Editing Tbilisi (section)

===Early history===
Archaeologists discovered evidence of continuous habitation of the Tbilisi suburb of Dighomi since the early Bronze Age, and stone artifacts dating to the Paleolithic age.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://geoarchencyclopedia.ge/ArcheologyEncyclopedia/WebPage/Articles/II-I-East/TreliLB/English/ArticleEngl.html|title=ArticleEngl|website=geoarchencyclopedia.ge|access-date=2019-04-16|archive-date=15 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191215182805/http://geoarchencyclopedia.ge/ArcheologyEncyclopedia/WebPage/Articles/II-I-East/TreliLB/English/ArticleEngl.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

During the late Bronze Age to early Iron Age, it was the largest settlement in the Caucasus.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://isaw.nyu.edu/events/archive/2012/scythians-in-tbilisi|title=The Scythians in Tbilisi: Recent Excavations at Treligorebi|last=cguardia|date=2016-02-03 |website=Institute for the Study of the Ancient World|access-date=2019-04-16|archive-date=16 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416181555/http://isaw.nyu.edu/events/archive/2012/scythians-in-tbilisi|url-status=live}}</ref> According to legend, the present-day territory of Tbilisi was covered by forests as late as 458. One widely accepted variant of the Tbilisi foundation myth states that King [[Vakhtang I of Iberia]] ({{reign|c. 447/49|502/22}}) went hunting in the heavily wooded region with a [[falcon]] (sometimes the falcon is replaced with either a [[hawk]] or other small [[birds of prey]] in the legend). The king's falcon allegedly caught or injured a [[pheasant]] during the hunt, after which both birds fell into a nearby [[hot spring]] and died from burns. King Vakhtang became so impressed with the hot springs that he decided to clear the forest and build a city on the location.

King [[Dachi of Iberia]] ({{reign|522|534}}), the successor of Vakhtang I, moved the capital of Iberia from [[Mtskheta]] to Tbilisi and began construction of the fortress wall that lined the city's new boundaries.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Edge of empires : a history of Georgia|last=Rayfield|first=Donald|isbn=978-1-78914-059-0|oclc=1053903394|date=11 February 2019|publisher=Reaktion Books }}</ref> From the sixth century, Tbilisi grew at a steady pace due to the region's strategic location along with important trade and travel routes between Europe and Asia.