Ancient stone ovens discovered in Georgia
Could Svaneti have a powerful metallurgy history?

An important archaeological discovery has been made in Chuberi village in Georgia’s Svaneti region.

Archaeologists have uncovered ancient stone ovens used in the iron melting process that date back to the 6-8th Centuries BC.

In those days it is believed the iron industry was well developed in Georgia and from this discovery experts now thought the village could be a historic settlement point where workers of the ancient iron industry once lived. But this could only be confirmed with future research.

History Doctor Giorgi Beridze said until now experts did not know that the region could be "such a powerful iron metallurgy” centre.

This … [gives us] great scope to argue that the people of the world are not only the pioneers of iron metallurgy but also innovators. This is not only new technologies, this is a new era,” said Beridze.

If further research reveals Chuberi village is an ancient settlement, new artefacts may be added to the existing protected historical materials and new studies in new directions can begin.

The first stone oven was discovered in Chuberi village in 2005 before research stopped and only resumed last year. Since then eight stone ovens have been found in the region.