GOLD INGOTS AS A COLCHIAN PRE-MONETARY FORM

Abstract

The article addresses the study of gold ingots dating to the 5th-3rd centuries BC, representing a pre-monetary form of Colchian currency. Archaeological excavations in rich burials of Vani (ancient Suri-Suriumi) and Sairkhe (ancient Sareke) have yielded gold ingots of various volumes, sizes, and weights, which have attracted considerable scholarly interest and accordingly, require 
specialized study.The research indicates that in Colchis, at a certain stage in the development of trade and 
economic processes, an archaic form of “ingot circulation” emerged. This hypothesis is supported 
both by the stamped gold and silver ingots of the Late Bronze-Early Iron Age discovered in Chuburkhindji in 1890 and by comparable materials found in Inner Kartli and Svaneti.Metrological analysis has shown that Colchian ingots are connected with weight systems 
widespread in the ancient world - Lydian, Persian, and Attic. The weights of the ingots discovered in the burials of Vani and Sairkhe (4.6 g, 5 g, 5.5 g, 8.1 g, 21.46 g, 24.7 g) correspond to various stater denominations. Lead weights uncovered at the Vani settlement are associated with the Attic weight system, which in turn indicates the use of international standards.Due to their advantages, gold ingots initially became a universal equivalent of value; later, they acquired the function of world money and became a marker of absolute wealth. The study 
once again confirms that in the 5th-3rd centuries BC, Colchis was characterized by a developed economy and early integration into global trade.