GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCHES IN THE ARCHEOLOG1CAL AREA KRAL TEPESI/ VASILI, KARPAZ/ KARPASIA REGION, CYPRUS

摘要

The Karpaz/ Karpasia Peninsula is located on the northeastern corner of Cyprus. The archaeological site presented in this paper is at 35°31'6.77"N, 34°18'38.94"E on the Krai Tepesi/ Vasili in the area of the village of Kaleburnu/ Galinopomi. This settlement spread across a plateau and it is only 1.6 km away from the southern shore of the Karpaz Peninsula. The settlement in question is built on a clayey natural hill, which is rapidly disappearing due to natural erosion. The hill is approximately 530 m long and 430 m large. In the vicinity of the Kaleburnu, the Lower Pliocene age lithology consists of thick bedded sand stones with small amounts of pebbles and marn interlayers. There are natural rocks made of gypsum on the soil surface. One could also notice the presence of the Dardere/ Ovgos fault-line in the area. The settlement is surrounded by streams that nowadays only flow seasonally. The hill was later enlarged and terraced. However, we simply cannot date the terraces as we possess no information on their first building-phase. In the area of Krai Tepesi, the main archeological features are indeed represented by the abovementioned terraces which spread across the plateau section and at the feet of a natural hill on. The settlement dates to Cyprus Late Bronze Age IIC-IIIA period. During the excavations carried out on the main rock sections of the settlement architectural structures carved into the main rock and resembling hollow houses have been uncovered. In addition, stone-based constructions have been yielded both in the soil filling or natural soil structure on the main rock section. It is estimated that further archaeological evidence may lie unearthed in the still unexcavated areas of Krai Tepesi as enhanced by the presence of surface ceramics. Indeed, underground architectural structures have been mapped through two-and three-dimensional geophysical analysis.