Morphology and State of Preservation

B3 is located on the slope running from the western flank of the north-south ridge lying over the flat area of the 70m-terrace. The parts of the landscape morphology in which B3 is set could never be observed directly by our team since large volumes of sediment had been relocated during mechanical terracing works. Although remains of original grass surfaces could be identified in cuts near the monument, some artificial cuts made in the landscape are not to be reconstructed with absolute precision.

Among the data that is subject to estimation, the height of the mound that was visible at the location of B3 prior to any work can only be approached by series of hardly replaceable altitude measurements made by the RNR-RC team in 1998, by a few photographic illustrations shot shortly before terracing, and finally by a limited number of oral accounts of local observers. At least two apparently natural mounds were visible in the landscape prior to the terracing work. The eastern mound held two blue pines and a shrub tree and was smaller than the western one, which was also covered by at least two blue pines.

When the yard engineer stopped the mechanical shovel in 1998, due to the appearance of a structure in the sediment, a certain number of stones had already been removed. The manual cleaning of the stone surface by the yard team was made very carefully, with minimal disturbance to the structure.

When we started the manual clearing of sediment covering the platform surface, we recognize that the structure was apparently well preserved. Near the platform edges and corners, a few surface stones were slightly disturbed from their original positions, but they can easily be replaced at approximate location in the reconstruction drafts.

We found some signs of disturbance in the central part of the quadrangular surface. A progressive process occurring through time caused these disturbances (we found out that they were not due to the modern terracing work). We shall also see that other parts of the excavated went through historic destruction processes.