 |
          |
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
BH
projects 2008 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Project type:
field school (rescue excavations) Description: Due to the emerging town
center and related construction projects Stara Zagora Regional History
Museum has implemented an intensive program of rescue excavations uncovering
Roman, Late Antique and Medieval pages of town history. In 1970s state
authorities declared archaeological heritage under the contemporary
town for an archaeological reserve called AVGUSTA TRAINA-BEROE-BORUI
(named on 3 consequent town names used between AD 107 and 1360s). Every
construction project in the reserve’s territory requires by law
an archaeological survey of the building site, usually connected with
rescue excavations. Archaeological and historical context: Archaeological findings discovered in Stara Zagora provide evidence for the existence of human inhabitance 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, public baths, some of the streets and various private buildings. |
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
In the Late antique period Avgusta Traiana bears already new name – Beroe. As a result of numerous attacks of Goths, Huns, Avars and Slavs during the Great migration of people (370s-680s) the curtain wall as well as a great portion of the public and private buildings within the city were damaged or destroyed. The newly leveled streets in 6 century A.D. laying over massive destructions from the period tackled are up to 1,5 m higher than the 2-3 century A.D. paved Roman streets. In Medieval period Beroe grew as an important political, military and administrative centre, which was frequently exchanged between Byzantine and Bulgarian Empires. Bulgarians first conquered it 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 Ottoman invasion in 1360s. As a mater of fact 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). Affiliation: BH field school and Regional
History Museum – Stara Zagora (Bulgaria) Season dates: April – November 2008 (but only
3 sessions are opened for field school participants) Language: English COURSE DESCRIPTION BH field school Lecturers/Trainers: BH field school lectures, workshops and field trainings cover following areas: Survey Excavation Recording process and documentation Restoration Historical and cultural context of AVGUSTA TRAINA-BEROE-BORUI |
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Room
and Board arrangements: :
n 2- and 3-bed rooms with WC & Showers & TV & air condition (single rooms available upon request for an additional fee of 170 EUR) , Internet in a comfortable town hotel in the city center . 3 meals per day are served in the hotel restaurant. Requests for vegetarian food are also accepted. Participants are not expected to bring any additional equipment. Local food is a mix between heavy meaty Balkan cuisine and light Mediterranean food, characterized by great variety of salads and milk based meals. Requests for vegetarian food are also accepted. *2 scholarships covering up to 60% of the admission fee are available for citizens of South East European countries (i.e. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey). Please, ask for details! APPLY ONLINE FOR PARTICIPATION IN AVGUSTA TRAIANA-BEROE-BORUI RESCUE EXCAVATIONS PROJECT |
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
