The 15th International Conference of Young Archaeologists was held in the monastery complex of Vardzia, organized by the Institute of Archaeology of the Faculty of Humanities of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University.

“The participation of students and professors from leading European universities in the Vardzia Conference has become a tradition. This year’s program includes a report from the University of Chicago. The main goal of this conference is the qualified and rapid integration of young Georgian archaeologists into the European scientific space,” said TSU professor and conference organizer Vakhtang Licheli.

The conference is very popular among European and American universities. Along with TSU students and professors, young archaeologists and scientists from the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, the Universities of Oxford, Innsbruck, Edinburgh, Masaryk, Chicago, Martin Luther Halle and Ruhr University Bochum, the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the Armenian Academy of Sciences and the German Mining Museum participated in the conference.

Michael Vickers, Professor Emeritus of Archaeology at the University of Oxford, said that Georgian and foreign students have the opportunity to talk about their research and answer questions. He also noted that a number of successful online discussions were held this year, which are very useful, adding that the conference sets high standards for students from Georgian, American and European universities. Professor Vickers stressed that the results have improved over the years.

The conference laid the foundation for a number of international archaeological projects. Of particular note are the archaeological explorations of TSU and Ca' Foscari University of Venice on Chikiani Mountain; the archaeological excavations of TSU and the University of Innsbruck at the archaeological monument of Khovlegori; the archeological expedition of TSU and Friedrich Schiller University Jena to Lesale. The annual character of the conference is a prerequisite for increasing its popularity.

“The conference in Vardzia allowed me to establish scientific contacts with foreign archaeologists, to participate in various international expeditions. This conference has brought up several generations of young Georgian and foreign archaeologists, who participate in joint expeditions, share their research and novelties with each other. This is very important for the development of archaeology,” said TSU PhD student Tornike Chilingarashvili.

Alexander Nimetz, a student at Uppsala University, hailed his participation in the conference as “very useful.” He noted that he presented a report and received valuable feedback from various experts and students, adding that the exchange of ideas was very useful.

The papers presented at the Vardzia Conference are based on the individual, unpublished scientific research of the young participants, ranging from the Neolithic to the Late Middle Ages. Issues of archaeological research in different regions of the world are discussed. The reports are evaluated by the members of the permanent scientific commission: professors from TSU, the Universities of Oxford, Jena, Innsbruck, Edinburgh and Venice. The annual international conference in Vardzia promotes the establishment of contacts between young archaeologists from different countries, the popularization of their research in the world scientific market and, accordingly, the integration of Georgian student archaeologists into the international space. During the conference, in addition to the reports, discussions were held on the research conducted in archaeology and related fields, and ways of solving scientific problems were outlined.