A palace under the olive trees. Investigating the spatial organization of the Mycenaean palatial center at Ayios Vasileios (Laconia, Greece) through large-scale magnetic gradiometry (original) (raw)
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2017
The systematic exploration of large archaeological sites in the Mediterranean has evolved considerably since the “big dig” excavations. Pedestrian field surveying and remote sensing applications, including satellite and airborne image analysis, are now practical and relatively cost-efficient methods of characterizing large and diachronically diverse landscapes on regional scales. However, the use of geophysical techniques as a means for exploring manifold archaeological contexts is still in its infancy. In this paper, we highlight the advantages of archaeological geophysics to conduct regional surveys in the Mediterranean. Through a multi-site geophysical fieldwork campaign to investigate the patterns and dynamics of ancient cities in Greece, we show how geophysics offer new opportunities for characterizing the spatial attributes and regional dynamics of urban landscapes, and, in doing so, we make an argument for its wider adoption on regional survey projects.
Between 2010 and 2012, the AROURA project conducted magnetometric prospection in the ancient polder around the Late Bronze Age (ca. 1300–1190 b.c.) fortress of Glas, mainland Greece. As had been hypothesized, the anomalies detected were consistent with a system of agricultural fields. This system appears to have been irrigated and drained through previously identified hydraulic mechanisms in and around the polder. Comparison of soil profiles of anomalies with those of background areas, including their magnetic susceptibilities, corroborated magnetometric data. Anomalies were traced from sampled to unsampled areas through corresponding reclassified satellite bandwidths. Constituent sediments of features discovered were dated to the Late Bronze Age through AMS radiocarbon and OSL analyses. The results validated the use of extensive geophysics to detect and investigate ancient agricultural landscapes.
Archaeological Prospection, 2021
The area known today as Lavreotiki corresponds roughly to the ancient mining dis-trict of Lavrion, located in the south-easternmost part of Attica in Greece. In Classicaltimes, the 5000 hectares of mines and metallurgical workshops provided the wealthto enable the Polis of Athens (the Athenian city-state) to become the leading hege-monic political power in the Greek world. During this time, Thorikos was one of10 Attic Demes in the mining district, extending over a complex system of alluvialvalleys and across the slopes of the surrounding hills. Archaeological research in thisarea has previously revealed a theatre, a double doric stoa, mines and metallurgicalworkshops, dispersed or in clusters. The geoarchaeological investigation presented inthis paper attempts to shed light on the spatial organization of the ancient AtticDeme of Thorikos through developing an understanding of the contemporaneouspalaeoenvironment. It is designed to test the hypothesis that the ‘Double Doric Stoa’building was originally part of the Thorician community centre, that is, its Agora, andto suggest possible locations for the Deme's harbour. A geophysical survey of theThorikos Valley was conducted in regional mode utilizing frequency electromagneticmethod (FEM) measurements in order to accommodate a local salinization phenome-non and in local mode, around a ‘Double Doric Stoa’ building, with FEM and ground-penetrating radar (GPR) measurements. The survey used electrical resistivitytomography (ERT) profiles for deep investigation. This multi-proxy survey generateda stratigraphy for the palaeoenvironment around the ‘Double Doric Stoa’ building and revealed outlines of anthropogenic, probably ancient, structures. The results sug-gest that the surveyed area and its features lay on a peninsula-like land formation,close to the palaeo-coastline (thus providing clues to the location of the ancientharbour), and that the dispersion and outlines of the buried anthropogenic structurescorroborate the interpretation of the site as the Thorician Agora
A large scale geophysical survey in the archaeological site of Europos (northern Greece)
Journal of Applied Geophysics, 1994
The results of a large scale exploration of an archaeological site by geophysical means are presented and discussed. The operation took place in the site where the ruins of the ancient city of Europos are buried. This site is in northern Greece.Resistivity prospecting was employed to detect the remnants of wall foundations in the place where the main urban complex of the ancient city once stood. The data were transformed in an image form depicting, thus, the spatial variation of resistivity in a manner that resembles the plane view of the ruins that could have been drawn if an excavation had taken place.This image revealed the urban plan of the latest times of the life of the city. Trial excavations verified the geophysical result. Magnetic prospecting in the same area complemented the resistivity data. The exact location of the fire hearths, kilns and remnants of collapsed roofs were spotted.Magnetic gradient measurements were taken in an area out of the main complex of the ancient city and revealed the location of several kilns. One of these locations was excavated and a pottery kiln was discovered.The resistivity prospecting in one of the graveyards of the ancient city showed anomalies which were expected and corresponded to monumental tombs. The locations of a few of them were excavated and large burial structures were revealed.Ground probing radar profiles were measured over the tombs which showed pronounced resistivity anomalies, so far unearthed. The relatively high resolving ability of the method assisted the interpretation in the sense that a few attributes were added. In the presented case, it was concluded that a particular tomb consists of two rooms and that it is roofless.
Geoscience, 2017
The IGEAN (Innovative Geophysical Approaches for the study of Early Agricultural villages of Neolithic) Thessaly project focused on Early and Neolithic settlements in Thessaly, Central Greece. The aim of the project was to highlight in an extensive way differences in settlement layouts while investigating commonalities as a way to understand Neolithic use of space. To accomplish this, a suite of geophysical prospection techniques (geomagnetic, electromagnetic induction, and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR)), aerial platforms (historic aerial imagery and Remotely Piloted Aerial Systems (RPAS)) as well as very high resolution spaceborne sensors were integrated to acquire comprehensive pictures of settlements. Results of the IGEAN project provide archaeological information on the dynamic character of enclosures, the structure of architectural features and open spaces within sites as an indication of economic or communal spaces. At the same time, they demonstrated the importance of employing a suite of different geophysical techniques to reveal different aspects of the hindered prehistoric settlements that could not be highlighted with a single geophysical approach.
Testing spatial patterns and hypotheses at Bronze Age Palaikastro, Crete
A set of spatial and statistical analyses has been conducted on material from the site of Palaikastro on Crete with the principal aim of synthesizing a methodology for effectively questioning an archaeological intra-site dataset by means of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and statistics. The present study is part of this set of analyses. In earlier studies, the artifactual and architectural data were displayed and described visually using GIS. Additionally, artifactual data were statistically described using univariate and bivariate graphs. The aim of the present study is to test the significance of the spatial associations, hypothesized in former studies, according to these visual and statistical descriptions. The hypotheses concern the spatial associations between architectural features and artifact groups as well as the associations between two artifact groups. Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Chi-squared tests are used for the significance testing. GIS is utilized to query the data.