Direction
Jean-Baptiste Yon (CNRS-HiSoMa/IFPO)
How Eveha Participates
Topography
Location
Lebanon
The 2018 Excavation and Architectural Survey Campaign in Tyre
The eleventh campaign of excavations and architectural surveys of the Tyre mission took place from October 1 to 27, 2018. Field operations were divided among three main areas:
- In Sector 1, objectives focused on the study of the Tetrapylon to establish dating elements and analyze the adjacent hydraulic system. Several soundings were undertaken, along with a photogrammetric survey of the entire structure. Simultaneously, in the same sector, surface clearing was conducted to prepare for a future excavation within the canonical enclosure adjacent to the cathedral.
- Within Sector 3 (the thermal complex), a sounding was carried out in the northeast palaestra, directly beneath the lapidary garden, to complete the architectural study of the complex. This sounding led to the partial identification of a vast basin and a foundation course made of chalk blocks.
- Finally, a new study area was opened in Sector 7, where new baths—smaller than the main thermal complex—were cleared over an area of 300 m². Notably, an atypically shaped cistern was discovered there. As water management in Tyre is a core theme of the mission, the study of this sector and its connection to the rest of the site will continue in the future.
In all these sectors, architectural and photogrammetric surveys served as the primary recording methods.
As in previous years, Xavier Husson (topographer, Éveha International) continued the survey work in coordination with the architects and archaeologists involved in the project. Regarding topography, the final week of the campaign was dedicated to vectorization, geo-referencing, and the finalization of the surveys used as the basis for the architectural study. All this data was integrated into a GIS for the ongoing monograph. Furthermore, the implementation of a new database associated with a GIS was prepared. The work initiated in 2018 will be systematized across the entire site, including data from past excavation campaigns. The processing of this legacy data began during this mission.
Finally, as part of the geo-archaeological study of Tyre, a coring campaign took place in the spring of 2018, led by Jean-Philippe Goiran (Archéorient, UMR5133).
