The British-Georgian Pichvnari Expedition

Greek burial of the 5th century BC

Thanks to a generous donation from British well-wishers, Farig has been able to offer some support to an archaeological dig at an ancient settlement on Georgia's Black Sea coast.

Each year since 1998, the Greek-Colchian settlement at Pichvnari, just north of the coastal town of Kobuleti, has been excavated by the joint British-Georgian Pichvnari Expedition, organised on the Georgian side from the Batumi Archaeological Museum and the Batumi Research Institute, and on the British from the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.

Among the sources of funding have been the British Academy, the British School of Archaeology in Ankara, the Oxford Craven and Marjory Wardrop Funds and private benefactors. Excavations had begun there in the 1960s, but came to a temporary halt in 1989.

Today, students from Oxford work at Pichvnari with their colleagues from Batumi and Tbilisi State Universities. These pictures show some of their recent activities and finds.

Graffito on a Greek pot

Some of the 2004 participants