Toumba Serron - 2021

Dimitra Malamidou (Ephorate of Antiquities of Serres), Nicolas Zorzin (National Cheng Kung University-Taiwan) and James Taylor (York) report on the first short season of this five-year collaborative research programme between the Ephorate of Antiquities of Serres and the BSA focusing on the Neolithic site of Toumba and the neighbouring Strymon valley.

Work accomplished in this first season included: magnetometer survey, drone (AUV) survey, and a pedestrian survey, as well as first steps in the archaeological ethnography aspect of the project and logistical planning for next year’s first full season. In addition to the first two directors, these activities were conducted by four individuals: Christian Tzankov (University of Mining and Geology - Bulgaria), Petar Zidarov (New Bulgarian University), Elena Bozhinova (Plovdiv Museum) and Ioanna Antoniadou (Independent Researcher – Ethnographer) (Figs. 1 & 2). Travel restrictions on academic staff unfortunately prevented co-director James Taylor (York) from participating in-person in 2021.

Geophysical and drone survey were carried out by Tzankov, Zidarov and Bozhinova over the southern and the western slopes of the Toumba. Geophysical measurements were collected along parallel profiles 1m apart with a potassium magnetometer GSMP-25G in total field and vertical gradient modes. Another Overhauser magnetometer model GSM-19W was used to collect data for daily corrections of the magnetic signals needed for noise elimination, while a magnetic susceptibility meter KT-10 was used to measure the difference in the magnetic properties of the soil, the bedrock, and large pieces of burned daub encountered on the surface. The resulting magnetometer map covers an area of 7.34 ha. An area of 17.27 ha. was covered using a Phantom 3 Professional AUV (drone).

In general, magnetic anomalies are recorded throughout most of the mapped area. Many of them correlate well with the results of similar measurements in Greece, Bulgaria and the Central Balkans, including those verified by excavation. Anomalies characteristic of burned buildings, ovens and hearths on the hilltop, as well as on the adjacent slopes about midway to the foot of the mound. Some buildings seem arranged radially while others are arranged along parallel rows suggesting a possible diachronic difference which agrees with the ceramic data already recorded for the site. Preliminary observations on the ceramics on the surface of the central sector show that it is dominated by Late Neolithic ceramic wares, shapes, decoration, and styles (e.g., Akropotamos, bichrome vases, black topped, graphite wares, etc.). If these correlate with the orientation of the tentatively postulated burned buildings, then they may suggest a date for the features in the central area.

Not only do these preliminary observations support the ceramic evidence of extensive habitation on the site, but they suggest horizontal dislocation of the settlement across the Toumba over time. They also show significant potential to locate well-preserved burnt buildings and facilities from different chronological phases. The continuous habitation of roughly the same space emphasizes the importance of the prehistoric settlement for its inhabitants.

Using the same 50m x 50m grid as the magnetometry survey, but extending outside it towards the north and west, Zorzin conducted pedestrian survey, covering the northern, western, and southern sides of the Toumba. Within 50m x 5m rectangles all artefacts visible on the surface (pottery sherds, lithic, shells, bones, remains of clay structures, etc.) were counted. In unharvested cotton-fields, transects were walked in the spaces between rows based on rectangles of 50m x 1.5m.
In general, concentrations of pottery were particularly high on the top of the Toumba, remained high on the south slope, but were and much less dense on its western and northern slopes. The slow diminution of surface material on the southern slope may indicate more intense activities in this area in the Late Neolithic period, or simply that material has been spread due to habitual north-south ploughing, following the slope. Distinctive soil colour changes are noticeable between the Toumba itself (c. 54m x 74m) and its surroundings. Colour variations are also noticeable within the tell itself, between two distinct areas, slightly lighter in the Northern part of the Toumba, and darker at its centre, forming a sub-rectangular shape. All diagnostic material found so far indicates a date for the site corresponding to the Late Neolithic period (5300 – 4300 BC). These include: bichrome and incised pottery decorated, the leg of a 3- or 4-legged bowl, greyish-blue flint core, yellowish-brown flint blade, stone axe, Spondylus shell (raw material and bracelet), sling bullet, and marble.

Survey on the Toumba itself was complemented by a general overview of the regional landscape, locating known Neolithic sites in the paleo-landscape. Inhabitants of Toumba village note that, during periods of flooding, the drained lake (Λίμνη τ’Αχινού) c. 500m south of the tell fills with water, suggesting this may have been an important resource for the Neolithic site.

Ioanna Antoniadou initiated an archaeological ethnography of the area surrounding the site. According to locals, the village of Toumba, also known as Koutra (‘mound’), was founded about a century and a half ago, its inhabitants relocated from an earlier residential establishment known as Fakistra, or Kuçuk Stanbul. The focus of Antoniadou’s research is on the continuities and disconnections between present and past in the location. Having made initial contacts in 2021, next year she plans to conduct systematic interviews to record life-histories and to understand their connection to the intangible and material pasts particular to the surroundings of Toumba, and to understand how different kinds of official and local discourse interrelate and affect concepts of identity and the past.