A team of Georgian and German archaeologists has unearthed an extraordinary industrial complex in the Rioni Valley, dating to the late 11th century BCE. The site contains a series of specialized chambers equipped with clay furnaces, stone crucibles, and pristine Colchian stone molds for casting intricate jewelry. The discovery suggests that the legendary wealth of Colchis—the setting for the myth of Jason and the Golden Fleece—was centered on a highly organized royal monopoly of gold production.
Among the artifacts are microscopic gold-leaf remnants and a set of obsidian engraving tools used for fine detail work. The presence of student workstations and standardized patterns indicates the site served as an academy or central guild for training master smiths. This find is the most significant evidence yet for the sophisticated metalworking traditions of the ancient South Caucasus.