Brick structures and ceramic vessels have been uncovered during ongoing rehabilitation works on Rustaveli Avenue, Tbilisi’s main thoroughfare, City Hall confirmed on August 19.
The announcement came a day after the Movement for Cultural Heritage, a civil society group, reported the discovery, saying the brick structures were “presumably part of the old 19th-century ‘Garetubani’ collector system,” while ceramic vessels were “presumably dating to the 10th-11th centuries.”
The group noted that work on the site of the discovery, between Liberty Square metro station and the Georgian National Museum, was subsequently halted, but questioned whether the archaeological layers would be studied and who was responsible for their supervision, as required by law.
Tbilisi City Hall said a day later that the National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation had inspected the site and issued recommendations, with works continuing in line with them.
“Information about the artifacts uncovered during the rehabilitation of Rustaveli Avenue was immediately provided to the National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation. Following the notification, the agency’s relevant specialists promptly responded, inspecting the discovered objects on the site and issuing appropriate recommendations,” Tbilisi City Hall said.
“Work on this section will be carried out precisely in accordance with the issued recommendations,” it added.
The full-scale rehabilitation of Rustaveli Avenue began on July 23 and is expected to continue by the end of November.
