Gold mine of Sakdrisi

3D Model

Gold mine of Sakdrisi, Georgia.

The gold mine of Sakdrisi, located about 50 km southwest of Tbilisi, dates to the Bronze Age Kura-Araxes period, dating back to about 5000 years BP. This means Sakdrisi is the oldest known gold mine in the world.

Here, with funding from the Volkswagen Foundation and the DFG, we carried out large-scale investigations from 2004 onward.We also conducted extensive surveys in the area surroundinold mine to gain insights into the local settlement structures. In 2007 we discovered one of the largest early Bronze Age settlements in the Caucasus in Balitschi-Dzedvwebi; finds from industrial sites provide evidence of the processing of gold sand and other metallurgical activities.

Archaeological, archaeometric, geoscientific and botanical research allow us to recreate a vivid and well-grounded picture of the whole operation chain of Bronze Age gold mining and processing.

The gold mine was documented with laser scans by ArcTron.