Samshvilde: Multidisciplinary Approaches to a Historical City of Central Transcaucasia
David Berikashvili*
Abstract: Samshvilde, a historical city of the Kvemo Kartli region in the southern part of Georgia, is a complex and multi-period archaeological site. The city occupies a strategic and defendable location on a long basalt plateau above ravines formed by the Khrami and Chivchava rivers. This distinctive landscape position, combined with environmen- tal conditions that include a mild climate and an abundance of natural resources, has attracted human occupation for millennia. Samshvilde and its surroundings may have been inhabited since the Neolithic era, but the urban complex dates mainly to the medieval period, when it became the region’s principal fortress and political-economic centre. Pro- ximity to the northern branch of the Silk Road further increased the site’s importance. Accordingly, Samshvilde was a <