Results of Comprehensive Geophysical Studies on the Search for Crypts on the Territory of Suburban Necropolis of Tauric Chersonese in the Karantinnaya Balka

Abstract

The article presents the results of comprehensive studies carried out by the research team of Saint Petersburg Mining University in cooperation with the specialists from the State Museum-Preserve "Tauric Chersonese" in 2019. The purpose of the work was to discover and map antique and medieval crypts (ancient burial structures) on the territory of suburban necropolis of Tauric Chersonese in the Karantinnaya balka. The complex of geophysical methods included continuous ground penetrating radar sounding at two center frequencies of 350 and 500 MHz and contactless electrical tomography. To minimize spatial errors in the process of studies, topographic and geodetic works were carried out. For the first time wave electromagnetic effects were identified, which indicated the positions of hidden underground crypts. Geological factors were established that are favorable for cutting crypts in the layered thickness of Sarmatian limestones. The obtained results allowed to justify the feasibility of continuing geophysical works at the necropolis in order to study interior space of the discovered crypts and to determine the boundaries of archaeological heritage.

Keywords

• ground penetrating radar sounding
• electrical tomography
• crypts
• necropolis of tauric chersonese
• sevastopol
• karantinnaya balka
• geophysics
• archaeology