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; [email protected] 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 Plotinopolis, but the main part still lived in their areas of origin. Eastern Rhodopes, North from the town of Ivaylovgrad in an This area was well developed and settled during the Roman area, named also Armira, of the Ladzha village, now district of and the Medieval times. Ivaylovgrad. The place is named after the Armira River, which crosses through the area and forms a little valley. “Villa Armira” Consecrate tables from the II and III centuries AD were found is exposed on a slant South slope on the left bank of the river. that had Thracian names on them. These Thracians were The river springs are at Kobilino village, 10 km westward from under a process of Romanization but they had a Thracian the site. It flows in East direction and 5 km from the “villa” name and a father’s name. In this period the cities and their crosses the Greek border. There it turns to the North and runs surroundings were settled by immigrants from other provinces into the Arda River. To the South of Armira is the valley of the (Mladenova, 1991). larger Bjala River, which mouths into Maritza River at the town of Dimotika in Greece. To the North is the valley of the Arda Most probably the large building with marble and mosaics River which mouths into the Maritza River at the city of Edirne near Armira River was a suburban villa. This placement is not in Turkey. The three valleys have direction to the valley of suitable for larger settlement. The exploration of the site up to Maritza River. now proves that this is one of the biggest and richest villas near Adrianopolis, which are mentioned by the ancient The building of the villa is related to the time of the Roman sources. However, it is the first of them found so far emperors Trajan (98-117 AD) and Hadrian (117-138 AD). (Mladenova, 1991). Trajan, who founded several settlements at Moesia and Thracia, has founded here Plotinopolis (today Dimotika). In September 2007 the site was visited for the first time by a Hadrian enlarged the older Thracian town of Uskudama and geomorphologicial group. The purpose was to investigate named it on himself – Adrianopolis (today Edirne) (Mladenova, problems connected with the contemporary (Holocene) 1991). processes in this region. During the field trip, the opportunities for a general reconstruction of the environment in the period of It is very difficult to specify which of the Thracian tribes lived the occupation of the villa were discussed. This paper could be in this part of the Eastern Rhodopes – Kojlalets, Odricians, considered as the first step in this direction. Bennies, Korpilies etc., but most probably they were Odricians. May be they were part of the Odrician state because they lived Object and main tasks of the study very close to its capital Uskudama. The same people, after the The object of this preliminary research of the environment Roman conquest, lived near one of the largest cities in Thracia covers the area of Armira. The big mound near the Svirachi – Adrianopolis. Maybe part of them worked in Adrianopolis or 315 village, where the necropolis has been found, was additionally The mound was disturbed in ancient times and there is studied . information that during the Russian-Turkish Liberation war in 1878, there were shelters in it (The Common Inheritance …, Villa Armira 2006). The villa is situated on a slope, which according to Geological Map of Bulgaria (Ed. by Kozhuharov et. al., 1995) is Materials and methods formed by the conglomerates, sands, clays, tuffs and coals of During the terrain study of the area of villa Armira, two the Valchepole Formation (Upper Oligocene – Lower profiles of different kind of unspoiled materials were found. The Miocene). These authors described also little area of loess, first one is situated on the slope at about 50 m to the North- which covers the conglomerates in the valley of the Armira East of the farm buildings of the villa. Its 130 cm cut lies under River. The profile was situated on the right bank of the Armira a calcite ledge and a clayish-sandy fill (Fig. 1). The coordinates River and it was at a 5 m depth. of this profile are 41 o30 ’01,1’’ N, 26 o06’21,4’’ E, 203 m. 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 А 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). B 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 C 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 Fig. 1. Profile with calcite ledge: А – 0-6/8 cm pebbles with calcite spoil; B width of the stone blocks is 0.9 m maximum and some have 3 – 6/8-73 cm – light sand with well rounded pebbles and gravels; C – 73- m length. They have plaster junction strengthened with metal 130 cm light sand without pebbles 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 The second exhibited cut is preliminary defined as diluvium. m. The entrance of the tomb has not been found during the It is formed by slope material and it is situated at 20-30 m to excavations. the East from the villa on the left bank of the river (Fig. 2). It has coordinates 41 o29 ’56,8’’ N, 26 o06’23,6’’ E, 176 m. There The mound was formed by a number of smaller moulds and were no layers under the humus horizon. The profile is the material is local. Prehistoric materials have been found in overgrown with plants. the mounds that were probably taken from a nearby settlement (The Common Inheritance …, 2006). Samples for granulometric and morphoscopic analyses were taken from both profiles in order to identify their origin. The white plaster is significant for the Roman ages but the tradition for burial mounds is Thracian. The problem of insisting There are 2 problems to solve regarding the big mound near on Thracian aristocracy during the Roman ages and how to the Svirachi village: 1 – the origin of the layer with pebbles in relate this fact to the existence of a Roman estate with rich the base of the mould, and 2 – the existence of a spring within architecture is still under discussion in archaeology. There is a the mould.