Yambol survey results

This chapter is a summary of the results of two seasons of field survey by the Tundzha Regional Archaeology Project (TRAP), one in the Elhovo study area and the other in the Dodoparon study area of the Yambol province. The survey covered a total of 37 sq km, mostly in intensive and extensive mode. The archaeological residues include 24 surface concentrations, 52 burial mounds, a previously known fortress of Dodoparon, and two previously known prehistoric tells. The chapter focuses on the morphological features and classification of the surface concentrations and burial mounds, as well as preservation and recovery rates. Recovery rates of surface concentrations in the Yambol province seem independent of survey strategy, being consistently similar to the expected rate. While the number of concentrations per sq km in Yambol is lower than in Kazanlak, scatters are larger and higher density. Given the lack of background scatter, concentrations are easy to detect, diminishing the difference between high and low intensity approaches. Yambol’s burial mound density of 1.4 mounds per sq km is much lower than in Kazanlak; the mound size distribution, however, corresponds well to the Kazanlak dataset if the Gorno Sahrane necropolis is excluded from the latter.