Magnetic Surveys Locate Late Bronze Age Corrals

A new type of livestock enclosure from the Late Bronze Age has been discovered. Stone walls outline a pair of circular or oval areas that may be up to 50 m in diameter. The stone walls are invisible at the surface; they were discovered in north-western Crimea and only with the aid of remote sensing and geophysical surveys. In the period 2007-2020, over two dozen of these structures were found; none has ever been noted before. The locations of these sites were first suggested in satellite imagery, often as areas with unusually green vegetation. Then, large-area magnetic surveys delineated the buried stone enclosures, for there was a good contrast between the non-magnetic limestone walls and the rather magnetic soil. The features can be identified by the unique pattern of the walls: An almost-complete circular arc that is connected to a full circle or oval. The soil within the features has a high level of urease enzyme activity and a high concentration of thermophilic microorganisms. This suggests the composting of animal dung and plant residues; therefore, these were corrals and the raising of livestock was a part of the economy. Only one of the doubled enclosures is found at most settlements; the livestock were probably owned by all of the inhabitants. Each settlement had several dwellings, and these had earthen basins whose edges were lined with vertical stone slabs. Several small-area excavations exposed corral walls. Magnetic measurements of the soil and rock were the basis for magnetic models; the calculated anomalies agree with the measurements of the magnetic maps.