In ancient times, the land of Colchis, home of the fabled Golden Fleece and of the sorceress Medea, was reputed as being a land where gold and silver could be had in abundance. That reputation has not been tarnished by modern archaeological research and discovery ; on the contrary,it has been justified.

The land that the ancient Greeks called Colchis lies in one of the former Soviet Republics, today the independent state of Georgia. It is bordered by Russia and Southern Ossetia (and the Greater Caucasus Mountains) to the north, the Republic of Abkhazia and the Black Sea to the west, Turkey and Armenia to the south, the Republic of Azerbaijan to the south east, and Dagestan to the east.

Evidence of metallurgical savoir faire in copper has been discovered in chalcolithic sites in various valleys throughout Georgia as well as in some caves near the shores of the Black Sea : Tetra Miza, Madjara, Guandra, Samele Klde, Okoumi. The habitats excavated display a particular form : groups of circular rooms with cupolas, somewhat similar to Greek toloi.

The transition from the Chacolithic to the Ancient Bronze period occurred around 3500 B.C. Historians and archaeologists speculate that the arrival of a foreign population from the north and/or the east triggered cultural changes. Similar effects produced by this influx of a different population can be attested in Syria and Palestine. Something like a fertility rite appears, traces of which have been found in “family homes”. Funerary customs change ; certain persons are interred in stone or earthen chambers while others are put into collective graves. Most impressive of all, perhaps, is the remarkable development of metal working.

Copper had been used to make tools and weapons. Digs have turned up ovens for heating copper. Well before 2500 B.C. the inhabitants of Colchis knew how to make a copper and arsenic alloy. Later, tin was introduced into bronze alloys. Tools, weapons and ornamental pieces take on new forms. Gold and silver are decorated with circles and spirals.

Cornaline pearls have been found sewn into clothing. Animal fangs served as jewellery. Tombs from these regions have given up the earliest known scissors, axes and daggers, as well as knives made from silver. Goldsmithing is especially developed : fibulae, rings, earrings and other ornamental pieces show remarkable sophistication with strings of pearls, spirals, buttons. One of the most famous and ancient examples (around 2500 B.C.) of “animal art” found in the Transcaucasus is the golden lion of Znori, in the Alazani Valley, which can be viewed at the National Museum of Tbilisi.

Source : Archéologia, no. 316, Oct. 1995, pp. 58-66. Éd. Faton, Dijon.