Das Rioni-Delta und das Gräberfeld von Pichvnari - geoarchäologische Forschungen im Bereich der Schwarzmeerküste Georgiens
Since September 2013 this project has been dealing about the Holocene evolution of the Black Sea coast of Georgia. Until today there are existing just a few publications on the Kolkheti lowlands unless the region is of high interest in palaeogeographicel and geoarchaeological aspects. During the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) the Kolkheti lowlands served as refugium for thermopile species. Beside this ecological importance the Georgian lowlands features a long settlement history.
During Antiquity the Greek/ Roman city of Phasis, located at the mouth of the Rioni river, connected the Kingdom of Colchis with the then-known world of ancient Greece and the Roman Empire, which is first reflected in the myth of the Argonauts and Jason's quest to find the Golden Fleece. Thus there are many written sources giving concrete information about Phasis the city's location is today unknown.
Including the question of Phasis (as only one aspect of many) the area around the Rioni delta and the Lake Paliastomi comprehends a promising geoarchaeological potential as a result of its continuous settlement history proven e.g. by Bronze age tells in the North and archaeological findings from Classic Antiquity.
In this research project I am working on the Holocene landscape evolution in the Kolkheti lowlands around the recent Rioni delta. My studies have focused on the reconstruction of the landscape by means of geoscientific methods, and deciphering the human impact on past and present processes. I want to identify the initial period of human activity as well as human adaptation to the changing landscapes. Special attention is given to (i) the surrounding of known or supposed historic settlement and harbour locations and (ii) the coastline development due to sea level changes. Furthermore I try to (iii) decipher the different forms of human influence on landscape changing processes, e.g. changes in erosion/sedimentation behaviour of the Rioni, or historical (heavy metal) contamination of sediments.
All together I try to reconstruct the natural and anthropogenic induced landscape and environmental change during the last millennia. By working on a research area in Georgia I hope to add further information on a wider scale of the whole Black Sea region and take part in the still ongoing debate about the Holocene evolution of this region.
My colleague and second supervisor Dr. Daniel Kelterbaum and me are cooperating with colleagues from Ilia State University and Tbilisi State University from Georgia in many different aspects of this project and intend to intense this collaboration in the future.