Newly discovered obsidian and flint arrowheads from SamShvilde

Abstract

Samshvilde is one of the ancient fortified cities in Georgia. It is located in Kvemo Kartli,
Tetritskaro Municipality, on a triangular basalt cape at the confluence of Chivchava and Khrami
rivers. Stone arrowheads discovered as a result of archaeological survey are presented in
the research.
The material context
Stone arrowheads are discovered on three areas of the former settlement. (I) The first
area is the “citadel” which is the place of origin of several stone arrowheads. (II) The second
discovered area is “Sioni” where stone arrowheads were found in trenches made to the south
of the church and (III) the third area was superficially discovered to the south of the royal
district, during reconnaissance on the slope of Khrami river.
Typological-morphological description of arrowheads
Various types of processed arrowheads were discovered in the former settlement.
We divided them into two groups by the base form: I – with a rounded base and II – with a
grooved base. The pit №1 discovered in the trench №7 is the most interesting among the
trenches of the studied Sioni area. It was cut into the basalt source rock with the depth of
up to 1.5 meters and diameters of up to 2 meters. The first 3 (three) presented arrowheads
were discovered in the midden (trash pit). Arrowheads are presented in two types: with a
rounded base and with a grooved base.
Item №I represents a transparent obsidian arrowhead with a rounded base. Its sizes
are 2,4/1,9/0.4 cm.
Item №II also represents an arrowhead with a rounded base which is made of brownish
flint. The stone arrowhead is made on the whole flake plate and only its sides are covered
with a thin sharpening retouch.
Item №III represents an arrowhead with a grooved base which has reached us in a
damaged form. The item has a vertical grooving from the base to the top, to the middle part
of the arrowhead and due to this, two equal sized wings are created on the bottom.

Item №4 is also interesting. An item similar to a multi-base arrowhead discovered in
trench O-7 is considered as a semi-finished item. The arrowhead has reached us in an incom
plete form. The item resembles items I and II by form, but processing of its sizes is incomplete
and the dimensions are 2,9/2,3/0,4 cm.
The second area is the “citadel”. Item # 6 was discovered in the layers revealed under it.
It looks like a grooved arrowhead, but the arrowhead has reached us in a deficient form. It
was not possible to define the forms. Item # 6 represents a grey obsidian. Item №7 originates
from the eastern part of the citadel and represents an arrowhead with a rounded base. The
arrowhead has a wide base and lacks half of the top