Roadworks in Georgia's capital uncover rare 10th-century pottery cache

TBILISI, Sept 9 : Amid the debris six metres beneath Tbilisi's main thoroughfare, roadworks that have frustrated residents have yielded an archaeological prize: a cache of 10th-century pottery among the oldest medieval works ever found in the Georgian capital.

Work on Rustaveli Avenue, the city's stately central boulevard, began this summer to add pedestrian crossings, improve signage and make other upgrades.

The project has brought traffic chaos and drawn complaints from residents, who must now navigate gaping holes and crushed brick on their daily walks, but it has also given archaeologists a rare glimpse into Tbilisi's past.

The discovery of the ceramic workshop came as little surprise to David Lordkipanidze, director of the National Museum, located just a stone's throw from the dig site.

"Tbilisi is very rich with archaeological material...so it's very logical to find workshops of different periods," he said.

Medieval Georgian chronicles date Tbilisi's founding to the 4th century, when Vakhtang I ruled over the kingdom of Kartli in what is now eastern Georgia. 

Preliminary studies of the pottery's ornamentation suggest the fragments date from sometime between the 10th and 11th centuries, when Tbilisi was under Arab rule and an important stop along the Silk Road. The archaeological findings will be brought to the National Museum for 3D scanning and proper review, Lordkipanidze said.

Tbilisi blossomed in the medieval period, during which time the city changed hands between the Umayyad caliphate of Damascus, Baghdad's Abbasid caliphate and the formidable Seljuk Empire, among others.

"Tbilisi was always multicultural," Lordkipanidze said, and "a real centre for the region, particularly an economic centre."

Successive waves of conquest by the Mongols, Persians and Russians have influenced the look of the city, where crumbling, 19th-century houses cling to hillsides above the Kura river, which flows from the Caucasus mountains to the Caspian Sea.

Tbilisi's name - which means "a warm place" in Georgian - refers to the hot, sulphurous waters that pour forth from the mountains ringing the city and form creeks that trickle below its streets. Some are now on full display due to the renovation works along Rustaveli Avenue.

Tbilisi's mayor has pledged a "well-organised and modern" result and workers are labouring through the night to meet a November deadline. The city hall is under pressure to investigate claims that asbestos was dug up from the bowels of the avenue.