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Geoarchaeology and Archaeomineralogy (Eds. R. I. Kostov, B. Gaydarska, M. Gurova). 2008. Proceedings of the International Conference, 29-30 October 2008 Sofia, Publishing House “St. Ivan Rilski”, Sofia, 315-319.

GEOMORPHOLOGICAL RESEARCH OF THE PALAEOENVIRONMENT IN THE AREA OF ANCIENT VILLA “ARMIRA” (I-IV CENTURY AD) NEAR IVAYLOVGRAD, SOUTH-EAST BULGARIA (PRELIMINARY RESULTS) Ahinora Baltakova

University of Sofia “St. Kliment Ohridski”, 15 Tzar Osvoboditel Blvd., 1504 Sofia; nora_balt@abv.bg

ABSTRACT. The ancient villa Armira (I-IV c. AD) near Ivaylovgrad is historically related to the Golden Age of the Roman Empire in the times of the emperors Trajan and Hadrian. In this period near Adrinopolis rose and bloomed suburb estates (villas) where the local aristocracy resided. The villa, discussed in this research, is situated in the valley of the Armira River on slant South slope of the Eastern Rhodopes, named also Armira. The Valley of Armira River is open to the Lower Thracian Lowland and it provides abound of natural resources and connection to the main roads. In September 2007 geomorphological investigations have started in the area of the villa and its necropolis at Svirachi village. Their aim is to study the geomorphological processes in this region. This will be the first step to the examination and reconstruction of the environment during the occupation of the villa and the next centuries. The article presents the results from the sedimentological analyses (morphoscopy and granulometry) of samples taken during the first field investigation of the site. The samples from the Armira site are characterizing slope processes and approve their intensity. The results from the necropolis site are confirming the complicated character of the scientific problems and the need of interdisciplinary research in the study of archaeological sites.

The archaeological site “Villa Armira” is situated in the Eastern Rhodopes, North from the town of Ivaylovgrad in an area, named also Armira, of the Ladzha village, now district of Ivaylovgrad. The place is named after the Armira River, which crosses through the area and forms a little valley. “Villa Armira” is exposed on a slant South slope on the left bank of the river. The river springs are at Kobilino village, 10 km westward from the site. It flows in East direction and 5 km from the “villa” crosses the Greek border. There it turns to the North and runs into the Arda River. To the South of Armira is the valley of the larger Bjala River, which mouths into Maritza River at the town of Dimotika in Greece. To the North is the valley of the Arda River which mouths into the Maritza River at the city of Edirne in Turkey. The three valleys have direction to the valley of Maritza River. The building of the villa is related to the time of the Roman emperors Trajan (98-117 AD) and Hadrian (117-138 AD). Trajan, who founded several settlements at Moesia and Thracia, has founded here Plotinopolis (today Dimotika). Hadrian enlarged the older Thracian town of Uskudama and named it on himself – Adrianopolis (today Edirne) (Mladenova, 1991). It is very difficult to specify which of the Thracian tribes lived in this part of the Eastern Rhodopes – Kojlalets, Odricians, Bennies, Korpilies etc., but most probably they were Odricians. May be they were part of the Odrician state because they lived very close to its capital Uskudama. The same people, after the Roman conquest, lived near one of the largest cities in Thracia – Adrianopolis. Maybe part of them worked in Adrianopolis or

Plotinopolis, but the main part still lived in their areas of origin. This area was well developed and settled during the Roman and the Medieval times. Consecrate tables from the II and III centuries AD were found that had Thracian names on them. These Thracians were under a process of Romanization but they had a Thracian name and a father’s name. In this period the cities and their surroundings were settled by immigrants from other provinces (Mladenova, 1991). Most probably the large building with marble and mosaics near Armira River was a suburban villa. This placement is not suitable for larger settlement. The exploration of the site up to now proves that this is one of the biggest and richest villas near Adrianopolis, which are mentioned by the ancient sources. However, it is the first of them found so far (Mladenova, 1991). In September 2007 the site was visited for the first time by a geomorphologicial group. The purpose was to investigate problems connected with the contemporary (Holocene) processes in this region. During the field trip, the opportunities for a general reconstruction of the environment in the period of the occupation of the villa were discussed. This paper could be considered as the first step in this direction.

Object and main tasks of the study The object of this preliminary research of the environment covers the area of Armira. The big mound near the Svirachi

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village, where the necropolis has been found, was additionally studied. Villa Armira The villa is situated on a slope, which according to Geological Map of Bulgaria (Ed. by Kozhuharov et. al., 1995) is formed by the conglomerates, sands, clays, tuffs and coals of the Valchepole Formation (Upper Oligocene – Lower Miocene). These authors described also little area of loess, which covers the conglomerates in the valley of the Armira River. The profile was situated on the right bank of the Armira River and it was at a 5 m depth. According to the information from the excavations “the terrain was leveled before the starting of the building because of the slope inclination. The North part of the construction is lower than the natural terrain and this is the reason why it was saved to a highest level. After the abandonment and destruction of the villa the walls were buried under a level of “soil”. The level above the floor at the North part is up to 3.2 m high. The North part of the villa had been saved to a height of 1.10-1.80 m. This height slightly decreased southward (Mladenova, 1991). The main task of this preliminary research is to confirm the slope origin of the material, which buried the ruins of the villa. The big mound near Svirachi village The mound was used as a family necropolis by the owners of the villa Armira. The use period of the mound structures has been related to the Roman Ages (I-V c. AD) and more specifically to the early period of the Trajan governance (97-117 AD). During the archaeological excavations two secondary graves (built after the construction of the mound) were found. The first burial is of a child and it has been fenced by marble slabs. The second burial is of a young person who was burned on a pyre. The remains of the pyre were piled in the centre of a platform and covered with tiles. The mound is enclosed by a stone fence, fairly destroyed by the extraction of the blocks for nowadays constructions. The width of the stone blocks is 0.9 m maximum and some have 3 m length. They have plaster junction strengthened with metal clamps. Each row after the first goes back to the center and gets stair effect. There were 10 rows that formed a circle with inner diameter of 17.7 m. The height of the mound now is 11.5 m. The entrance of the tomb has not been found during the excavations. The mound was formed by a number of smaller moulds and the material is local. Prehistoric materials have been found in the mounds that were probably taken from a nearby settlement (The Common Inheritance…, 2006). The white plaster is significant for the Roman ages but the tradition for burial mounds is Thracian. The problem of insisting on Thracian aristocracy during the Roman ages and how to relate this fact to the existence of a Roman estate with rich architecture is still under discussion in archaeology. There is a possibility that the owners of the villa, who were not Thracians, to have been fascinated by the Thracian traditions (Mladenova, 1991).

The mound was disturbed in ancient times and there is information that during the Russian-Turkish Liberation war in 1878, there were shelters in it (The Common Inheritance…, 2006).

Materials and methods During the terrain study of the area of villa Armira, two profiles of different kind of unspoiled materials were found. The first one is situated on the slope at about 50 m to the North-East of the farm buildings of the villa. Its 130 cm cut lies under a calcite ledge and a clayish-sandy fill (Fig. 1). The coordinates of this profile are 41o30’01,1’’ N, 26o06’21,4’’ E, 203 m.

Fig. 1. Profile with calcite ledge: А – 0-6/8 cm pebbles with calcite spoil; B – 6/8-73 cm – light sand with well rounded pebbles and gravels; C – 73-130 cm light sand without pebbles

The second exhibited cut is preliminary defined as diluvium. It is formed by slope material and it is situated at 20-30 m to the East from the villa on the left bank of the river (Fig. 2). It has coordinates 41o29’56,8’’ N, 26o06’23,6’’ E, 176 m. There were no layers under the humus horizon. The profile is overgrown with plants. Samples for granulometric and morphoscopic analyses were taken from both profiles in order to identify their origin. There are 2 problems to solve regarding the big mound near the Svirachi village: 1 – the origin of the layer with pebbles in the base of the mould, and 2 – the existence of a spring within the mould.

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Fig. 2. Profile of diluvium: A – 0-40 cm humus horizon; B – 40-130 cm homogeneous clayish-sandy layer with inclusions of small not rounded or slightly rounded rubble

There is a horizon with well rounded pebbles in the base of the mould near the Svirachi village (Fig. 3). The filling is sandy-clayish. Above it there is a layer which belongs to the mound with inclusions of plaster at depth of 216 cm from the surface. The layer with pebbles is 30 cm in thickness. The pebbles are mostly gneiss but very weathered and broken in situ. Below this layer there is sandy-clayish horizon with structure similar to the filling of the layer with pebbles. The colour is 2,5 Y 7/3 – pale yellow.

Fig. 3. Layer with pebbles

The layer with pebbles is visible only at the base of the mound and not beyond. According to the morphoscopic analysis the pebbles are very well rounded. There is also a general orientation in their arrangement. Traces of a peat formation were also found in the mould. This is a sign for a source of water. Sometimes springs have

sacred meaning for the ancient people. There has not water surface at present time. The profile that has been made there contains light and dark clay (Fig. 4). The clay forms lens without gradation. Samples for granulometric and morphoscopic analyses from both types were taken.

Fig. 4. Profile at the spring

Results from the laboratory analyses The results of the granulometric analysis of the sample from the diluvium are shown at Fig. 5. The sand content is nearly 50% of the whole sample, the gravel is almost 30%, and the pebble is about 20%. The clay is less than 1%. The sample is mixed fractional. The material has uneven distribution. There are two maximums: 1 – at the pebble and the rough gravel, and 2 – at the fine sand. The cumulative curve (Fig. 5) confirms the general accumulation of material of the sand fraction and secondly of the small pebble. The poor content of clay is remarkable. This is significant for the superiority of gravity over water transportation of the material.

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The results of the morphoscopic and granulometric analyses give ground for some conclusions about the origin of the layer with pebbles in the bas of the big mount near the Svirachi village. The sample contains 30 pieces which are mainly gneiss, but there are also limestone and quartz. The pieces are very weathered and there are red and black spots, which are connected to the minerals contained in the gneisses (the weathered light minerals become red and the dark minerals become black). Regarding the form of the pieces: 36.7% have disk form, 46.7% have spherical form and 16.7% have cylindrical form. Regarding the roundness of the pieces: I degree have 3,3%, II degree have 16.7%, III degree have 16.7%, IV degree have

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16.7% and V degree have 46.7%. There are no pieces with 0 degree of roundness. The broken pebble is not additionally polished. The average roundness of the sample is 3.9. Regarding the dimensions of the pieces, the average measurement of axis “a” is 413 mm, the average measurement of axis “b” is 324 mm and the average measurement of axis “с” is 235 mm. The results from the granulomertic analysis of the fill are presented at Fig. 6.

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Fig. 6. Cumulative curve of the fill of the layer with pebbles

The clay fraction dominates the sample – 62% and the sand is 24%. Both fractions of the pebble and this of the sand are less than 10% each. The sample has good sorting and despite of that it is mixed fractional, it is very close to the characteristics of the double fraction. Fig. 7 presents the results from the granulometric analysis of the light and dark clay from the spring. The cumulative curves confirm the accumulation of the material from the fill of the clay fraction. There are steep peaks at the fine sand and the small pebble. The colour of the light clay sample is 10 YR 4/3 – brown. Without the clay fraction the colour is 5 Y 5/2 – olive gray. The colour of the whole dark clay sample is 2.5 Y 4/1 – dark grey. Without the clay fraction the colour is 5 Y 7/2 – light grey and the colour of the course clay is 10 YR 6/2 – light brownish grey.

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Fig. 7. Cumulative curves of the light and the dark clay from the spring The results from the two samples show double fractional deposits with good to temperate sorting. The difference between the two samples is in the sand fraction which is presented better at the light clay.

Conclusions The profile with calcite ledge has pebbles with middle and large size concentrated in the upper part. Only this part contains carbonates. This layer “armors” the layers below. The exposition of the lower sandy and unstable layers caused their intensive destruction and formation of the ledge from the upper more stable layer. This is very similar to the characteristics of a typical weathering crust. This kind of calcrete crusts usually form in specific conditions of weathering at the savanna. The

climate conditions are dry and humid season which cause different direction of the chemical agents. As a result, different types of hemogenic eluvium – calcrete, fericrete, alcrete, silcrete etc. are formed. They are typical for the planar surfaces and they all are “armor” layers (Baltakov, Kenderova, 2003). The results from the sedimentological analyses confirm the slope origin of the material at villa Armira. The diluvium typically is mixed fractional. The coarse materials are not rounded or slightly rounded. This point to a very low percent water transportation. This is the reason to connect the origin of the material to the soil erosion downward the slope. Probably the same material has formed the “soil” that had buried the ruins of the villa. If we accept that the villa was destroyed in IV century and 2.1-1.6 m thick slope material had been accumulated above the ruins, then for about 1700 years the speed of deposition is 1.24-0.94 mm/yr. The results of the sedimetological analyses surely confirm the alluvium origin of the material in the base of the big mound near the Svirachi village. According to its visible position, only in the base of the mound but not in the surroundings, points to a conclusion that it has an anthropogenic origin. There is a possibility that this pebble was the basis of the mound. It could have had a consolidation and drainage effect of the constructions above. The coarse material in the fill may have been caused by the weathering of the pebble and the fine material could have been a result of the infiltration of fragments from the mound. This confirms the drainage effect of the pebble horizon as basis of the mound. Additional investigations of the area are needed in order to prove this idea. Geophysical explorations of the site or drilling at different points and to deeper depths are also needed. The results of the deposits from the spring confirm its existence but not when and why it dried up. The different colours of the clay are caused by the bigger sand content in the light clay. The dark colours are significant for humus in the clay fraction. Generally, in the parts with dark clay the conditions were of reduction (without oxygen) and in the parts with light clay they were of oxidation (with oxygen). The results from both samples show calm conditions of deposition despite the sand in the light clay.

Discussion The preliminary results from the geomorphological research raised some questions about the processes in the area of the archaeological site of villa Armira. The Geological Map of Bulgaria in scale 1:100000, part Ivaylovgrad and Suflion (Ed. by Kozhuharov et al., 1995) as well as other geological sources describe loess at the right bank of the Armira River. The results from this research confirm with certainty that the material on the left bank of the river is diluvium. The other exhibited profile has a calcite ledge and is a response to every interpretation for weathering crust. Loess deposits were not found on the left bank of the river at the place of the archaeological site.

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There is a possibility that the position of the layer with pebbles in the base of the necropolis to be of an anthropogenic origin. It could have had consolidation and drainage effect of the constructions above. To prove this idea additional investigations are needed. Other mounds of that kind must be observed in order to determine the manner of construction during this period. The geomorphological results confirmed the existence of a spring within the necropolis mould. At present, it is drained or has changed its position. There are many springs of grunt and artesian water in the area but only hydrogeological research can solve this problem. The preliminary results of the depositions type are the first step towards the reconstruction of the environment in the area of the archaeological site of villa Armira. The interdisciplinary studies should continue in order to solve serious problems. This has an importance for the different sciences. The interesting results obtained during the cooperation work of a study of archaeological sites show once more one of the tendencies for the science development in the future.

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PHAROS BG2004/016-782-01.06.03-03, 56 p. (in

Bulgarian)

Geological Map of Bulgaria 1:100000. Part Ivaylovgrad and

Suflion. Explanation Book. 1995. Geological Institute,

Sofia, 64 p. (in Bulgarian)

Goranov, A., I. Boyanov, G. Atanasov. 1992. Lithostratigraphic

subdivision of the Palaeogene and Neogene in the Eastern

Rhodopes and its correlation with the Paleogene and

Neogene in Upper Thracia. – Ann. Sofia University ”St.

Kliment Ohridski”, 1, Geology, 82, 169-182 (in Bulgarian).

Mladenova, Y. 1991. The Ancient Villa Armira near

Ivaylovgrad. Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, 5-44

(in Bulgarian).