Environmental Archaeology for a Thracian Tomb in Tash Bair, Bulgaria

Sammanfattning

In this magister thesis project, soil samples from the late 5th to early 4th century BCE, Thracian tomb in Tash Bair, Bulgaria, have been analysed with geoarchaeological and archaeobotanical methods to supplement and corroborate the existing theories about the site. The tomb had a wooden roof which was suspected to have collapsed already in antiquity. The cremation was believed to have been done elsewhere, and only the remains were brought into the tomb in an organic vessel. Magnetic susceptibility (MS), phosphate analysis (CitP), loss on ignition (LOI) and XRF analyses were used to study the environmental record contained in the soil. Archaeobotanical material was extracted using floatation as well as sorting, and the samples were documented using microscope photography. Amongst others, fragments of bones, charcoal, wood were found, but also seeds, roots, earthworm faeces and a lot of tiny shells and shell fragments. Certain spikes in MS and phosphate concentration were observed, indicating the presence of metals and possible organic grave goods. The traces of several heavy metals in the samples ask for further research. The organic container of the cremated remains is suggested to have been created using Typha sp