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NEW GEOARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCHES AROUND THE DANUBIAN ISLAND PĂCUIUL LUI SOARE

Authors:
Glicherie Caraivan at National Institute for Research and Development of Marine Geology and Geoecology (GeoEcoMar)
Glicherie Caraivan
Radu George Dimitriu at National Institute for Research and Development of Marine Geology and Geoecology (GeoEcoMar)
Radu George Dimitriu
Chera C.
Chera C.
Chera C.
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Cerchia Corneliu at Babeş-Bolyai University
Cerchia Corneliu
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Abstract and Figures

The eroded ruins of a Byzantine fortress (10th‐13th centuries) still endure on the Danubian island Păcuiul lui Soare, between 355 and 357 km. A seismo‐acoustic survey carried out along the Danube in front of the island outlined the presence of the fortress’ ruins under the river waters. The exposed fortress on the Păcuiul lui Soare island has a surface of about 7500 m^2, while the underwater fortress is four times larger (28750 m^2).
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
PONTICA
XLVIII‐XLIX
2015‐2016
MUZEULDEISTORIENAŢIONALĂŞIARHEOLOGIE
CONSTANŢA
NEWGEOARCHAEOLOGICALRESEARCHES
AROUNDTHEDANUBIANISLANDPĂCUIULLUISOARE
GlicherieCARAIVAN
RaduDIMITRIU
ConstantinCHERA
CorneliuCERCHIA
Keywords:seismo‐acousticsurvey,underwatergeo‐archaeology,Byzantine
fortress,DanubeRiver.
Cuvinte‐cheie:cercetăriseismo‐acustice,geoarheologiesubacvatică,fortăreaţă
bizantină,fluviulDunărea
Abstract:TheerodedruinsofaByzantinefortress(10th‐13thcenturies)stillendure
ontheDanubianislandPăcuiulluiSoare,between355and357km.Aseismo‐acoustic
surveycarriedoutalongtheDanubeinfrontoftheislandoutlinedthepresenceofthe
fortress’ruinsundertheriverwaters.TheexposedfortressonthePăcuiulluiSoare
islandhasasurfaceofabout7500m2,whiletheunderwaterfortressisfourtimeslarger
(28750m2).
Rezumat:Ruineleerodatealeuneicetățibizantine(secoleleX‐XIII)încămairezistă
peinsuladunăreanăPăcuiulluiSoare,întrekm355și357.Unstudiuseismo‐acustic
efectuatde‐alungulDunării,înfațainsulei,aevidenţiatprezențaruinelorcetățiisubapele
râului.CetateaexpusădepeinsulaPăcuiulluiSoareareosuprafațădeaproximativ7500
m2,întimpcefortăreațadesubapăestedepatruorimaimare(28750m2).
Introduction
OntheDanubianislandPăcuiulluiSoare,(coordinates:NE‐44°8ʹ05.48ʺN;
27°28ʹ14.33ʺEandSW‐44°7ʹ44.65ʺN;27°28ʹ 02.60ʺE),theruinsofaByzantine
fortressfromthe10th‐13thcenturiesarestillpresent,manyofwhichhavealready
beenerodedbytheDanubeRiver(Fig.1).
GlicherieCARAIVAN,RaduDIMITRIU,CorneliuCERCHIA:NationalInstituteof
MarineGeologyandGeo‐ecology(GeoEcoMar),Constanta,Romania:bd.Mamaiano.304,
email:gcaraivan@geoecomar.ro;dimitriu@geoecomar.ro;corneliu.cechia@geoecomar.ro
ConstantinCHERA:MuseumofNationalHistoryandArcheologyConstanta,Ovidiu
Square12,email:anroed@hotmail.com.
GLICHERIECARAIVANetalii
490
Fig.1‐LocationoftheByzantinefortress
onPăcuiulluiSoareisland.DigitalGlobe.
Inthenortheasternpartoftheisland,hiddeninadenseforest,thewallruins
oftheoldByzantinefortressarepresentuptotheislandshore,suggestingtheir
continuityundertheDanubewaters.Thefortresswasbuiltbetween972–976
yearsB.P.,bytheEmperorJohnTzimiskes’troopsandreflectstheByzantine
strengthintheLowerDanube.
AlthoughnoRomanarchaeologicallevelwasidentifieduptodate,itis
assumedthattheByzantinesbuiltthefortressontheruinsofanoldercity,
reusingthebuildingmaterial.Theyalsoputintopracticeanewtechnique,
provingthecompetenceandabilityofthemanufacturers.
Twomethodswereusedtostabilizethewalls’foundationonthenon‐
consolidatedalluvialsubstrate:(a)adeepfoundation,whichrequiredalarge
effortorawooden(oakbeams)sub‐constructionandalargeamountofstoneas
well,or(b)thewallfoundationwasmadeofburnedoakstakesstuckinthe
groundatregularintervals,overwhichthemanufacturersplacedoakbeams,both
longitudinallyandtransversely.Theemptyspaceswerefilledwithmortar
(masonry)‐amixtureoflime,gravelandgrated/shreddedstone.Inthecaseof
PăcuiulluiSoareByzantinefortress,thelatterapproachwasused.
Modernunderwaterremotesensingtechniquesintroducemanyadvantages
totheunderwaterarchaeology,particularlytothedetectionofsubmergedman‐
madestructuresofarchaeologicalinterest.Thisworkpresentsthepreliminary
resultsofaseismo‐acousticandmagnetometricsurveyintheDanubeRiver
aimingtofindtheruinsofaByzantinefortressontheriverbed.
RESEARCHESAROUNDPĂCUIULLUISOARE

491
Materialandmethods
Inthefallof1987,asedimentologicalandseismo‐acousticsurveywas
carriedoutbyGeoEcoMarontheRomanianDanuberoute.Theseismo‐acoustic
profilingwasconductedusingtheultrasonicsurveymethodwithcontinuous
recording(verticalsonar).Ahigh‐frequencytransmittergeneratesasoundwave
thatpropagatesthroughthewaterlayerwithaspeedofabout1500m/secand
reflectsatthewater/sedimentinterface,beingreceivedbyatransducer
(hydrophone),locatedinthesameplacewiththetransmitter.Thepulselength
generatedbythetransmitterhasamagnitudeorderofmillisecondsandtheissue
rateof1second.Thebottomreflectedsignalwasrecordedonanelectro‐sensitive
paper,obtainingacontinuousprofilingduringthevessel’strackline.AnOcean
SonicsverticalsonarORS‐219withdryrecordingpaperandworkingemission
frequencyof8KHzwasusedduringthissurvey.Theequipmentwasmountedon
atugof600hp,withamaximumdraftof1.80m.Theoptimalconsideredspeedof
theresearchvesselwasaround13km/h.Thevessel’sroutefollowedtheriver
sailinglinetothePăcuiulluiSoareisland’sproximity(Fig.2).Thepositionand
navigationofthevesselwerecarriedoutusingaDGPSsystemwithanaccuracy
oflessthan1m.
Fig.2‐PăcuiulluiSoareFortressGPSposition‐44°7ʹ56.13ʺN;27°28ʹ16.35ʺE.
GLICHERIECARAIVANetalii
492
Fig.3‐TheNE‐SWprofile,between:NE‐44°8ʹ05.48ʺN;27°28ʹ14.33ʺEand
SW‐44°7ʹ44.65ʺN;27°28ʹ02.60ʺE.
Fig.4‐HypsometricmapoftheDanubeRiverinfrontoftheisland.
RESEARCHESAROUNDPĂCUIULLUISOARE

493
Fig.5‐MagnetometricanomalymapinfrontofPăcuiulluiSoareIsland.
Resultsanddiscussion
Thelongitudinalseismo‐acousticprofilemadeinfrontofthefortress,
showedaninformativeverticalpictureoftheDanubebed.Amound‐likefeature
isobtainedontheseismo‐acousticprofiletothenorthernwallofthefortress.This
featureappearsasasharpriseoftheDanubebottomhavingalengthofabout40
mandaheightof9mcomparedtothesurroundingriverbed.Theminimum
waterdepthoftheriverwasonly4.5m.Thisfeatureisdevelopedona
bathymetricbackgroundof14‐15m.Theacousticcharacteroftheseismo‐acoustic
GLICHERIECARAIVANetalii
494
profilesuggeststhehardnatureoftheraisedfeature,comparedwiththeusual
“anti‐dune”morpho‐dynamicstructuresofthesedimentarybed(Fig.3).The
presenceofthewell‐shapeddepressionsoftheDanubebeddownstreamand
upstreamoftheunderwaterraisedfeatureillustratesthehydrodynamic
conditions,inducedbythefortresswalls’underminingandflooding(Fig.3).
Upstreamofthemainbedlifting,somesmallpositiveruin‐shapedirregularities
arefoundontheDanubebottom,withaheightrangingfrom1.00to1.50m(see
Fig.2andFig.3).Theseismo‐acousticprofilealsoshowedtwosub‐bottom
discontinuousreflectorsfrom3to5mbelowtheriverbed,indicatingtheexistence
ofdifferentlithologicalcharacteristicslenses.TheByzantinefortresswallslocated
ontheislandofPăcuiulluiSoareendsharplyatthebankoftheDanube,
suggestingtheunderwatercontinuityoftheruinsundertheDanubeRiver
waters.Theseismo‐acousticsurveyconductedontheDanubeRivernearthe
PăcuiulluiSoareislandbringsanimportantgeophysicalargumentsupportingthis
hypothesis.Thesub‐bottomdiscontinuousreflectorsidentifiedontheseismo‐
acousticprofilecouldrepresentthewoodenfoundationonwhichthefortress
wallswerebuilt.WiththeDanubeflowregimechanges,theleftsideoftheisland
wassubjecttoenhancederosion,causingsub‐diggingofthefoundation’s
structure.In2003,whentheDanubewaterwasatverylowlevels,thewood
beamsnetworkwasclearlyvisible.
OntheeasternrightbankofthePăcuiulluiSoareisland,whereanarrow
branchseparatestheislandfromtheDobrogeanland,theerosionwasless
destructive.Therefore,thestructureswerepreservedingoodcondition(for
example,thewharf,andseeFig.2).
Magnetometricandbathymetricstudies
Ashortbutdismissivegeophysicalmappingofthesitewasalsocarriedout
inMay10‐12,2010,duringthecruisealongtheDanubeRiveroftheR/V“Istros”,
operatedbyGeoEcoMarInstitute.Thegeophysicalresearchcovereda1.2kmlong
sectionoftheriverandthelast0.6kmoftheOstrovsecondaryarm.Itconsisted
ofsynchronoussingle‐beam,dualfrequencybathymetryandhighresolution
magnetometry.Thetotallengthofthegeophysicallineswasaround53kmforthe
bathymetryand23kmformagnetometry.
Thebathymetricmap(Fig.4)givesadetailedviewoftheriverbedand
undoubtedlyhighlightsthesubmergedextensionofthebyzantinefortressona
wide,semicircularsurface(250mlengthalongtheriverand180moffthePăcuiul
luiSoareisland).Theheightofthesubmergedfortresswalls,highlightedby
bathymetry,israngingfrom2mtoover8mabovetheriverbed(Fig.4).
TheexposedfortressonthePăcuiulluiSoareislandhasasurfaceofabout
7500m2,whilethesubmergedfortressisfourtimeslarger(28750m2).
Despitethehugemagneticbipolaranomalyduetoamodern(recent)river
shipwreck,whichliesonthenorthernfoothill(flank,side)ofthefortresswall,at
over12mwaterdepth,thetotalfieldmagneticmappingwasabletopositively
distinguishmostofthesubmergedwalls.Thisisprobablyduetothepresenceof
firedbricksand/orallochthonousrawconstructionmaterials,withaboveaverage
magneticproperties,withinthewalls’structure(Fig.5).
RESEARCHESAROUNDPĂCUIULLUISOARE

495
Conclusion
Thepreviousunderwaterseismo‐acousticsurveycarriedoutinfrontofthe
PăcuiulluiSoareislandfortressandtherecentlymadebathymetricand
magnetometricresearchesprovidestrongargumentsthattheremnantsofthecity
extendintheDanubeRiver.
Therefore,furthergeo‐archaeologicalresearchisrequiredinthestudied
area,throughacomprehensiveinterdisciplinaryprogram,involving
sedimentologicalandgeophysicalstudies,inconjunctionwithdirect
observations,specifictounderwaterarchaeology.Theproposedsurveywilllead
toabetterunderstandingofthehistoryofthecityaswellasthesedimentary‐
hydrodynamicevolutionoftheisland.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BARNEA&STEFĂNESCU1971‐I.Barnea&St.Stefănescu,ThehistoryofDobrogea.
Vol.III.Byzantines,RomansandBulgariansattheLowerDanube,Bucharest,1971.
PANINetal.1977‐N.Panin,G.Salomie&V.Varodin,Bathymetricalresearchonthe
BlackSeacontinentalshelf,St.cerc.geol.‐Geofizica15(1977),p.57‐73.
CARAIVAN&ENESCU(1988)‐Gl.Caraivan&G.Enescu,Observațiiseismoacustice
înzona“PãcuiulluiSoare”,Pontica22(1988),p.85‐87.
CARAIVAN,FULGA&CHERA2010‐Gl.Caraivan,C.Fulga&C.Chera,Underwater
geoarchaeologicalsurveyinfrontoftheDanubianislandPăcuiulluiSoare(Romania)usingremote
sensingtechniques–preliminaryresults.Proceedingsofthe19thCBGACongress,
Thessaloniki,Greece,2010,p.519‐524.
... An opposite case, that of the aggressive attitude of Nature towards culture is that of the site Pȃcuiul lui Soare. Situated on a small island on the Danube River, the tenth century Byzantine fortress with walls of ashlar blocks positioned on deep oak beams foundations (Caraivan et al. 2016) is attacked by both aquatic erosion and the dense vegetation of the island. The river annually destroys the masonry on the shores, but a more effective destruction is caused by the vegetation that dislocates the blocks in the areas untouched by water. ...
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