Archaeological excavations at Cape Chirakman / Bizone, Kavarna 2016–2021
Archaeological excavations at Cape Chirakman / Bizone, Kavarna 2016–2021

Summary/Abstract: In this article are published the results and selected finds from the fully studied features on Cape Chirakman, as well as coins and amphora stamps acquired during the archaeological excavations in the last six years. The ancient settlement of Bizone is located in the port area of the present-day town of Kavarna. It is located on a plateau with immensely steep slopes known as Cape Chirakman. In ancient times, its length was greater. However, a strong earthquake in the 1 st century BC led to the collapse of its southeastern part in the sea. The time and manner in which Bizone was created remain unclear. The name Bizone was first mentioned in a decree from Histria in honor of Agathocles, dating back to 200 BC. Despite the discovery of material from earlier periods, 1 Bizone's best development was probably in the Hellenistic age. After the earthquake, in Roman epoch, the settlement was restored under the same name. The turbulent times of the 6th century forced the population of the settlement to retreat to the plateau again. The fall of the fortress should be dated back to the 6th century and attributed to the great AvarSlavic invasions. During the Middle Ages, the settlement was restored under the name Karvuna and it developed significantly. In the 13th – 14th century, it reached its highest level of prosperity under the rule of the local despots Balik and Dobrotitsa. The research is focused on feattures that chronologically refer to the latest inhabitation of Cape Chirakman, the period from the end of the 14th to the end of the 15 th century. Four dwellings from this period have been fully studied. They all have similar characteristics. All of them are dug into the ground, their walls are single-faced and made of quarry stones of different sizes bounded with clay. Numerous objects related to the daily life of the people who inhabited them were found inside. In some of the dwellings, walls from earlier periods had been rebuilt and/or added and thus used for the construction of new ones. Several Late Medieval pits were excavated and 17 Late Medieval graves have been excavated as well. Two of them were found inside one of the excavated dwellings, and the others belong to a necropolis which is located to the north of the basilica and probably part of the necropolis studied in recent years.

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