Kataliondas Kourvellos à la période classique : un sanctuaire rural au cœur de Chypre
Holzhausen eBooks, 2020
Kataliondas Kourvellos, in the centre of Cyprus, is not only a pre-pottery Neolithic site. Iron A... more Kataliondas Kourvellos, in the centre of Cyprus, is not only a pre-pottery Neolithic site. Iron Age finds, mainly from the Cypro-Classical period, have also been discovered at the base of this unusual rock knob that lies in the Troodos foothills. Following the University of Geneva excavations in 2010-2011, a careful examination of these later finds, including architectural features, pots, and weapons, as well as the way they were subsequently buried, reveals that the site was in fact a rural sanctuary during the 4th century BC (Cypro-Classical II), before the Ptolemaic takeover of the island.
Archaeological prospection in ultra‐shallow aquatic environments: the case of the prehistoric submerged site of Lambayanna, Greece
Near Surface Geophysics, 2021
ABSTRACTOver the last three decades, multicomponent geophysical prospection has given a new persp... more ABSTRACTOver the last three decades, multicomponent geophysical prospection has given a new perspective in the domain of inland archaeological prospection. However, the complexity and constantly evolving environmental regime encountered in the transition zones has so far limited the implementation of these technological advancements towards the understanding of the past dynamics in littoral and ultra‐shallow offshore environments. The main objective of this work is to appropriately adapt, test and validate the efficiency of diverse geophysical mapping and imaging methods for reconstructing the ancient built environment below a relatively thin water layer. The submerged prehistoric site of Lambayanna in Greece was used as an ‘open laboratory’ to explore in situ the resolving capabilities and limitations of marine three‐dimensional electrical resistivity tomography and multisensor magnetic gradiometry, as well as terrestrial ground‐penetrating radar. The geophysical mapping covered mo...
BAF-Online: Proceedings of the Berner Altorientalisches Forum, 2017
Kataliondas Kourvellos is located at the base of an unusual rock knob, in the lower Troodos footh... more Kataliondas Kourvellos is located at the base of an unusual rock knob, in the lower Troodos foothills, about 20 kilometers south of Nicosia. Recent excavations by the University of Geneva revealed that the site was occupied both in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period, at the end of the 8th millennium BCE, and in the Cypro-Classical period, in the 4th century BCE.During the Cypro-Classical period, the site seems to have functioned as a rural sanctuary, but the purpose of its location there is not clear: among other explanations, one could be its link with the mining, smelting, and/or trade of metal resources (the lower Troodos foothills have been exploited since the Bronze Age for their copper and other mineralogical resources).
BAF-Online: Proceedings of the Berner Altorientalisches Forum, 2017
The project, a joint research program between the University of Geneva, under the aegis of the Sw... more The project, a joint research program between the University of Geneva, under the aegis of the Swiss School of Archaeology in Greece, and the Greek Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities, aims at finding traces of prehistoric human activity in a small bay of the southern Argolid, near the Franchthi Cave, a major prehistoric site used from 40,000 years ago to 5,000 years ago. For most of these 35,000 years, because of global sea-level change in prehistory, the Bay of Kiladha was in fact a small coastal plain, where the sedentary farmers of the Neolithic period had probably their village.Research currently focuses on two parts of the bay: the Franchthi sector, close to the Cave (submerged Neolithic village) and the Lambayanna sector, just a few hundred meters to the north of Franchthi Cave (HA II fortified settlement).
Franchthi Cave, bordering Kiladha Bay, in Greece, is a key archaeological site, due to its long o... more Franchthi Cave, bordering Kiladha Bay, in Greece, is a key archaeological site, due to its long occupation time, from * 40,000 to * 5000 year BP. To date, no clear evidence of Neolithic human dwellings in the cave was found, supporting the assumption that Neolithic people may have built a village where there is now Kiladha Bay. During the Neolithic period/Early Holocene, wide areas of the bay were indeed emerged above sea level. Bathymetric and seismic data identified a terrace incised by a valley in * 1 to 2 m sediment depth. Eight sediment cores, up to 6.3-m-long, were retrieved and analysed using petrophysical, sedimentological, geochemical, and chronostratigraphic methods. The longest core extends into the exposure surface, consisting of a layer of carbonate rubble in a finer matrix, representing weathering processes. Dated organic remains place this unit at * 8500 cal year BP. It is overlain by stiff silty mud representing an estuarine environment. This mud is capped by reduced sediments with roots marking an exposure surface. A shell-layer, dated to * 6300 cal year BP, overlies this terrestrial sequence, reflecting the marine transgression. This layer occurs at 10.8 mbsl, 7.7 m deeper than the global sea level at that time, suggesting tectonic subsidence in the area. It is overlain by finer-grained marine carbonate-rich sediments. The top of the core shows traces of eutrophication, pebbles and marine shells, all likely a result of modern anthropogenic processes. These results are interpreted in the context of human occupation: the exposed surface contains pottery sherds, one dating to the Early to Middle Neolithic period, indicating that Neolithic people were present in this dynamic landscape interacting with a migrating coastline. Even if the artefacts are isolated, future investigations of the submerged landscape off Franchthi Cave might lead to the discovery of a Neolithic village, which eventually became buried under marine sediments.
L’occupation néolithique de Kataliondas-Kourvellos : état de la question
Cahiers du Centre d'Etudes Chypriotes, 2011
Recent fieldwork at Kataliondas-Kourvellos by the University of Geneva shed a new light on the si... more Recent fieldwork at Kataliondas-Kourvellos by the University of Geneva shed a new light on the site ’ s Neolithic occupation , regarding hypotheses made after the 1972 survey on the one hand , and the latest developments concerning the Neolithic of Cyprus on the other hand.
Kroton - Études et travaux archéologiques genevois en Calabre. Rapport sur les activités de l’Unité d’archéologie classique de l’Université de Genève en 2012
Antike Kunst, 2013
La poursuite de la collaboration directe entre l’Unité d’archéologie classique de l’Université de... more La poursuite de la collaboration directe entre l’Unité d’archéologie classique de l’Université de Genève et l’Office territorial de Crotone et de la Sila de la Surintendance pour les Biens Archéologiques de la Calabre1 a vu les travaux sur le terrain se concentrer en 2012, en raison de limites budgétaires, sur le sanctuaire de Vigna Nuova, situé dans le quartier industriel de la Crotone moderne. Storia e prospettive della ricerca a Vigna Nuova Sondages dans le sanctuaire de Vigna Nuova 2012
La poursuite de la collaboration directe entre l’Unité d’archéologie classique de l’Université de... more La poursuite de la collaboration directe entre l’Unité d’archéologie classique de l’Université de Genève et l’Office territorial de Crotone et de la Sila de la Surintendance pour les Biens Archéologiques de la Calabre1 a vu les travaux sur le terrain se concentrer en 2012, en raison de limites budgétaires, sur le sanctuaire de Vigna Nuova, situé dans le quartier industriel de la Crotone moderne.
Storia e prospettive della ricerca a Vigna Nuova Sondages dans le sanctuaire de Vigna Nuova 2012
Rendez-vous à l’agora. Actualités des projets de fouilles suisses en Méditerranée, actes de la table ronde de l’Association suisse d’archéologie classique 2102 (2013), 17-21
Sakellariou D., Beck J., Rousakis G., Georgiou P., Panagiotopoulos I., Morfis I., Tsampouraki-Kra... more Sakellariou D., Beck J., Rousakis G., Georgiou P., Panagiotopoulos I., Morfis I., Tsampouraki-Kraounaki K., Zavitsanou A., 2015. Submerged prehistoric landscapes off Franchthi Cave, East Argolic Gulf: preliminary results. 11th Panhellenic Symposium on Oceanography & Fisheries, 2015, Proceedings, 993-996.
Detailed and systematic marine geological-geophysical survey of the Kiladha Bay, close to the Franchthi cave, reveals a wealth of information on the active faulting network, the geomorphological features on the prehistoric submerged landscapes and the location and depth of palaeo-shorelines and coastal forms of Early Holocene and Late Pleistocene age. Geological and geomorphological interpretation of the geophysical data is in progress and aims at shedding light on the interaction of prehistoric inhabitants of Franchthi Cave with the dynamically changing landscapes and environment.
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Papers by Julien Beck
pour les Biens Archéologiques de la Calabre1 a vu les travaux sur le terrain se concentrer en 2012, en raison de limites budgétaires, sur le sanctuaire de Vigna Nuova, situé dans le quartier industriel de la Crotone moderne.
Storia e prospettive della ricerca a Vigna Nuova
Sondages dans le sanctuaire de Vigna Nuova 2012
Detailed and systematic marine geological-geophysical survey of the Kiladha Bay, close to the Franchthi cave, reveals a wealth of information on the active faulting network, the geomorphological features on the prehistoric submerged landscapes and the location and depth of palaeo-shorelines and coastal forms of Early Holocene and Late Pleistocene age. Geological and geomorphological interpretation of the geophysical data is in progress and aims at shedding light on the interaction of prehistoric inhabitants of Franchthi Cave with the dynamically changing landscapes and environment.