In the framework of the long-term program of palaeoenvironmental research about the Aradetis Orgora microregion, samples for palaeobotanic and palinological analyses were taken from some of the graves of the Doghlauri cemetery and from the profiles of the excavated areas in both Fields A and B. Like in the previous years, they will be analysed by Dr. Eliso Kvavadze (GNM).
    The study of malacofaunal material from the Aradetis Orgora excavations has been entrusted to Dr. Marco Palmieri (Bologna), who will carry it out in Italy during the next winter. In order to provide him with a reference collection, present-day examples have been collected by the members of the expedition in different environments in the area surrounding the site.
    Due to the impossibility by Dr. Elisabetta Boaretto (Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel), responsible for 14C analysis at the site, to take part in the field season, samples for radiometric dating were collected by the members of the team according to her instructions in the course of the excavation. Sampling strategy this year focused on the one side on the continuation of the pilot study for the high-precision dating of the Kura-Araxes sequence in quadrant 105.099c (Field B) initiated last year and, on the other one, on obtaining a number of reliable dates for the MB-LB parallel sequences from the soundings in quadrants 097.099b (Field A) and 104.099d (Field B), to be associated with the stratified pottery unearthed there.
    Like in the previous years, samples were also collected for archaeometric analysis of obsidian fragments and pottery sherds of different periods (Kura-Araxes, Middle and Late Bronze), which will be analysed in Italy (persons in charge Profs. D. Visonà, University of Padua, Prof. L. Lazzarini, IUAV University of Venice), and respectively in France (person in charge Dr. B. Gratuze, CNRS Bordeaux).