INTERNATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL COLLABORATION IN THRACE (INTERACT)

Basic data for this project

Description

Introduction: The Ritual Site at Sarnevo In the course of large-scale infrastructural activities in Bulgaria, the motorway system is currently being developed and expanded. Fortunately, the construction works are preceded in most cases by archaeological excavations which not only yield a wealth of new finds from all periods of pre- and protohistory but also potentially allow gaps and apparent breaks to be closed in the settlement records of particular regions resp. between certain prehistoric cultures. A site holding such potential was found in advance of the motorway construction close to the village of Sarnevo (Stara Zagora District), about 20km southeast of the city of Stara Zagora at the foothills of the Sredna Gora mountains, a ridge south of the Balkan range. The slightly hilly landscape is dominated at the place by the now canalized bed of the Azmaka stream. Owing to the fertile soils (mostly calcareous brown soils and clays) it is today predominantly used for agriculture. The site is located in the eastern part of Upper Thrace which was densely settled in Neolithic and Chalcolithic times and which is drained by the river system of the Sazliyka to the south in the direction of the river Maritsa. During rescue excavations in advance of the construction of Trakia motorway (A 1), the excavation team led by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Krum Bacvarov and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Milena Tonkova (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences) discovered late Neolithic, Iron Age and Roman Age remains directly on the planned motorway route. The late Neolithic features belonging to a ritual complex were of special interest. They consisted of pits, pit clusters and pit chains containing deposits of numerous pottery sherds, stone tools and animal bones, but also ‘special' objects, e.g., an exotic pin made of chrysotile and various fragments of anthropomorphic figurines. The endangered part of the site was completely excavated in several campaigns between 2008 and 2010. In addition to the excavation, large-scale surveys and geomagnetic prospections of single areas were conducted not only on the planned motorway route but also in the site locality along the Azmaka stream. This work was undertaken under the supervision of Krum Bacvarov and Petar Leshtakov (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences). An important result of the surveys was the discovery of an early Neolithic settlement on a slight rise directly to the south of the motorway route. The data obtained during the surveys and the geomagnetic prospection was converted into a GIS, which can be used as a basis for creating a map of the micro-region. Research questions and goals of the project: According to the knowledge obtained hitherto, especially during the excavations and the surveys, the Sarnevo micro-region along the Azmaka stream was settled from the beginning of the Neolithic up to the Iron Age and Roman period. The area therefore offers ideal possibilities to reconstruct settlement and economic patterns of a cultural landscape from prehistoric times to the ages of written sources. An investigation of this settlement area can also yield valuable insight into natural environmental archives, which in turn can be used to assess anthropogenic influence on the landscape. Using different methods of research, questions of continuity and discontinuity and cultural development can be pursued for a specifically defined region. Geomagnetics: The best means of gaining insight into the extent and preservation of archaeological features preserved is by comprehensive geomagnetic analysis, which can be used for clarifying the extension and the inner structure of the locations already identified in the surveys. Such a geomagnetic prospection and the corresponding evaluation of the results have to precede further excavations in order to work as efficiently as possible. Archaeological excavation In order to be able to cope adequately with the anticipated amounts of data and material, it will be necessary to focus the research on selected locations within the micro-region. An entire excavation of all features is neither possible nor planned. An urgent aim of initial excavation should be to investigate the early Neolithic site. This marks the beginning of the settlement processes in the region and therefore also the beginning of transformation of the natural landscape into a cultural landscape. Yet there is also a second reason why the focus of the research should be placed on the early Neolithic site. On the magnetic image, traces of a semicircular feature could be made out at this location. This could be a ditch system enclosing and confining the settlement; but it may also be that this feature points to a row of inter-connected houses built in a semicircle. No similar curved ditch system enclosing an early Neolithic settlement or rows of houses arranged in a semicircle have ever been found in that area of Upper Thrace before. For the interpretation as a row of houses, however, there is a parallel in Turkish Thrace. During excavations since 1993 at the tell site of Aşaği Pınar close to Kırklareli, about 160km to the southeast of Sarnevo as the crow flies, a multi-layered Neolithic settlement was found. The early Neolithic layer yielded a row of terraced houses with common walls over a length of 70m. It is possible that a similar settlement plan existed at Sarnevo. This is all the more likely since the finds from both regions display many similarities. Verification of this assumption would provide an entirely new insight into the neolithization of southeast Bulgaria, which is then also of central importance for the prehistory of southeast Europe in general. Until now, a neolithization route from northwest Anatolia across the regions around the Sea of Marmara to the Balkans has not been clearly identifiable. With the help of the features and finds at Sarnevo, we will have to reassess whether a new area of origin of Neolithic settlers on the southeastern Balkans can actually be verified. Another goal will be to clarify the spatial and perhaps social organization of Tell Kaleto north of the motorway route and its four satellite sites identified during the survey. As far as the finds collected from the tell and the surrounding settlements are concerned, we can state that the occupation of the site took place from the Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age; the surrounding sites date to the Chalcolithic and the Bronze Age. The place offers the opportunity to focus on research concerning similarities and differences between the activities of inhabitants of a tell settlement in contrast to those of the surrounding flat / external sites. Potential research can concentrate on the reasons for these two different ways of settling and pursue the question about what subsistence strategies were practiced by the inhabitants precisely and to what extent these were integrated into regional and supra-regional networks. Archaeologically, different forms of social organization can be recognized, among others, according to the finds (pottery, [copper] tools, personal ornaments), the structure of settlement plans, the composition, size and equipment of the houses, but also according to different nutritional spectra. The many tell sites of Bulgaria are well known among researchers and are especially important for providing the backbone of chronological development (e.g., Tell Karanovo). Despite this fact and the imminent importance of the tell sites from the Neolithic, the Chalcolithic, and the Bronze Age, only very few have been completely excavated and even fewer thoroughly documented and published. Moreover, the focus of the excavations has always been placed on the tell sites themselves and not on potentially existing flat sites and their surroundings. That we have to anticipate such contemporaneous settlements is documented by recent investigations at the Chalcolithic Tell Măgura Gorgana close to Pietrele in Romania. It is a great desideratum in research to tap the corresponding full potential also for Bulgaria. Tell Kaleto offers ideal possibilities for this and could launch a new era in Neolithic research. Special importance attaches to the investigation of the Chalcolithic features of Tell Kaleto owing to the fact that one of the earliest copper mines, that at Aybunar, is located only 20km away as the crow flies. It is highly likely that on Tell Kaleto and/or in the satellite sites, copper implements will be found that were made from this earliest copper. This is connected to the question of whether the inhabitants of the micro-region of Sarnevo were integrated into the distribution network of this early copper. Geoarchaeological research To further grasp the extent of human impact on the landscape, soil and sediment analysis should be undertaken. These analyses will help to identify anthropogenic influences and allow for the reconstruction of the palaeoenvironment. Connected with this is also a description of the development of the landscape in terms of climate and geomorphology. As planned, the Institute of Geoarchaeology of the University of Bamberg will conduct these analyses in cooperation with the Institute of Geography of the University of Kiel. Archaeozoological research The analysis of animal bones will be conducted by Dr. László Bartosiewicz. As far as the early Neolithic site is concerned, questions dealing with the state of animal domestication, for example, play a major role. The spectrum of animal bones may give insight into animal husbandry and the use of resources as well as the ratio between wild and domestic species. If further structures connected to the cultic-religious field should come to light, as was the case with the late Neolithic site, it would be necessary to investigate what species and what body parts of animals were deposited and whether a certain sex was selected for deposition. As pointed out above, archaeozoological research also plays a role in addressing the question of whether the inhabitants of the tell site followed different subsistence practices than the inhabitants of the flat sites. Archaeozoological analysis may yield clues as to specific forms of social organization or at least different subsistence strategies. Archaeobotanical analysis The analysis of botanical remains will be conducted by Dr. Tsvetana Popova (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences). The same goals will be pursued as for the analysis of the bone material. AMS dating, stable isotopes AMS radiocarbon and stable isotope analyses of animal bones, human bones and plant remains will be undertaken at the University of Edinburgh (stable isotopes) and the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (14C dating). Radiocarbon dating will establish an absolute chronology for the principal archaeological contexts, while stable isotope analysis potentially will provide information on animal and human diets (relative abundances of C, N and S isotopes), human and animal migration patterns (O, Sr), and past climatic conditions (C). Bioarchaeology The analysis of the human remains will be conducted by Dr Kathleen McSweeney. Demographic information of individuals, such as age at death, sex and stature, together with evidence of trauma and disease will be recorded. Using the resulting data, population health status will be assessed to provide mortality profiles, average stature, and skeletal stress. Such data will provide evidence of the daily lifestyles of the inhabitants of the tell as a whole. The osteological evidence will be interpreted within its archaeological context; this can provide greater insight into burial practices and the taphonomic processes that affected the remains post-burial. Transfer of knowledge; discussion of the results; publication The research described above should serve particularly to acquaint students with various methods applied and to enable them to gain insight into the instrumentarium available for answering the different questions outlined above. This also applies to the scientists present at the excavations. Methods and knowledge can be excellently transferred and exchanged in that way. Moreover, we plan to merge the results of the different approaches in research and discuss them conjointly within a framework of workshops and/or conferences in all countries involved. The insights gained will be made accessible to the wider scientific community and subsequently published in English. Previous excavation During the previous salvage excavations under the direction of Dr. Krum Bacvarov in advance of the construction of the motorway, very well-preserved remains of the Thracian late Neolithic could be documented. These initial excavations started in 2008 before the construction of the Trakia motorway and continued until 2010. Besides the archaeological dig, fieldwork included walking and geomagnetic surveys in the immediate site's vicinity as well as a number of scientific analyses of the finds and features. It turned out that the site covers a huge area - ca. 5500 square meters were completely excavated covering only the endangered part of the site - with ritual pits and ditches dating to the later Neolithic, early and late Iron Age and the Roman period. While dugout ritual features belonging to the Iron Age and Roman periods have been known in the Balkans for about two decades, such non-settlement Neolithic sites were first identified in 2006 and only two have been carefully excavated, the excavation results being still largely unpublished. Later Neolithic. The ritual pits date to the third phase of the later Neolithic in Thrace. The twenty-four AMS radiocarbon dates (SUERC Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory, Great Britain) place this phase in the use of the site in the 5400-5200 cal. BC range. Despite the variety in shape and size of the dugout features - ranging from small cylindrical pits to twenty-meter dugouts with complex shape - their structured deposits always contain several sine qua non elements: horn cores/antlers of domestic or wild animals, small fragments of deliberately broken grinding stones, burnt daub, broken pottery, and huge amounts of animal bones. Some of the deposits also contain contexts with disarticulated human bones, as well as exotic items such as a spectacular hairpin made of chrysotile or a bead string made of several different materials. When filled up, the pits were sealed with heaps of burned house debris. The assessments and scientific analyses of the various assemblages and materials suggest that these are the remains of ritual feasts and related structured deposition in off-settlement pits. Iron Age. Four thousand years after the Neolithic ritual site ceased to exist, the local Thracian communities practiced similar rituals at the same place. The Thracian ritual pits often contain the remains of sacrificed animals - sheep, dogs, horses or deer - or deliberately broken pots. Roman period. In the late third and fourth century AD, a circular ditch was dug at Sarnevo - disturbing later Neolithic as well as Iron Age pits - that was used for the sacrifice of a horse and two dogs. This feature contained a large amount of deliberately broken pots. The fieldwalking and geomagnetic surveys in the immediate vicinity of the site showed that this area had been extensively occupied throughout the millennia. Two prehistoric tell sites were identified - one of which could be related to the later Neolithic ritual pits - as well as an early Neolithic (early sixth mill. BC) village featuring a circular settlement design, and sites dating to the Bronze Age, Iron Age, Roman period and Middle Ages. Owing to the long-term research activities in Bulgaria of the project members, excellent knowledge of Bulgarian pre- and protohistory is available which will facilitate the dating and the placing of features and finds in a broader, culture-historical context. Furthermore, the project members were able to visit the recent excavations at Aşaği Pınar in the year 2011 and consider and discuss the interesting structural remains from the early Neolithic with the excavators and researchers on-site, E. and M. Özdoğan (University of Istanbul) and H. Schwarzberg (Munich University). They are especially important since the geomagnetic prospections for the micro-region of Sarnevo point to features similar to those at Aşaği Pınar. The contacts forged in 2011 are extremely important for the research at Sarnevo. The team The research team is made up of Bulgarian, German, and British archaeologists, bioarchaeologists, archaeozoologists, palynologists, geoarchaeologists and experts in archaeological science. Project Directors Assoc. Prof. Dr. Krum Bacvarov, National Institute of Archaeology and Museum of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Prof. Dr. Ralf Gleser, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster Prof. Clive Bonsall, University of Edinburgh Excavation Directors Petar Leshtakov, National Institute of Archaeology and Museum of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Dr. Valeska Becker, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster Bioarchaeology Dr. Kathleen McSweeney, University of Edinburgh Archaeozoology Dr. László Bartosiewicz, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, and University of Edinburgh Archaeobotany Dr. Tsvetana Popova, National Institute of Archaeology and Museum of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Stable isotope analysis, AMS dating Dr. Catriona Pickard, University of Edinburgh Geoarchaeology Prof. Dr. Karsten Lambers, University of Bamberg Dr. Katja Kothieringer, University of Bamberg