EARLY FORTIFICATIONS AT THE APSAROS FORT (GONIO, GEORGIA). NEW DISCOVERIES

Abstract

In 2018, the Polish-Georgian Gonio-Apsaros Expedition under the supervision of the authors of this text continued research into the issue of the early presence of a Roman garrison at the mouth of the Chorokhi River. Two narrow trenches were opened along the road located north of the late Roman and Byzantine fortifications. Places were selected in which traces of earlier fortifications were expected to be found. The foundations of defensive walls were discovered in both survey trenches. It came as some surprise that in both cases the remains of two lines of walls had been preserved. The analysis of the architectural relicts and the accompanying layers enables stating that these are the traces of two different construction phases which did not occur simultaneously. The earlier fortifications (wall A) can most probably be linked to the fort’s inner structures from Phase 1, among which the recently discovered granary (horreum) can be included. The later defensive wall (wall B) was probably constructed at the same time as the buildings classified as belonging to Phase 2. These same fortifications most probably continued to be in use along with the buildings considered to be part of Phase 3. Garrison bathhouse (balneum) were built in place of the above-mentioned grain storage building during Phase 2, while the commander’s house (praetorium) was erected during Phase 3.