Paper Title
The Investigation Of Slag From The Late Bronze Age Archeometallurgical Sites In The Dogurashi Environs (South Caucasus, Georgia, Lechkhumi)

Abstract
Lechkhumi, the mountain region of Colchis (West Georgia) is known as one of the centers of the Late Bronze Age metallurgical production of ancient Colchis.Conducted during recent years archaeological and geological studies have revealed metal smelting sitesarranged into small production groups. As a result of archaeological investigations of some of these groups a large volume of metallurgical waste has been found –fragments of crucibles, tuyeres and slags as well as ore samples.The Dogurashi group of sites (North Lechkhumi) is the most well-preserved and studied of all found in the region sites. Accordingly, the composition of archaeometallurgical debris is the most voluminous. The in-situanalysis of the sites Dogurashi 1 and 2 have proved that they were copper smelting sites. The results of radiocarbon dating of wood charcoal have established the absolute ages 13-9th and 10-8th centuries BC. Slags represent the great majority of metallurgical (copper smelting) debris. Accordingly, the investigation of slags provides important clues for reconstructing ancient metal smelting processes. Our studies are focused on the investigation of slags found at the Late Bronze age copper smelting sites in the village Dogurashi vicinities. Geochemical and techno-typological studies were conducted on the selected slag samples. As a result, presence of two tap and furnace types of slags was established which are characteristic to different stages of smelting process. Besides, they clearly show the different techniques of metal extraction from sulphide ores. Copper smelting, in contrast to iron smelting is multistage process from the initial roasting to the final bronze melting stage.The studies undertaken and the results obtained are the first of such kind for Georgia. Thus, they are novel in the investigation of archaeometallurgical sites of the Caucasus region as well as for the countries known worldwide for hosting prehistoric metallurgy sites. This work was supported by the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia (grant # FR-19-13022). Keywords - Ancientmetallurgy, Archaeometallurgy, Mountainous Colchis, Slag, Copper.