Geophysical prospection of Kazlacha Tell (Bulgaria). Research prospects

Abstract

The Kazlacha Tell is located 2 km to the north of the village of Chokoba, Sliven district (Bulgaria) (fig. 1). The interest in its study has been provoked by the prospect of establishing its spatial-temporal relations with the nearby Neolithic ditch enclosures in Kazlacha locality and the Hadzhidimitrovo prehistoric pit site.
The geomagnetic survey covered the northern and northeastern periphery of the tell, a small rectangular area measuring 90 × 25 m, falling in the eastern central sector of the site, as well as some zones located at a distance of up to 170 m, in a north/northeastern direction (figs 2–3).
The results show that the Kazlacha Tell was surrounded by a ditch 250 m in diameter, with an estimated width of about 7 m and up to 1.60 m deep. A probable concentration of burnt daub from a building/s ​​around 280 sq. m in size was registered in the eastern part of the enclosed area. Outside the enclosure, only two anomalies were recorded, probably pits, located 56 m to the north/northeast of the ditch.
The human habitation of the tell is also evidenced by the higher magnetic susceptibility of the surface layer. The soil outside the ditch is characterized by much lower magnetic susceptibility, a result of the presence of sandy-clayey deposits from the Tundzha River spills. The pottery found on the surface date the Kazlacha Tell to the beginning of the Late Neolithic (Karanovo III period), but it is not unlikely that it is also related to the previous Middle Neolithic stage (Karanovo II–III period).