GOCHA R.

TSETSKHLADZE

DID THE GREEKS GO TO COLCHIS FOR METALS?

Summary A too simple understanding of the process of Greek colonisation,

especially the reasons for it, sometimes leads modem scholars to unrealistic
conclusions. This paper examines the view commonly found in the literature
that the main reason for the arrival of the Ionians in Colchis in the middle
of the 6th century BC was the areas richness in metals. Archaeological material
discussed here shows that Eastern Pontus wasfar from being so well endowed,
and that the local tribes were less advanced in metallurgy than is ofien believed.
The Scythian incursion into Colchis at the end of the 7th century BC both
introduced Colchians to iron metallurgy and gave rise to a lacuna in the material
culture of the area. New tribes in the Eastern Black Sea in the middle of the
6th century BC revived the iron industry, but it never again reached the scale
of production achieved in the 7th century BC. The involvement of the Greeks
in iron metallurgy is a matter of which, so far, we know nothing. Nevertheless,
the Greeks, trying to adapt their art to the tastes of the local rulers, established
in Colchis in the 5th century BC schools of gold- and silver-smiths, as well
as the production of metal seals and engraved gems.

INTRODUCTION

In almost all studies of the Greek colonisation of Colchis (eastern Black Sea region) it
is stressed that Colchis was rich in iron,
copper, gold and silver, and that the Greek
presence in that area of Pontus was due to their
desire to export those natural resources from
Colchis to Greece (Figure 1). At this point
Strabo is quoted: . . . Again, Medea the sorceress is an historical person and the wealth
of the regions about Colchis, which is derived
from the mines of gold, silver, iron and
copper, suggests a reasonable motive for the
expedition [the Argonauts voyage to Aia], a
motive which induced Phrixus also to undertake

this voyage at an earlier date . . . (1.2.39).

Does this reflect the real situation, or is it
merely a conclusion drawn by modern
scholars? The information provided by Strabo,
as the context of the passage shows clearly,
is part of the ancient authors discussion of the
myth about the Argonauts. It has been pointed
out on many occasions that this myth is
unlikely to have reflected historical fact and
that it should be approached with the utmost
caution (Braund 1994, 8-34; Tsetskhladze
1994c, 114-5, with literature).
Let me now attempt to examine this complex
question with reference to the existing
archaeological material. I should like to show

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DID THE GREEKS GO TO COLCHIS FOR METALS?

ASNY MAYAK

NAMCHEDURI

Figure 1
Map of Colchis (6th-1st cc BC), with major sites.

things as they really are and, wherever

possible, give straightforward answers to the
questions which arise. When answers are not
available I shall endeavour to pinpoint the
nature of the problem.
CAUCASIAN/COLCHIAN BRONZE OBJECTS
IN GREECE?

Excavation in Samos unearthed 10 bronze

bells dating from the late 8th and 7th centuries,
also a bird in open-work, all of which are held
to be of Caucasian origin. The objects were
found in a sanctuary and were probably
offerings (Mobius 1938, 156-66; Jantzen
1972, 80-5; Bouzek 1974. 89). Two similar
bronze bells were found in tombs (Nos. 28 and
40) at Dura-Europos which date from the 1st
century AD (Rostovtzeff et al. 1946, 121 -2,

pls. XLVIII; LII). Moreover, as finds from

Khurvin show, such conical bells penetrated
into Iran (Vanden Berghe 1964, pl. XXXVII,
255). E. Porada (1967, 108-9; cf. Spear 1978,
70-2, 94-7; Muscarella 1988, 442-4)
thought that these objects spread from
Transcaucasia because they were ubiquitous
there.
Why and how did these bells reach Samos?
Were they really of CaucasianKolchian
origin? It is difficult to give unequivocal
answers to these questions. As mentioned
above, bells of this type were widespread in
Iran, and even in Dura-Europos in the 1st
century AD. These bells probably made their
way to Samos via the Near East (Iran) and their
presence does not indicate any direct links
between Caucasia and Samos. In any case, the
quantity of these finds is not sufficient to
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GOCHA R. TSETSKHLADZE

indicate the existence of any regular links.

Next of interest are two 7th century bronze
figurines of a sleeping woman holding a child
to her breast. One figurine was found in Samos
(Jantzen 1972, 83-5) (Fig. 9, 5 ) , the other
in Colchis (Mikeladze 1985,59-62) (Fig. 9,
4). Both were thought to have been of Colchian
origin but it has recently been suggested
(Voyatzis 1992, 262-9) that the figure from
Samos was of local Greek origin.2 Thus it is
the case that the origin of these two figurines
is very uncertain.
It is, therefore, highly likely that no links
between Greece and Caucasia/Colchis existed
until the Greek colonisation of Colchis.
METALLURGY IN COLCHIS BEFORE GREEK
COLONISATION (14TH-7TH CENTURIES BC)

The Late Bronze Age in Western Georgia

began in the 16th-15th centuries BC with an
unusual culture known as the Bronze Axe
Culture. It was from this period that bronze
metallurgy reached a high level. Antimonous
bronze was widely used, as were techniques
such as forging, welding, stamping, chasing
and drawing (Lordkipanidze0. 1978,37). The
main component of this culture was the bronze
axe which is found everywhere in large
quantities from the 14th to the 7th centuries
BC, and of which several different types have
been identified (Lordkipanidze 0. 1978,
39-42). From the 1lth-10th centuries
onward engraved decoration appears on
Colchian axes (depictions of animals)
(Pantskhava 1988,25-30). These axes were
used for martial, productive and ritual
functions (Fig. 6).
Other typical finds relating to this culture
are hoes, sickles, segment-shaped tools,
warriors pole-axes, daggers, swords, spears,
diverse pins, fibulae, decorative plates, artistic
figurines (depicting human beings, various
animals and birds), bracelets, rings, small

bells, bits, etc. (Lordkipanidze 0. 1978, 38)

(Figs. 4; 5 , 8-9).
Prominent among archaeological material of
the Colchian Bronze Culture are hoards
consisting of various bronze objects and bronze
ingots, and containing all types of tool. In most
cases the hoards were buried in pottery vessels,
less frequently in metal ones; at times the
objects were simply buried without any vessel
- it is probable that they had originally been
wrapped in animal skins. At present, about 130
of these hoards have been found. As a rule
these were chance finds. The hoards often
contain several dozens, even hundreds of
bronze objects. Some scholars hold that these
were metal-castershoards, others that they
were traders hoards (Apakidze 1991,2 1-2,
with literature).
In almost every settlement, remains of metal
production are encountered: slag, casting
moulds, fragments of clay nozzles, bellows,
etc. Hearths once used for bronze production
are mainly to be found in the gorges of rivers
(large and small), with the largest number
concentrated in the foothills of mountain
ranges. (In settlementshearths are found within
clearly definable areas) (Apakidze 1991,
42-4).
The earliest iron objects were found with
Colchian bronze items in the Ude hoard (over
100 bronze articles and the following iron
ones: two spear terminals, a dagger, a pin, a
bronze belt-buckle with iron encrustation)
(Mikeladze 1990, 52). Scholars have put
forward different dates for this hoard: either
the end of the 13th century or the 1lth- 10th
centuries BC (Mikeladze 1990, 52, with
literature) - which seems to me to be pure
speculation in so far as there is nothing of a
definite date in the hoard. As T.K. Mikeladze
aptly pointed out: In Colchian archaeological
material there is not a single iron object and
if we take into account the discoveries of recent
years there could not be one relating to that

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DID THE GREEKS GO TO COLCHIS FOR METALS?

0
h - -

10 cms
1

Figure 2
Agricultural implements from the burial-grounds of Colchis (end of 7th c BC)
1-2 Iron ploughs
3, 7, 9. Bronze knives
4-6, 8, 10. Iron knives
(After Mikeladze 1990, tabl. 34)

II

Ill

IV

'i
0 0

Figure 3
Iron swords lend of 7th c BC)
(After Mikeladze 1990, tabl. 25)
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GOCHA R . TSETSKHLADZE
Ill

I P

5-

3
Figure 4
Bronze swords (7th c BC)
(After Mikeladze 1990, tabl. 24)

period [13th- 10th cc BC]. The fact of the

matter is that the earliest artefacts reflecting
the beginning of the production of iron objects
are recorded in burials relating to a period
no earlier than the end of the 7th century BC
[my italics]. In other words, not only are
bronze and iron objects found together in the
same group of burials, but also bronze
prototypes alongside their iron derivatives'
(Mikeladze 1990,52-3) (Figs. 2-4; 7). This
means that the hypothesis accepted formerly
- that iron was beginning to be used widely
in Colchis in the 8th-7th centuries BC
(Lordkipanidze 0. 1978, 51, with literature)
- should (according to new studies) be
regarded as erroneous. The 7th century marked
only the beginning of the Iron Age.
In Colchis the cemeteries of the first half of
the first millennium BC yield interesting
quantities or iron weapons (it should be

I
8

10

remembered, however, that quantity does not

always mean quality!). Approximately 30
cemeteries of the first half of the first
millennium BC have been found (Apakidze
1991, 17-21), but iron items are only to be
found in burials dating from the 7th century
BC onwards. By way of example let us turn
to the burials in the village of Nigvziani where
10 pits containing group burials have been
excavated. These contained the following
grave goods: 88 iron hoes, 6 iron ploughs, 3
iron axes, 1 iron sickle, 8 iron daggers, 5 iron
sword, 1 iron spear terminal, 1 iron fibula, 2
iron pins, 1 pair of iron tweezers, etc. - some
150 iron articles in all. The bronze items found
there include 4 daggers, 2 arrow-heads, 1 pair
of tweezers and 3 bracelets amongst a total of
34 bronze items. To this list 17 silver articles
should be added, plus one of electrum, over
lo00 cornelian beads, 8 whetstones and several

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DID THE GREEKS GO TO COLCHIS FOR METALS?

dozen pottery vessels (Mikeladze 1985,

70-95).
IRON-SMELTING WORKSHOPS

To date 400 iron-smelting workshops have

been recoded in Colchis, of which only 27 have
been excavated and studied (Khakhutaishvili
1987, 40 and passim). These workshops
consisted of smelting furnaces and the
production areas in which they had been set
up (Fig. 10). They were grouped together in
four main centres situated in the foothill region
of Colchis (Khakhutaishvili 1987, 40) (Fig.
11).3
When it comes to dating these workshops
there are differences of opinion amongst the
scholars concerned. D.A. Khakhutaishvili
(1987, 109, 143, 150, 162, 218) would date
some from the middle, or even the first half
of the second millennium BC. (It is worth
noting that he used to date the early workshops
to the 11th-10th centuries BC - 1977, 140).
T.K. Mikeladze (1990, 52-3) has doubts
about this and from his convincing discussion
of the first iron objects in Colchis it emerges
that these furnaces should be dated to the 7th
century BC, perhaps even to the end of that
century.
This debate may go on for a long time but
for our purposes one fact is particularly
important - virtually all the workshops date
from a period prior to the 6th century BC. Two
workshops have been dated to the Classical
period, although doubts could be voiced on this
question (for further discussion see below)
(Khakhutaishvili 1987, 115-7).
SOURCES OF RAW MATERIALS

Regions in both the Greater and Lesser

Caucasus were rich in the copper which was
essential for bronze metallurgy. In the upper
reaches of the Rioni river (ancient Phasis), at

a height of 1200- 1300 metres above sea-level,

the interesting discovery has been made of
several dozen ancient adits situated on slopes
and sometimes on sheer rocks. Some of the
adits are as much as 15-20 metres long,
13- 15 metres wide; their average height is 1.5
metres. In them levels of charcoal have been
found and also stone hammers; in one a
wooden bowl was found, in another a granite
one. Not far from the ore deposits remains of
charcoal were found, as were stone hammers,
large amounts of slag and stone tools (mortars
and hullers) (Lordkipanidze 0. 1989b,
200- 1).
The ancient Colchian iron-smelters used
magnetite (Fe,O,) in the form of sand, as
well as haematite (Fe203) as raw materials.
Within the territory of ancient Colchis
magnetite sands extend right along the eastern
coast of the Black Sea. The typical magnetite
content of these sands (at a depth of 5-6
metres) is up to 2%, while the metal content
of magnetite-enriched sand is approximately
55 % . In some a places higher magnetite content has been noted (Khakhutaishvili 1987,
184). The use of magnetite sands as a raw
material would seem to be demonstrated by
the absence of pieces of iron ore amongst the
slag heaps in the workshops; neither have
remains of magnetite sand survived
(Khakhutaishvili 1987, 184-7). Mineralogical
analyses show (according to a publication by
Khakhutaishvili: 1987, 186-7) that the main
mineral ores in the coastal sands of the eastern
Black Sea region are: magnetite or titanomagnetite (approximately 4.1 %), iron hydroxide and ferruginated minerals (3.2 %), rich
and poor concretions, grains of vanadium and
chrome (in minute quantities). The concentration of magnetite sands was carried out using
the flotation method.
All along the coasts of Colchis so-called
dune settlements were to be found. These are
dated differently by various scholars but
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DID THE GREEKS GO TO COLCHlS FOR METALS'!

probably took shape at the end of the 8th

century BC and ceased to be inhabited by the
end of the 7th century BC. (It can be asserted
without doubt that they were already deserted
by the 6th century BC). As with virtually all
questions of the archaeology of Colchis, there
is controversy about their purpose. The
following explanations have been put forward:
that their emergence was linked to the
extraction of salt from sea water; that they were
cultic sites; that they were for fishermen; etc.
Nowadays the suggestion of A. Ramishvili that the dune settlements were linked to the
processing of magnetite sands - is gaining
wider and wider acceptance as the correct
interpretation .4
The main type of fuel used in smelting was
charcoal and there were large numbers of
forests in Colchis, as well as the fire-resistant
clay so essential to the smelting process
(Khakhutaishvili 1987, 189-94).
END OF THE 7TH CENTURY AND BEGINNING
OF THE 6TH CENTURY BC

In the archaeology of Colchis this period is

characterised by two phenomena of crucial
importance:
1. It is notable that traces of fire can be
identified in many of the settlements dated
to the end of the 7th and/or the beginning
of the 6th centuries BC. In the main, these
settlements were situated to the North of
the River Phasis (Gogadze 1982, 50-1;
Kakhidze and Khakhutaishvili 1989,
56-7, etc.). This would point to some
kind of general catastrophe.
2. At that time a large number of Scythian
objects was encountered (akinakes,
chapes, craft articles, bronze bridles, bone
cheek-plates, etc.) (Figs. 12- 16). These
objects have been found in 20 sites (burial
grounds and settlements) (Pirtskhalava

1978,31-52; Pogrebova 1984,207-26;

Esayan and Pogrebova 1985, 19-39; cf
Sulimirski 1954, 282-318). It was
precisely then that the Scythians were
returning from Asia Minor to the region
to the North of the Black Sea (Tekhov
1980, 5-20, with literature).'
There are good reasons for assuming,
therefore, that the traces of fire should be
linked with the return of the Scythians from
Asia Minor to the northern Black Sea via
Colchis. The large quantity of Scythian objects
shows not just that the Scythians passed
through Colchis but also that some of them
settled there long term (particularly within the
territory of modern Abkhazia, where the
largest numbers of Scythian objects have been
found) (Trapsh 1962, 81; Pogrebova 1969,
186-7). This is also demonstrated by the fact
that virtually all weapons produced in Colchis
between the 6th and 1st centuries BC were of
the Scythian type (Voronov 1975, 218-34)
(Fig. 17, 7-8; 19).6
The Scythian 'incursion' is more than likely
to have had dramatic consequences. We may
also assume that many members of the local
tribes perished. The culture of Colchis in the
6th century BC, and in particular in the 5th,
reveals various new features quite different
from those found in the 8th-7th centuries BC.
Although some degree of continuity is to be
observed in the 5th century BC we know
virtually nothing of Colchian material culture
during the first half of the 6th century BC.
Does not all of this show that after the
Scythians had passed through Colchis and
some of them had stayed behind, there was
some kind of lacuna, and that by the middle
of the 6th century new tribes had appeared who
created the culture which modern scholars
know as Colchian culture of the 6th-1st
centuries BC? Of course, this is currently no
more than a hypothesis, but it appears highly
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GOCHA R. TSETSKHLADZE

Figure 7
Bronze and iron items from the burial-grounds of Colchis (end of 7th c BC)
(After Mikeladze 1990, tabl. 23)

feasible. We do not know of any local

archaeological complexes that have been
precisely dated to the first half or even the
middle of the 6th century. A broad date is
usually given - namely the 6th century BC.
It is only in the second half of the 6th century
that local objects can be dated with any degree
of precision and then only in those cases where
Greek imports are found on the site (several
fragments of Ionian pottery have been dated
to the first half of the 6th century).
THE APPEARANCE OF THE GREEKS IN
COLCHIS

In Colchis, according to the ancient authors,

the colonists from Miletus founded three cities
in the middle of the 6th century BC: Phasis,
Gyenos and Dioscuria. Archaeological excavation has shown that there were two further

Greek settlements - in Pichvnari and

Tsikhisdziri. The question of the Greek
colonisation of Colchis is a complex and
controversial one, not least because the Greek
cities there have not been the subject of
archaeological investigation. In all probability
~
independent poleis existed in C ~ l c h i s .We
know nothing about either Greek craft
production in Colchis in the period of the 6thfirst half of the 4th centuries BC or metalworking (except production of precious metals
and seals and gems - see below) at the time
when there were Greek cities in Eastern Pontus
(mid-6th century- 1st century BC).8 There
are three possible explanations: that the Greeks
did not engage in metal-working at all; that
they did so only on a very small scale (which
seems to me the most likely); or the inadequacy
of the investigation of the Greek cities to date.
Of interest in this connection is the remarkable

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GOCHA R. TSETSKHLADZE

fact that in Greek burials of the 5th century

in Pichvnari only imported metal vessels and
gold ornaments were found, plus, on very rare
occasions, jewellery of local Colchian
manufacture (small bells and bracelets)
(Kakhidze 1975, passim).
METALLURGY IN COLCHIS IN THE 6TH- IST
CENTURIES BC

In the 6th-5th centuries BC the processing

of bronze was still going on. In that period
bronze was being used to make jewellery. In
the 5th century large cauldrons were also being
made; these are encountered in burials. The
centres of production for such items were
probably in the mountainous regions of Colchis
(such as Racha) (Lordkipanidze 0. 1978,
82-4). In the Hellenistic period Greek
craftsmen (who made their way to Vani from
Asia Minor) cast bronze statues in Colchis: in
both Vani and Sakanchia (the manufacturing
district of the city of Vani) traces of bronzecasting have been found (Lordkipanidze 0.
1989a, 178-82). Among the types of iron tool
used in agriculture the following can be
identified: hoe, axe, plough, flat and oblong
axes, sickle and knife (Figs. 17, 1-2; 18,
3-5, 8-14). Noteworthy is the marked drop
in quantity compared with the amounts
recorded for the period before Greek
colonisation. In the settlements of the latter
period very few moulds for casting such tools
are to be found (Dzidziguri 1990). It has
already been mentioned that locally produced
weapons were all of the Scythian type and were
concentrated in the northern part of Colchis.
Probably, they had been made by Scythians
who had settled there (Fig. 19).
In the burials of that time small numbers of
weapons were found (in burials of the 7th
century there are weapons by the dozen). Some
statistics will help (limited to weapons because
of the extremen rarity of tools in the graves):

South-western Colchis
Pichvnari: Colchian burial-ground of the 5th
century BC. Weapons were found in 2 of the
158 burials (published to date) (Kakhidze 1981,
18-32). Tsikhisdzin':Cemetery of the 5th-3rd
centuries BC. Twelve weapons were found in
the 303 burials in~estigated.~
Central Colchis
Dapnari: Burial-ground of the late 4th-2nd
centuries BC. Weapons were not found in any
of the 38 jug-burials excavated (Kiguradze
1976, 14-57). Zemo Partskhma: Burialground of the late 4th-2nd centuries BC.
Weapons were not found in any of the 35 jugburials (Vashakidze 1985, 23- 109).
Northern Colchis
Guadikhy: Burials of the 4th-3rd centuries
BC. 32 weapons were found in the 59 burials
investigated (Trapsh 1969, 242-8). Krasni
Mayak: Burials of the 5th-3rd centuries BC.
11 weapons were found in the 36 burials
investigated (Trapsh 1969, 268-84).
In the rich burials in Vani and Sairkhe
weapons are encountered in the graves of
warriors. The weapons are either of the
Scythian type (produced in Colchis) or Greek
or Achaemenian ones (Lordkipanidze G. 1976,
167-90; Tsetskhladze 1993/4, 22-3, with
literature).
As can be seen from the above figures the
tribes of South-western and Central Colchis
lived in peace and they had no need to produce
weapons. l o The population of Northern
Colchis, on the other hand, is differentiated
by the large number of weapons found there.
The tribes who lived within the chora of
Dioscuria needed to protect themselves against
the Heniochi and Zygi - tribes that lived
outside it and who were notorious for their

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DID THE GREEKS GO TO COLCHIS FOR METALS?

100 crns

c3

iuu crns

, ,u

0
100 crns
u

100 crns

100 crns

-V

100 crns

I
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Figure 10
Iron smelting kilns from western Georgia
1-5. First half of the first millenium BC
6. Classical
7. Early Mediaeval
8. 18th-19th centuries
(After Khakhutaishvili 1987, 200, fig. 67)
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GOCHA R. TSETSKHLADZE

zQ4,

aar

Figure 1 1
Pattern of location of iron-smelting hearths in Colchis (before 6th c BC)
(After Khakhutaishvili 1987, 42. fig. 1)

piracy (Diod. 20.25; Strabo 11.2.12; Plin. NH.

6.15.16). In that same area helmets of Attic
and Corinthian types were found dating from
the 5th-4th centuries BC as well as a shield
originating from Samos and dating from the
second half of the 6th century BC
(Tsetskhladze 1994a, 86-7, with literature).
During excavation of settlements slag or
nozzles from furnaces are sometimes found,
but not the furnaces themselves. The
impression emerges that in Colchis in the
6th-1st centuries BC there was no need to
work iron in large quantifies.In the settlements
it is highly likely that there existed some small
centres for the production of jewellery (iron

bracelets are found in burials) and tools. The

explanation may be a decline in land under
cultivation, though other explanations are
possible. In the central part of Colchis
viticulture and the preparation of building
timber were the main occupations of the local
population; meanwhile, grain was imported
(from the Bosporan Kingdom) (Khakhutaishvili
1984, 147-51; Tsetskhladze 1992a, 252-6). I'
In the city-site of Eshera, for instance, in the
level of the 6th-5th centuries BC only six
metal objects were found (according to
publication), of which five were pieces of
jewellery. In the level of the 4th- 1st centuries
BC there were iron keys, needles, scissors,

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GOCHA R. TSETSKHLADZE

weapons and items of jewellery (the latter two

in connection with destroyed burials) (Shamba
1980, 23, 42-54). It may be noted that iron
nails were used in the area in the fabrication
of coffins in funeral rituals, and that they were
produced, most probably, in small scale
workshops situated in the settlements to which
the burial grounds belong (Figs. 18-19).
IRON-SMELTING WORKSHOPS

Whereas there were about 400 such

workshops before the arrival of the Greeks in
Colchis, in the 6th- 1st centuries BC only two
(!) have been recorded. The first, found in
Dapnari in the level of the 5th-4th centuries,
consisted of the remains of a round furnace
built up of round blocks of compressed clay.
At the same site nozzles and slag were also
found (iron content 63.2%). It has proved
impossible to make a reconstruction of the
furnace in question (Lordkipanidze G. 1978,
101). The second furnace appears to have been
found in the Supsa-Gubazeuli area (south-west
Colchis) and consisted of an iron-smelting
hearth (Figs. 10,6; 17, A). Fragmentsof red
or brown fired pots typical of the Classical
period were used for dating purposes
(Khakhutaishvili 1987, 119). It would,
however, appear highly questionable to date
a whole site on the basis of the colour of the
fired sherds found there.
If we accept the hypothesis, found frequently
in the literature, that in Colchis in the 6th- 1st
centuries BC iron metallurgy existed on a very
large scale, where are the furnaces? Was the
iron produced in only two workshops? Where
have the items that were originally found in
large numbers gone? Did the Greeks export
all the iron from Colchis? Is this why there
is nothing left behind for the archaeologist (or
even for the Colchian population)? - after all,
enormous quantities of items from the 7th
century BC have been found, in addition to

the (about) 400 workshops. It would be

inappropriate to offer as an explanation that
everything from the 6th- 1st centuries BC has
simply not survived. We are left, therefore,
with more questions than answers.
SOURCES OF RAW MATERIALS

While answering this question for the 7th

century BC was simple, for the subsequent
period it is far less so. As mentioned above,
the coastal dune settlements (where magnetite
sands were extracted) had ceased to exist by
the 6th century BC. It could be assumed that
the work of extraction continued through to
the 1st century BC but this is unlikely: no
traces of it have survived. The find of the
above mentioned Dapnari slag with its 63.2 %
iron content must indicate that the raw material
had been brought there from the mountainous
regions and not from the beach. (It has already
been mentioned that magnetite slag does
not contain iron). From this follows the
question: was Colchis rich in iron ore? The
answer is no. Modern maps of Georgias
mineral resources mark only one place in the
western part of the country as possessing iron:
Ureki, with its magnetite sands. In eastern
Georgia (ancient Iberia) only two places with
iron deposits are marked (Collection of Maps
1992, no. 9).
As D. Braund (1994, 90) notes: Greeks
located the origins of iron-production and the
great centre of that industry among the
Chalybes, where further innovation in metaltechnology was also located (Strabo 1.2.39;
Aristotle, De mir. ausc. 48). Since the
Chalybes were neighbours of the Colchians to
the south-west, the tradition about the Chalybes
has been taken to include Colchians
[Kakhutaishvili 1987,208; cf: Lordkipanidze
0. 1978, 801, despite the inescapable fact that
Colchians are never named in this regard, nor
were Chalybes Colchians.

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PRODUCTION OF PRECIOUS METALS

GoId

Early gold objects in Colchis were found in

three hoards of bronze items dating from the
7th century BC. Gold objects were represented
by open-work or granulated beads, pendants
of various shapes, a fragment of a triangular
plate bearing a depiction of a lion enfuce and
a fragment of a gold bracelet complete with
snakes heads (Apakidze 1991, 48 -50).
Stylistic analysis of the last two items indicates
that they were most likely imports from the
Near East. Two open-work rings (imported?)
were found in the Ergeti burial-ground dating
from the 7th century BC (Apakidze 1991,
48-50) (Fig. 8, 19).
From the settlement at Simagre a gold
pendant, complete with granulation, has been
dated to the first half of the 6th century BC
(Mikeladze 1978, 62-2). Only from the first
half or middle of the 5th century BC is it
possible to talk in terms of the mass production
of gold items in Colchis. This is on the basis
of the discovery of hundreds of items of gold
jewellery in burials of the local Clite in Vani
(Lordkipanidze 0. 1978, 85-100)12 and
Sairkhe (Nadiradze 1990,22-97) - diadems,
earrings, pendants, bracelets, necklaces etc.,
all of which show craftsmanship and artistry
of the highest quality. Undoubtedly, some of
these items were made locally (for further
discussion see below). The technique of
granulation made its way to Colchis from
ancient Persia. Some of the items had been
imported from Greece and some may have
been diplomatic gifts from Achaemenian rulers
(Tsetskhladze 1993/4, 1 1 -7).
In Colchis, as indeed in Macedonia (Higgins
1971/2, 141-50), the goldsmiths art catered
to the Clite. In the burials of the general
population very few gold items have been
found. Chance finds in Vani of a small gold
ingot, gold drops, off-cuts of gold plates,

goldsmiths stock such as gold wire and

fragments of unused stamped wire, etc. all
point to the presence in Vani of workshops for
the manufacture of gold jewellery (Chqonia
1977,75-7). The question to be asked is: who
was working in these workshops? There is no
ancient local tradition of working with gold
to which to turn: it has been pointed out already
that gold items of the 7th or early 6th centuries
only appear as isolated finds. There is an
interval of nearly a century before massproduction for the elite began, during which
not a single gold item has been found. Highly
artistic traditions of the kind noted here do not
grow up over a few years, or even a few
decades. As J. Boardman (1993, 358) has
pointed out: East Greek artists were making
jewellery for Colchians. Moreover, it was
Ionians who established and worked in a
workshop manufacturing metal seals and
engraved gem stones for the Colchian Clite
(Lordkipanidze M. 1975, 113-22).
Thus a local school for the manufacture of
gold items to satisfy the needs of the Clite
existed in Colchis from the first half or middle
of the 5th century BC. It was, however, set
up by the Greeks, who tried to adapt their art
to the tastes of the Colchian rulers. Hence it
is appropriate to speak of a Greek school of
goldsmiths art in Colchis rather than of a
Colchian school (as with the manufacture of
seals and gems). Local craftsmen had neither
the requisite traditions nor skills.
What was the source of the gold? According
to Strabo (1 1.2.19) and Appian (Mithr. 103)
Colchians obtained it from mountain rivers,
which contained small pieces of the metal,
using the fleeces of sheep. Taking their cue
from these ancient authors, scholars have
believed this to be the main source of the
precious metal for gold-rich and once mighty
Colchis (Lordkipanidze 0. 1978, 98-100).
Reference is usually made to L. Bochorishvili
(1946, 283-9), who saw and described gold

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BU

1-

Figure 17
Iron production of Colchis (6th-5th cc BC)
A - iron smelting kiln
B - iron items: 1-4, tools; 5-8, weapons; 9, bridle
(After Koshelenko 1985, 116)

0
5 crns
I
A
I

Figure 16
Bronze ( 1 , 5) and bone (2-4) pommels of Scythian
swords from Colchis
(After Pirtskhalava 1978, tabl. 13)

GOCHA R. TSETSKHLADZE

being obtained by the same method in Svaneti

(a region in the mountains of Colchis) as
recently as the 1940s. As D. Braund (1994,
24-5) notes: . . . The fieldworker,
Botchorishvili [sic], was notably more cautious
in her account than have been her followers.
Botchorishvilis essential problem was that she
did not witness the use of fleeces for this
purpose, though it has subsequently been
claimed that she did. Rather she relied on the
reports of three elderly mountain-men whose
credibility is not beyond question . . . .
It is not, of course, out of the question that
the mountainous rivers of Colchis did contain
pieces of gold. There is no other source of gold
in Georgia - in present-day Georgia no gold
is obtained from any source. The point at issue
is how much gold the rivers might have washed
down from the Caucasus mountains to supply
adequately local production of gold items for
the tlite - it is as well to remember that their
burials contained hundreds of pieces of gold
jewellery - and to have enough to export to
Greece. One thing is certain. The Greeks
would not have been able to settle in Colchis
in the middle of the 6th century in order to
export gold, for it was they themselves who
initiated the production of gold items in
Colchis, and that was in the 5th century BC.
In the 6th century BC, during the period of
colonisation, there were no goldsmiths active
in Colchis. the story of gold-rich Colchis was
most probably incorporated into the Myth of
the Argonauts in the 5th century BC (cf.
Herodotus 7.193), by which time (thanks to
the Greeks) schools of goldsmiths had been
established in Vani and Sairkhe (Tsetskhladze
1994c, 114).

Silver
Early silver jewellery has been found in two
burials in the burial-ground at Ergeti (7th
century BC) and silver ingots have been

discovered in one of the hoards of bronze items

(Chuburkhindzh), in which there were also
gold objects (7th century BC) (Apakidze 1991,
49). Silver and gold objects appeared in
Colchis at one and the same time.
Large-scale production of silver jewellery
began in the 5th century BC. Silver diadems,
and ear and finger rings etc. were manufactured. Most common were bracelets,
decorated with engraved geometric designs and
with the heads of animals at their ends. In style,
work in silver generally echoed that in gold
(Lordkipanidze 0. 1978, 84) and we may,
therefore, assume that the silversmiths, like
the goldsmiths, were catering for the Clite. It
should be pointed out that fewer silver items
were found in burials than gold ones. The two
types of craftsmanship appear to have
developed alongside one another.
Silver cups were also produced in Colchis,
but so far only one has been found: it wits
manufactured in Phasis in the last quarter of
the 5th century BC by a local craftsman trained
by a Greek and appears to have been a utensil
for the Temple of Apollo (Tsetskhladze 1994b,
199-216). In graves of the nobility silver
vessels of Greek (Lordkipanidze 0. 1983a,
89-91; Machabeli 1983, 5-29, pls. 7-14)
or Achaemenian (Tsetskhladze 199314,
17-20) manufacture are often encountered.
Silver coins (so-called kolchidki) were
issued in Colchis from the end of the 6th
century to the 4th century BC. There has been
much controversy as to who minted them Greeks or the Colchian authorities - but there
is now a growing acceptance by scholars that
they were issued by the Greeks in Phasis
(Dundua 1987, 9-32).
Colchis was poorly endowed with silver. We
still do not know whence silver made its way
to Colchis. The mountains near Trabzon were
rich in silver (if we accept that such was the
source than it means that silver was exported
to Colchis). Less productive, but better

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GOCHA R. TSETSKHLADZE

situated, were sources in Racha and Svanetia

(in the mountainous region of Colchis). Trialeti
is another possibility (Braund 1994, 121).
CONCLUSIONS

The bronze industry played an important part

in Colchis, from the middle of the second
millennium BC right through to the Hellenistic
period. The production of iron in this region
of Pontus appears to have begun at the end of
the 7th century BC. It was on an enormous
scale from the outset: there were some 400
furnaces and a large number of articles was
found in burials. This industry developed using
local resources of magnetitic sand. At the end
of the 7th century the Scythians passed through
Colchis on their return to the region to the
north of the Black Sea from Asia Minor
destroying many settlements as they passed.
Some Scythians settled in Colchis. The first
iron weapons in burials were often encountered
together with Scythian weapons. Does the
foregoing not suggest that iron-working in
Colchis was introduced from Asia Minor by
the Scythians?After all, the weapons unearthed
from the following centuries were always of
the Scythian type.
In the first half of the 6th century BC a
certain lacuna was to be observed in the
material culture of Colchis: perhaps this was
the result of the Scythian incursion into
Colchis. In the middle of the 6th century the
Greeks embarked upon their colonising activity
in Colchis. Thereafter the iron industry
declined, existing only on a small scale in each
settlement and never to resume operations of
the previous magnitude (only two furnaces
have been found). The Greeks set up goldsmiths workshops in the 5th century BC and
it is possible that they also produced silver
items. Again, it should be emphasised that
Colchis was not richly endowed with iron, gold
or silver. It is highly unlikely that Colchian

resources would have been sufficient to supply

the needs of Colchian craftsmen and to provide
for the export of metals to Greece as well.
So we need to ask: did the Greeks settle in
Colchis in order to export iron, gold and silver
from the region to the East of the Black Sea
to Greece? As the archaeological materials
discussed above have shown, this is highly
unlikely. I 3 The reasons for the colonisation
were far more complex. In the middle of the
6th century BC the Ionians were not concerned
with the natural wealth of Colchis, or of other
regions on the Black Sea coast: they were
fleeing from the Persian king who was
beginning to conquer their homeland
(Tsetskhladze 1994c, 125; cf Cawkwell,
1992,289-303 and Boardman 1994,341, note
1). In such a situation it is not very likely that
they would have been devoting their attention
to the gold-rich rivers of Colchis. Had it not
been for these disasters in Ionia, I think it
improbable that the Greeks would have settled
in Colchis at all because of the inhospitable
natural conditions (swamps and wetlands)
peculiar to the coastal strip of Eastern Pontus
(Tsetskhladze 1992a, 252-7; Khakhutaishvili
1984, 146-51; Kiknadze 1990, 39-70,
109-51). Even the Scythians settled only in
Northern Colchis, in the environs of Dioscuria,
where the natural conditions were more
inviting. They preferred to live at odds with
the local population of that part of Colchis than
to live at peace in the swamps.

Acknowledgements

This paper presents a small part of larger joint project

with Prof. M.J. Treister (Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow)
on metallurgy in Eastern Pontus. The main aim of this
project is to study this question from every angle using
all the available evidence in order to place the Eastern
Black Sea within the context of metal production and the
trade in metals in the Greek world. The idea for this
project came from Prof. Treister to whom I am most
grateful for the suggestion. I wish to thank Prof. Sir John

OXFORDJOURNALOF ARCHAEOLOGY
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DID THE GREEKS GO TO COLCHIS FOR METALS?

Boardman and Prof. A.J. Graham for their helpful

comments on an earlier draft of this article. I should also
like to thank Mrs. K. Judelson and Dr. J.F. Hargrave
for their assistance.

Department of Classics
Royal Holloway
University of London
Egham, Surrey TW20 OEX, UK

NOTES
1. Lordkipanidze 0. 1983b, 124-29; Treister 1988,36:
Notes Nos. 121-4 contain the main literature, in which
scholars accept that the Greeks search for metals was
the main reason for the colonisation of Colchis. Treister
points out that by the 6th century BC iron was sufficiently
widespread in Greece, for there to be no need for it to
be exported from Colchis. See also: Treister 1992,
29-43 (with literature).
2. However, stylistically the figurine from Samos does
not correspond at all closely with Greek ones. It is
possible that the figurines from Samos and Ureki were
both produced somewhere in the Near East. Such
figurines are also unusual amongst Colchian bronze
output although some distant similarities could be found.
It seems more likely that both were produced in the Near
East: there are many Near Eastern objects of this period
in Samos (Jantzen 1972, passim; Moorey 1974, 190-95;
Muscarella 1978, 61-72); in Colchis (Vani) clay
figurines of two-headed fantastic animals (7th century)
were found (Lordkipanidze 0. 1991, 156-59) whose
style and inspiration derived, most probably, from Persia
(Luristan) (Boardman 1994, 341, note 102).
3. The author includes in this map the south-east Black
Sea where the Chalybes, Macrones, Mosynoeci and
Tibareni used to live - an area never within the Colchian
kingdom.
4. On the question of the dune settlements and the
controversy that centres upon them in the literature, see:
Tavamaishvili 1991, 27-41.
5. Literature in western European languages on the
Scythians can be found in: CAH 1991,560-90; Cunliffe
1994, 373-410.
6. Moreover, from the end of the 7th century BC
throughout Colchis jugs with so-called vertical tubular
handles became widespread (Mikeladze 1974.63). This
pottery was produced locally from local clay and
represents a completely new type for Colchian culture.
At the same time, such jugs were recorded in the orbit
of Iranian culture where jugs of exactly the same type
start to appear at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC
(Ghirshman 1964, 128, fig. 170; Dyson 1965, fig. 7.
Seeher 1992, 10, fig. 3 and 18, fig. 9; Tuba Okse 1992,
55, fig. 4 and 59, fig. 5 ) . Penetration of this type of

pottery shows either that there was migration by some

tribes from Iran to eastern Pontus or that it was brought
by Scythians into Colchis.
7. On Greek cities and the Greek colonisation of Colchis,
with literature, see:Tsetskhladze 1992a, 223-58; 1994a.
78-95; 1994d. 16-32; Braund 1994, 87-12.
8. For the Hellenistic period there is evidence of: the
Greeks producing pottery in Colchis (amphorae as well
as tiles, both with stamps bearing Greek inscriptions);
use of the Greek language for official decrees by local
rulers; and that the Greek system of weights was
widespread in Colchis, etc. See (with literature):
Tsetskhladze 1991,361-81; 1993,56-74; Tsetskhladze
and Vnukov 1992,357-86; Vinogradov, 1994. On Greek
imports from Colchis (with literature), see: Tsetskhladze
lC.2b, 80- 107.
9. The materials have not been published. The
information has been taken from field reports.
10. Greek influence on the funerary rites of the local
population can be used to explain why no weapons or
very few were found in the graves of Colchians (5th- 1st
cc BC) - although there are practically no weapons in
the graves of Classical Greece we know that there was
constant warfare (Snodgrass 1967.48-88) - but as there
are considerable numbers of weapons in graves in
northern Colchis, this explanation is unlikely to be the
correct one.
11. There are still swamps in the coastal area of western
Georgia which have been subject to large-scale drainage
schemes (continuing), see: Kiknadze 1990, 39-70,
109-51.
12. See also: Lordkipanidze 1981 - the volume is a full
publication of the gold objects from this site studied by
A.M. Chqonia.
13. For a long time the scholarly literature has claimed
that the prinicipal reason for the Greek colonisation of
the sourthem Black Sea was the areas richness in metals.
However, a more recent study has shown that the area
was far from being as well endowed as had been supposed
(De Jesus, 1978, 97-102).

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GOCHA R. TSETSKHLADZE

ABBREVIATIONS

Prehistory of Europe (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

ABSA - Annual of the British School of Archaeology in

Athens

DE JESUS, P. 1978: Metal Resources in Ancient Anatolia.

Anatolian Studies 28, 97-102.

CAH

- Cambridge Ancient

History

DUNDUA, G.F. 1987: Ihe Numismatics of Ancient Georgia

(Tbilisi) (in Russian).

CQ - Classical Quarterly
DHA

1965: Problems of Protohistoric Iran as seen

from Hasanlu. INES 27, 193-217.

- Dialogues d'histoire ancienne

DYSON, R.H.

Ist. Mit. - Istambuler Mitteilungen

JANESCU - Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society
of Columbia University
JNES

- Journal of Near Eastern Studies

MBAH - Miinstersche Beitrlfge zur Antiken Handelsgeschichte

OJ - Oxford Journal of Archaeology

DZIDZIGURI, L. 1990: The Iron Farming Implemenrs of

Ancient Colchis (Tbilisi) (in Russian), (preprint).
ESAYAN, S.A. and POGREBOVA, M.N. 1985: Scythian
Antiquities in Transcaucasia (Moscow) (in Russian).
GHIRSHMAN, R. 1964: Iran, Protoxoiraniez, Medez,
Achameniden (Munich).

1982: The Culture of Settlements in

Colchis in the Bronze and Early Iron Age (Tbilisi) (in
Georgian).
GOGADZE. E.M.

SA - Sovetskaya Archeologia
VDI - Vestnik Drevnei Istorii

APAKIDZE, J.B. 1991: Central Colchis in the Late Bronze

and Early Iron Ages (Tbilisi) (in Russian).

1971172: Macedonian Royal Jewellery. In

Barr-Sharrar, B. and Born, E.N. (eds.), Macedonia and
Greece in Late Classical and Early Hellenistic Times
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(4.).1993: The Oxford History

Classical Art (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

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JANTZEN, u. 1972: Agyptische und Orientalische bronzen

aus dem Heraion von Samos (Samos 8) (Bonn).

1994: The Diffusion of Classical Art in

KAKHIDZE. A.Y. 1975: Monuments of Ancient Times in

the Eastern Black Sea Region (Batumi) (in Georgian).

HIGGINS. R . A .

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