3. Cilt - Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı

Soil Sampling from Previously Excavated or Destroyed TumuliFive tumuli were revisited in 2006 for the purpose of soil sampling formicromorphological analyses. Each of the fi ve tumuli has suffered from extremeplunder or had been excavated fully previously: in several cases tumuli hadbeen bulldozed through the middle, leaving very little information about eithertomb complexes or the overall appearances of the monuments. The exposedscarps of these tumuli do, however, provide valuable information about tumulusconstruction methods. In many cases multiple layers of soils are apparent to theeye and provide specifi c information about tumulus construction. To study theselargely destroyed tumuli and to extract from them any surviving information, wetook 15 soil samples over the course of two days that are currently being analyzedby N. P. Wolff using micromorphological methods at Boston University (Wolf andRoosevelt 2007). The samples are very small and have an insignifi cant effect ontumuli that have already been severely destroyed.Survey Units And Points of InterestDuring the course of the survey we surveyed 164 fi elds, resulting in a coverageof approximately 157,650 square meters, or roughly 15.8 hectares (Map: 2).We concentrated on ridges, slopes and fi elds with good surface visibility; theseincluded fi elds newly planted with tomato, eggplant, squash, and tobacco, as wellas freshly tilled olive orchards and grape vinyards. We avoided fi elds planted incereals (mature or harvested barley and wheat) and slopes and ridges denselyvegetated with maquis and other shrubs due to their poor surface visiblity. Ourcoverage of fi elds included the heavily silted fl ood plain on the western andnorthwestern shores of the lake. These areas were largely barren of archaeologicalmaterials: the majority of cultural material documented tended to be located alongdredged canals or mixed with construction debris. Areas bordering the fl ood plain,especially on the southwestern and northeastern shores, and low mounds yieldedmore cultural material.In 87 of the 164 survey units we noted no material culture at all. Of the remaining77 survey units, we collected diagnostic material from 42; material seen in theremaining 35 survey units was not diagnostic, and thus was not collected. Thedate of collected material ranged from Early Bronze Age through Ottoman times.309