Fieldschool in Focus: Avgusta Traiana-Beroe-Borui Rescue Excavations Project
Location: Stara Zagora, Bulgaria - a mid-size Bulgarian town (170 000 inhabitants) with an ancient history and heritage (older than 8000 years). It is also a major transport junction and may be reached by both bus and train from major Bulgarian cities with air terminals and border points. Nearest air terminals: Sofia (200 km), Plovdiv (90 km), Burgas (200 km)Project type: field school (rescue excavations)
Site/s: Avgusta Traina-Beroe-Borui (the same town with different names changing in the course of time) located under present-day Stara Zagora town center.
Period(s) of occupation: Roman (A.D.107-370s), Late Antique (A.D. 370s - 590s), Medieval (A.D. 590s- 1360s)
Description: Due to the emerging town center and related construction projects Stara Zagora Regional History Museum has implemented an intensive program of rescue excavations discovering Roman, Late Antique and Medieval pages of town history. In 1970s state authorities declared archaeological heritage under the contemporary town for an archaeological reservation called Avgusta Traiana-Beroe-Borui (named for the three consecutive names for the town used between 107 AD and 1360s). Every construction project in the reservation's territory requires by law an archaeological survey of the building site, usually connected with rescue excavations. In 2006 seven sectors of the ancient city were excavated. Season 2007 envisions rescue excavations in five small-size (150-550 m˛) sectors (but probably their number will increase), where Roman and Late Antique layers are to be studied---later layers from Medieval and Ottoman period have usually been destroyed by recent buildings and are represented only by dispersed artifacts with no stratigraphic position. The only field school session available in 2007 includes three modules: fieldwork; educational course (lectures, workshops and field trainings); and excursions. Field school participants will work on randomly assigned excavation sectors with the possibility to shift to another sector mid-season. They will be assisted by local workers.
Archaeological and historical context: Archaeological findings discovered in Stara Zagora provide evidence for the existence of human habitation dating back to the Early Balkan Neolithic (8000 BP). There are many successive periods of occupation beneath the contemporary town. The Roman city, which existed here, was named Avgusta Traiana after the Emperor Trajan, who founded it soon after the end of his Dacian wars, perhaps in 107 A.D. During the reign of Emperors Antoninus Pius (138-161) and Marcus Aurelius (161-180), solid marble architecture was erected just as in every prominent city of the Roman Empire. Avgusta Traiana was the second city by large in the province of Thracia. Due to excavations (mainly rescue excavations) performed in last 50 years some parts of the town fortifications (2 parallel walls, gates, the moat and towers) were discovered by archaeologists. The southern and the south-western gates of Avgusta Traiana have been located, as well as one forum (probably not the major one), auditorium, and public baths, some of the streets and various private buildings. In the Late antique period Avgusta Traiana was given a new name - Beroe. As a result of numerous attacks of Goths, Huns, Avars and Slavs during the Great Migration (370s-680s), the curtain wall as well as a great portion of the public and private buildings within the city were damaged or destroyed. In the 6 century A.D. the streets were leveled and overlain with massive amounts of rubble from the period amounting up to 1.5 m higher than the 2nd-3rd century A.D. paved Roman streets. In the Medieval period Beroe grew as an important political, military and administrative center, which was frequently exchanged between Byzantine and Bulgarian Empires. It was first conquered by the Bulgarians in 708. In 784 the town was visited and reconstructed by the Byzantine Empress Irina, who changed its name to Irinopolis. Bulgarians called it Borui (Boruigrad) and kept this name until the Ottoman invasion in 1360s. The medieval period of Stara Zagora still remains archaeologically obscured since most of layers dating to 7-18 centuries A.D. were damaged or completely destroyed during Town reconstruction following the Russian-Turkish war (1877-78).
Details
- Affiliation: BH field school and Regional History Museum - Stara Zagora (Bulgaria)
- Session dates: 21 July-5 August 2007
- Application Deadline: 15 June 2007
- Minimum age: 18
- Language: English
- Special requirements: Strong motivation for participation in all field school activities, fieldwork under hot South European sun (average temperatures 25-35 C) is not recommended for individuals with solar allergies or other special illnesses. All participants should bring clothes and cosmetics suitable for hot and sunny weather.
- Experience required: None
- Room and Board arrangements: Shared two-bed rooms with WC & showers in a comfortable town hotel. 3 meals per day served in the hotel restaurant.
- Free time: Guided tours around the town of Stara Zagora and to the Valley of Thracian kings as well as Plovdiv are organized for all field school participants. The town of Stara Zagora offers a lot of opportunities for sport and entertainment.
- Admission fee: 999 EUR (app. 1300 USD in March 2007) including all educational and fieldwork activities, travel to and from the fieldwork venue, board and meals, excursions/sightseeing tours/entrance fees, medical insurance and administrative costs.
- Balkan Heritage Fieldschools, with contact information
- Archaeology Digs 2007
- More Field Schools in Focus
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