Uncovering Samshvilde: Commerce and Conflict in the Medieval Caucasus, lecture by David Berikashvili (University of Georgia), Harvard University, April 15, 2024, 5:00 pm

Located in the southern Caucasus, the city of Samshvilde was an important stronghold and lively commercial and industrial city from late antiquity through the Middle Ages. Drawing upon more than a decade of archaeological excavations, historic literature, comparative art history, and geophysical surveys of the site, this talk will illustrate how the interdisciplinary study of Samshvilde help us better understand regional trade along the northern branch of the Silk Road, how various ethnic groups and cultures interacted there, and how this site shaped the history of Georgia and the medieval Caucasus  more broadly.

David Berikashvili is Professor of Medieval Archaeology at the University of Georgia in Tbilisi. Since 2012, he has led the Samshvilde Archaeological Expedition, which has carried out extensive excavations of the medieval city and its environs.