Since 2024, Georgian-Polish excavations have been conducted at the Zeda Simoneti site in the Terjola Municipality. The research is funded by the Terjola Municipality and the Krukowski Center, and directed by Prof. Roland Isakadze, Director of the Kutaisi Historical-Architectural Museum-Reserve (part of the National Agency for Cultural Heritage Protection of Georgia) and Dr Jacek Hamburg, Director of the Krukowski Center, as well as with the participation of researchers from the Niko Berdzenishvili Kutaisi State Historical Museum and Georgian National Museum in Tbilisi. Students from Akaki Tsereteli Kutaisi State University (ATSU) also took part in the fieldwork. The Polish Institute in Tbilisi is a partner of the project. 

Since 2024, Georgian-Polish excavations have been conducted at the Zeda Simoneti site in the Terjola Municipality. The research is funded by the Terjola Municipality and the Krukowski Center, and directed by Prof. Roland Isakadze, Director of the Kutaisi Historical-Architectural Museum-Reserve (part of the National Agency for Cultural Heritage Protection of Georgia) and Dr Jacek Hamburg, Director of the Krukowski Center, as well as with the participation of researchers from the Niko Berdzenishvili Kutaisi State Historical Museum and Georgian National Museum in Tbilisi. Students from Akaki Tsereteli Kutaisi State University (ATSU) also took part in the fieldwork. The Polish Institute in Tbilisi is a partner of the project. 

The site is being investigated by the Georgian-Polish Archaeological Expedition as part of the Kutaisi Archaeological Landscape Project, a flagship initiative of the Krukowski Interdisciplinary Research Center. The excavations are of a rescue character and take place within the area of an abandoned manganese mine.

Zeda Simoneti is located at the foot of Mount Unagira. Between the base of this mount and the northern part of the village runs the main branch of an ancient highway which begins near Kutaisi, follows the Tskaltsitela valley, divides into two sections near Shorapani, and continues into the Kartli region. The Georgian historian Niko Berdzenishvili referred to this route as "Kartlis Shara". Numerous archaeological and architectural monuments, dating from the Stone Age through the Bronze Age and Classical periods, up to Medieval times, are situated along this ancient road, many of which remain unexplored.

The multi-layered site of Zeda Simoneti was first documented in July 2020 following a private report and was more extensively investigated in the spring of 2024. Rich cultural layers nearly 3 meters thick, already uncovered by heavy machinery belonging to the mine, are gradually eroding due to weathering. Material washed out from the slope occasionally includes finds from the Roman, Hellenistic/Classical, and Early Antique periods, as well as from the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages, and possibly even older items associated with the first half of the 2nd millennium BC. The National Agency for Cultural Heritage Protection of Georgia decided to protect this area.

During the first season of regular and proper excavations, the Georgian-Polish team discovered two burials. One was a pit grave previously damaged by local mining activities. The second burial was particularly remarkable: a double interment inside a large pithos (kvevri) repurposed as a coffin. The vessel’s opening was sealed with a trimmed stone slab. In addition to human remains, the grave contained two jars (one painted), a pair of bronze decorated rings, two bronze bells with iron clappers, numerous beads around the neck, a grooved bronze button near the shoulder, and a decorated bronze bracelet on the right arm. A distinctive iron knife/dagger with a curved blade nearly 30 cm long was also found as a grave good; the tang was straight and preserved traces of a wooden handle attached with iron rivets. The assemblage also included an iron pin and a very damaged iron bracelet, likely belonging to the first individual interred in the kvevri, whose remains were moved to make space for a second burial. Both graves are dated to the 1st - 2nd centuries AD.

Apart from the burials, archaeologists identified more than four meters of stratified archaeological deposits. Directly below the ground level, painted pottery in the Kartli style was discovered, characteristic of the 1st century BC / 1st century AD, and beneath it, black pottery with incised/excised decoration dated to the 3rd–1st centuries BC. Most of the material from the excavation belongs to the 6th–3rd centuries BC, with the closest parallels found in Vani (Vani II and Vani III periods). Within the same stratigraphic level, fragments of two walls were identified, built of large limestone blocks laid dry and forming the corner of a structure.

In the lower layers, fragments of pottery dated to the Early Iron Age were also recovered. Interestingly, this assemblage includes both Colchian-type pottery and forms characteristic of the eastern part of Georgia.

The 2025 season continued the exploration of these layers, confirming that the Early Antique and Classical strata are well-represented. Moreover, the remnants of another stone structure were discovered. Preliminary results suggest that the Georgian-Polish team may be dealing here with a terraced settlement extending across the southern slope of Mount Unagira, dated from the Early Iron Age to the Classical period.

Additionally, surface surveys conducted at the site revealed further materials and concentrations of artefacts, indicating long-term and vibrant settlement activity in the area. Among them were a stone ambos – a specialised tool used for crushing ore before smelting in crucibles – and a small stone casting mould. These finds demonstrate that metallurgical production took place either in the immediate vicinity or within the settlement itself.