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The Darkveti multi-layered site in the Imereti region of Georgia offers valuable insights into prehistoric human activity. Despite extensive research conducted in the 1960s and 1970s by Lamara Nebieridze, certain aspects of the site's chronology and inhabitants' mobility remained unclear. This study aims to address these gaps through collaborative, interdisciplinary research involving Georgian and foreign scientists. The primary objective is to precisely date the cultural layers belonging to the Mesolithic and Neolithic epochs using absolute dating methods. By combining archaeological evidence with palaeontological, geoarchaeological, and palaeobotanical data, this study aims to reconstruct the palaeoenvironment and subsistence strategies of the Darkveti inhabitants. Additionally, the analysis of stone tools and lithic raw materials will shed light on technological developments and possible connections with neighbouring regions. The findings will contribute to a better understanding of the cultural dynamics, mobility patterns, and adaptations of prehistoric communities in the Imereti region and the wider Caucasus. 

The Ajara region holds a significant position on Georgia’s prehistoric territory, boasting important archaeological sites discovered through field excavations along the Black Sea coastline. Recent interdisciplinary research in the villages of Kobuleti and Khutsubani has provided deeper insights into the living conditions, mobility, and primary activities of ancient inhabitants. Particularly noteworthy is the establishment of a series of absolute dates, which addressed a crucial gap in the chronology of Georgia’s prehistoric archaeological sites. As a result of collaborative research efforts involving Georgian and international experts, a comprehensive study of the Khutsubani population was conducted, marking the first such investigation since 1968. This paper presents the overarching conclusions drawn from their collective research endeavors. 

Abstract The emergence of Sardis as an urban centre in the early Iron Age coincided with local production of fine painted pottery in a distinctive regional idiom. Examples of Lydian-style pottery found across western Anatolia from the eighth century BC attest the city’s growing cultural and economic contacts as well as consistent materials and craft methods. Archaeo- metric study using neutron activation analysis (NAA) at the University of Missouri Research Reactor (MURR) examined representative specimens of Lydian-style ceramics from Sardis and compared their composition with later examples of red-gloss and red-slipped pottery, fine grey wares and transport jars commonly found at the site. The results confirm the sustained activity of local workshops from the early Iron Age into later historical periods, as Lydia became part of the Seleucid and Roman empires and Sardis a centre of regional innovation. 

En este trabajo se analiza la iconografía de dos cilindros efigie duplicados mayas hallados en cuevas y abrigos rocosos de Laguna Pethá, municipio de Ocosingo, Chiapas. A través de un análisis comparativo nosotros tentativamente identificamos un nuevo estilo regional maya asociado a la presencia de aletas en cilindros de cerámica vinculados a Toniná en el valle de Ocosingo. Sus características iconográficas sitúan a estas piezas próximas al periodo Posclásico Tardío y el Colonial Temprano. Adicionalmente, la aplicación de arqueometría —específicamente de Espectrometría de Masas con Plasma Acoplado Inductivamente (emp ai) y Activación Neutrónica Instrumental (ani)— indican que los dos cilindros fueron hechos al mismo tiempo y con la misma arcilla. Los resultados demuestran su autenticidad y su posible producción local por manos de un mismo artesano o taller cerámico en Laguna Pethá o cerca del valle de Ocosingo.  

Abstract We present the first geochemical data of archaeological obsidian for Isla Victoria, Nahuel Huapi National Park in Patagonia. XRF analyses were performed on 15 samples of obsidian-like rocks from the Puerto Tranquilo 1 site. Only five of the artifacts—all of which come from upper levels of the site—correspond to obsidian as a raw material. The provenance analysis indicates the use of obsidian sources located in the Andean Forest area of southern Neuquen Province. Based on these preliminary results, we propose a north–south circulation axis for this raw material. These geographic results are discussed in relation to the information available regionally.