Archaeologists discover 3,000-year-old metallurgical complex in Georgia

A Bronze Age metal smelting complex dating back 3,000 years has been discovered in the village of Dogurashi in western Georgia's Lechkhumi Municipality, the Georgian Ministry of Culture has announced.

The site, which dates to the 13th-9th centuries BC, is the largest known metallurgical workshop in ancient Colchis.

According to researchers, Lechkhumi was one of the most important metallurgical centres in mountainous Colchis during the late Bronze and early Iron Ages, playing a leading role in copper production across the Caucasus.

While traces of ancient metallurgy have previously been found in Colchis, this is the first time a production complex of this scale has been discovered