifice: the Golden Graves of Ancient Vani. Princeton: Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, in association with Princeton University Press.
    Discipline:
    Social Sciences and Humanities