The fifth field season of the project of Ca’ Foscari University of Venice (Italy) in cooperation with the Lagodekhi Regional Department of the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Youth (Georgia) took place from August 26th to October 26th 2021. The Italian team arrived in Georgia on August 27th and reached the town of Lagodekhi on August 28th. Excavations activities at Tsiteli Gorebi 5 started on August 31th and were completed on October 5th. The period from October 9th to October 20th was mainly dedicated to the continuation of the Lagodekhi Regional Survey (third field season). On October 23rd the team returned to Tbilisi, and on October 26th it left the country.
    The Italian group was headed by prof. Elena Rova of Ca’ Foscari University (co-director of the project) and included the following archaeologists: Flavia Amato (post-doc fellow at Ca’ Foscari), Francesco Bianchi (phD candidate at the Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich, Germany), Davide Memola (post-graduate student at the SISBA archaeology specialisation school, Universities of Trieste, Udine and Venice Ca’ Foscari), Stefania Fiori, MA, Gaia Babolin, Sebastiano Claut, Vanessa Perissinotto, and Mirea Peruzzi, BA (MA students at Ca' Foscari). The following Italian and international experts joined the expedition for shorter periods: prof. Giovanni Boschian (University of Pisa), geo-archaeologist, prof. Ivana Angelini (University of Padua, specialist in archeometry), dr. Giovanni Siracusano (Rome, archaeozoologist), Davide d’Errico (PhD candidate at Leiden, Netherlands, specialist in trace analysis), Cornelius Meyer, MA and Margherita Carletti, phD candidate (Berlin, specialists in geomagnetic prospections), and prof. Francesca Bertoldi (physical anthropologist).
    The Georgian team was composed of: Davit Kvavadze (Director of the Lagodekhi Museum, co-director of the expedition), Mrs Eliso Kurtanidzde (Lagodekhi Museum official), Giga Bakradze and Dimitri Natchkebia (MA students at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University) and Aleko Zavradashvili (BA student at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University). The following Georgian experts took also part in the expedition’s activities: Giorgi Kirkitadze, MA (Ilia State University), topographer, Mr. Guga Sharashenidze, georadar specialist, prof. E. Kvavadze (GNM, palynologist) and Liane Bitadze (Tbilisi State University, physical anthropologist). 13 workmen from the village of Tsitelgori were engaged in the excavation; Mr. Davit Barbakadze drove the expedition minibus, and Mr. Paata Kukchishvili was in charge of logistics.
    On Tuesday, September 21th the expedition received the official visit of His Eccellency Enrico Valvo, Italian Ambassador in Tbilisi. On the same day, it was visited by prof. Svend Hansen (DAI Berlin), and dr. Irine Gambashidze (Georgian National Museum, Tbilisi). It was also visited, on September18th, by dr. Nicola Iorio and Ten. Col. Domenico Barone of the Italian Embassy in Tbilisi.