Directors

Dr. Stephen Batiuk

Dr. Stephen Batiuk is currently a Research Associate in the Department of Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations and the Archaeology Centre of the University of Toronto. With more than 20 years of fieldwork experience he has participated in over 12 different archaeological projects from CRM (Cultural Resource Management) work in Canada to projects in Ethiopia, Turkey, Israel, Romania, France and Georgia. His more recent publications and research are focused on understanding the origins of wine production in Transcaucasia (specifically Georgia) but perhaps more importantly, the spread of this early Georgian wine culture across the entire Near East and eventually the rest of the world. Dr. Batiuk brings a well developed skills in landscape and materials analysis, particularly ancient ceramics.

Dr. Mindia Jalabadze

Dr. Mindia Jalabadze is the Chief Curator — Department of Collection Management and Department of Precious Metals, Georgian National Museum. He received his PhD in 1998 from I. Javakhishvili Tibilisi State University. He has worked on various archaeological sites of dirrefent periods in Georgia, and has been directing the work at Gadachrili Gora since 2006.

Dr. Khaled Abu Jayyab

Dr. Khaled Abu Jayyab is a JHI and SSHRC Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of Toronto. His dissertation research focused on the role of human mobility and interaction in shaping communities in the Late Chalcolithic Northern Mesopotamia. Khaled trained in Ceramic analysis and landscape archaeology and interpretation with Dr. Clemens Reichel and Dr. Ted Banning at the University of Toronto. Dr. Abu Jayyab’s interests include: landscape archaeology, the archaeology of mobility, communities of practice, and ceramic and lithic analysis. Currently Dr. Jayyab has been conducting a survey in Kvemo Kartli (Georgia) focused around the site of Gadachrili Gora.