Early Medieval tableware found at Archaeoligical cite Areshi

Abstract

The presented paper provides an attempt of the author to separate and date part of the ceramics excavated in the Areshi settlement in 1973-82, which could be dated as the
early medieval period. Areshi settlement is located in the eastern part of Georgia, in Kvareli municipality, on the upper part of the river Areshi, on the territory of the modern village Mtisdziri. In 1973-82 Simon Janashia Georgian State Museum excavated. Areshi Settlement on
the territory of this village. The results of the excavations were published in the monograph of levan Chilashvili “Areshi” in 1991. Nevertheless, the ceramics found are not perfectly divided according to layers and time periods, and a large part of the ceramic was not photographed.
In the following article, we chose part of the ceramics from the general set of materials, which we believe belongs to the early medieval period. We have also identified parallel materials and photographed them. In total,
we chose 49 fragments out of which nine are jugs, three pots, and thirty-one bowls, minor part of the materials don’t have clear morphological characteristics and their dating
is based on color, clay, and surface treatment. Characteristics of early medieval ceramics are different from both ceramics of the earlier period and the later-high medieval period. Ceramics of the same period defers from one another by their nature of usage: tableware and kitchen ceramics had different colors, composition, and levels of burn. It is noteworthy that kitchenware could have double usage. In addition to dating with morphological signs, we tried to date by searching for parallel materials. Such materials were found not only in early medieval monuments excavated in Georgia, but also several outside the country, which is easily explained by the involvement of the Kingdom of Kartli in regional and international trade.