Kvali

If you wonder how Upper Mesopotamian language and genes got to the Caucasus, check out this thread by khlavkalashguy on X https://x.com/khlavkalashguy/status/2084423732957716799

Nakh-Dagestani ancestry is tentative here because there are no confirmed Iron Age samples associated with them. As a proxy I used an unconfirmed Akbari 2026 sample (I21125) and Ginchi MBA average. Nakh-Dagestanis:I21125.AG,0.09675,0.107646,-0.025644,0.01292,-0.044931,0.007809,0.006815,-0.002769,-0.052972,-0.034078,-0.00065,0,-0.008622,-0.006744,0.022258,-0.006629,-0.015385,0.001394,0.000503,0.004127,0.005865,0.001607,0.006532,0.008073,-0.002634 Nakh-Dagestanis:Dagestan_MBA_Ginchi_(n=3),0.10737333,0.12050933,-0.061722333,-0.0081826667,-0.058062,0.007995,0.01034,-0.0079996667,-0.072742333,-0.039849,0.0015696667,0.0076933333,-0.018037333,-0.0044036667,0.011581333,-0.0056573333,0.0072146667,-0.004645,-0.007081,0.004377,0.002246,-0.0037096667,0.0022186667,-0.0068683333,0.00095833333

Iron Age (1100-500 BCE) ancestry in modern Caucasus populations (work in progress calculator)

Y-DNA Haplogroups of Nakhs

Genetic distance of all modern populations to Princess Maria Vsevolozha, wife of Grand Prince Vsevolod the Big Nest https://x.com/MiroCyo/status/2082915805428437011

Sakdrisi, also known as the Sakdrisi-Kachagiani site, is a gold mine and archaeological site in the Kvemo Kartli region of southern Georgia. It is considered by many archaeologists to be the world's oldest known gold mine. The site was first discovered in the early 1980s by Soviet engineers who, while driving a prospection tunnel, uncovered a labyrinth of prehistoric tunnels. Extensive scientific investigation began in 2004, led by a Georgian-German team. Through carbon dating of charcoal found within the mines, researchers determined that the site was in operation around the early 3rd millennium BC, or roughly 5,000 years ago. This makes the mine over a millennium older than the earliest known Egyptian gold mines. The archaeologists unearthed a wealth of artifacts belonging to the ancient miners, including thousands of stone hammers and picks, tools made from animal bones, and charcoal. Ceramic potsherds found at the site largely date to the Kura-Araxes period, helping to confirm its prehistoric age. Evidence suggests the miners employed advanced techniques for the era, such as fire-setting to fracture rock and potentially using bellows to ventilate the tunnels. The site's archaeological significance has been overshadowed by a modern controversy. In 2006, Sakdrisi was granted protected cultural heritage status. However, in 2013, the Georgian government revoked this status and granted permission to a mining company, RMG Gold, to extract gold from the area. Officials argued that the site's status as an ancient mine was not scientifically proven, a decision that sparked widespread protests from academics, preservationists, and the Georgian Orthodox Church. The company claimed the site held significant gold deposits, vital to its operations and the local economy. This created a difficult dilemma, pitting the preservation of a unique piece of human heritage against the potential for modern economic development.

Channel with lots of good info on Nakh and related linguistics and ethnography