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High-resolution electrical resistivity imaging of buried grave in Nif (Olympos) Mountain/Izmir

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Abstract

Nif Mountain is located approximately at the borders of Kemalpaşa, Torbalı, and Buca districts in the east of Izmir which is located in the west of Turkey. Nif Mountain has three investigated sectors, namely as Dağkızılca, Karamatepe, and Başpınar. Surface investigations were started in 2004. The areas include the surrounding area of the monastery complex in Dağkızılca that belongs to the classic Hellenistic period. Since official excavations can only be carried out in the summer period, some illegal excavations were also encountered in the study area, and it was seen that these illegal excavations destroyed historical remains. Despite the illegal excavations, it is estimated that some ancient ruins and burial areas (Tumulus, chamber tombs, cist graves, terracotta sarcophagus, etc.) expected to be in the Dağkızılca area are still buried. For this purpose, archeo-geophysical research was carried out in the Dağkızılca area using the electric tomography method. We aimed to determine the location and depth of the buried structures and graves, as the geo-electric survey was carried out via Wenner-Alfa array along 8 profiles 1 m apart in two areas. One of them was on top of the illegally excavated grave to test the results of the electrical method. It was observed in the resistivity images that our results were successful in getting an idea of the electrical resistivity anomaly on the grave. To detect a similar anomaly in other untouched parts of the study area, measurements were taken in 7 profiles. An anomaly, similar to obtained from our test profile, was observed in one profile. To test the accuracy of this anomaly, a new measurement was taken by shifting the beginning of the measurement point on the profile. Thus, the findings were tested once again. The exact location of the buried tomb was eventually found. Consequently, this study reveals possible buried remains that cannot be observed from the surface. It was made to quickly display the location, shape, depth, etc. features. Thus, it has been shown that the ruins can be reached more quickly and at a lower cost without deterioration by guiding the archeological studies.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Prof. Dr. Elif Tül Tulunay and Associate Prof. Dr. Müjde Perker who are the director of Nif archeological excavations and field surveys. We also thank their excavation team. We are also grateful to our students Ekrem Mehmet Zeren, Ezgi Başak Filoğlu, Yaren Gürdamar, and Yiğit Kaan Alpaslan for helping during the geo-electrical field surveys. Lastly, we thank Prof. Ethem Görgün for helping with manuscript correction and the English language. The manuscript benefitted from constructive comments by one anonymous referee as well as the journal editors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geophysics, Faculty of Engineering, Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa, 34500, Büyükçekmece/İstanbul, Turkey

    Okan Tezel & Hakan Alp

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  1. Okan Tezel
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  2. Hakan Alp
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Correspondence to Okan Tezel.

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Responsible Editor: Narasimman Sundararajan

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Tezel, O., Alp, H. High-resolution electrical resistivity imaging of buried grave in Nif (Olympos) Mountain/Izmir. Arab J Geosci 14, 2357 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-021-08741-5

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