Momentary pause in the work of excavation in the structure located under the floor in Ravne's Labyrinth

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After clearing of the area from the infiltration of water, it’s necessary to await a moment before proceeding with the excavation to recover the structure.

We must ensure that there is no further infiltration of water before the re-start.

The Foundation has created a niche in the wall of the tunnel in front of the centre of the future excavation site to create the access ramp, yet unbuilt.

The excavation has been recomposed and burial of the new drainage pipe in the ground so as to facilitate movement along the passage. The structure will be excavated from the side by the ramp starting from the newly built niche.

Thanks to images by the photographer of SB Research Group, Ajdin Ahmetspahic, now we can document the current situation.

Fig. 1 - Scheme (image by professor Lucia Krasovec Lucas - Politecnico di Milano). The stretch of the tunnel is where the structure is located. The numbers refer to the direction of the figures below (click to enlarge)

Fig.1 a and b. Images of the entrance of the tunnel where is the structure located under the floor of the gallery

Fig.2 Image directed to the structure upstream the retaining wall against water infiltration

Fig. 3 - Image taken from the niche built in front of the zone of digging. The structure is located below the wheelbarrow

Fig. 4 - Image of the niche built in front of the structure to hold the ramp to access to the structure (yet to be constructed)

Fig. 5 - Image of the area where is the underground structure.

Fig. 6 - Image taken from the opposite side upstream the retaining walls against water infiltration

Paolo Debertolis - September 5, 2011

Finally finished work to defend site of excavation from water in Ravne’s Labyrinth

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Work finished on the second structure downstream from the archaeological site of excavation in Ravne Labyrinth.

(Photos Aidjn Ahmetspahic)

Now all the site of excavation is dry. On Tuesday they will resume digging the artifact to investigate. Maybe there will be some changes to the initial project plan.

Paolo Debertolis for SB Research Group - August 15, 2011

Latest report on the work of consolidation before bringing to light the underground structure in Ravne's tunnels

TAG: pyramids Bosnia, Bosnian pyramids, Visoko's Civilization, pyramids, archeology, artifact, tomb

Get latest news by responsible archaeologist, Sara Acconci, about the protections of the underground structure from water.

The walls and the recollection of water pit placed upstream of the excavation site have been completed and has been connected to the new drainage tube.

Fig. 1 - The walls placed upstream of the excavation are now connected to the new drainage tube (Photo Aidjn Ahmetspahic)

Fig. 2 - Now the drainage tube is placed at the side of the tunnel and no more in the center (Photo Aidjn Ahmetspahic)

It has performed a small change to the project downstream the site of escavation, conveying in a pit with square base also waters from the nearby tunnel, located on the left of the one in which the structure to be investigated was found.

Fig. 3 - The new concrete pit for the water with a square base located downstream of the excavation (Photo Aidjn Ahmetspahic)

Currently it is expected it will need few days to wait to dry the walls and begin the excavation, which is expected to resume next Tuesday.

Paolo Debertolis for SB Research Group - August 12, 2011

Solved the water problems during the excavation of the hypothetical tomb in Ravne Labyrinth

TAG: pyramids, Bosnia, Bosnian Pyramids, Visoko civilization, pyramids, archeology, artifact, grave, SBRG, SB Research Group

The need to begin the excavation work to protect the structure from possible malicious people has uncovered an unexpected problem in the Ravne Labyrinth.

The workers who some years ago had tried to keep the tunnel dry inside had made a huge mistake.

They had placed the drainage pipe in the center of the tunnel about 30 cm from the surface of the floor, this was complete with holes to facilitate the gathering of water. But when they built the excavation passage that held the pipes, they destroyed the original clay layer probably created to protect the underlying structure from water. We recall that this structure has its top edge about 80 cm from the floor.

Fig. 1 - The remains of the pipes positioned above (photo R.Hoyle)

From an archaeological point of view, it was not possible to find any variation in the stratigraphic layers within this channel at the center of the tunnel, as there is only a single uniform layer of clay.

Once they positioned the pipe they covered it using sand, different sized cobble stones and a thin layer of soil. In doing so they created a layer which was not waterproof, when the volunteers started to excavate the hypothetical tomb, because the pipes had holes in them, the flow of water was no longer concentrated in the tubing, but began to disperse into the surrounding area.

Fig. 2 - The situation of water diffusion with its production of mud made it difficult to move in the tunnel excavation site (photo R.Hoyle)

At the base of the excavation which was carried out to place the tube, where the original layer of clay was not altered by the workers, it was observed that there were no problems because impermeable clay remained in place.

It is likely that the builders of the ‘tomb’ thought about protecting it from the water, and therefore created a compact layer of clay to prevent water ruining the structure.

Fig. 3 -  Vertical section of the floor of the tunnel (S. Acconci)

As you can see from the image above (Fig. 3), the water had the option to flow down the channel where the clay had been removed, but being unable to exceed this, it fell through the holes into the pipe and was drained away.

In order to dry the excavation site, they are building two concrete walls on either side so that all the water from the surrounding areas can divert directly into the new plumbing. The pipe will be placed far away on the side, thus making it possible to remove the soil from the underlying structure.

As mentioned above, the structure will be excavated only from the side.

Fig. 4 - Schematic drawing of the protection of the structure from water infiltration (S. Acconci)

For the first time they are working inside the tunnel so they can proceed safely, taking into consideration the requirements from an archaeological point of view. The plan in synthesis  is to block the water by building concrete walls which channel and concentrate the seepage water directly into the drainage pipes.

These concrete walls will be placed within the layers of the original clay. In practice, a double wall will form two small "tanks" directly connected to the plumbing at a distance either side of the structure (see Fig. 4).

A further precaution will be implemented within the walls of the excavation: they will inject a special glue that through pressure will fill all the holes that allow a little passage of water alongside the pipe. In this way we will prevent all the water flowing into the concrete structure.

Fig. 5 - The ongoing work to build the walls (Foto Ajdin Ahmetspahić)

Momentarily no volunteers have access to the excavation site, only two Foundation of the Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun workers will operate under the careful direction of the chief archaeologist, Sara Acconci.

It is estimated these remedial works will finish in 3-4 days. Then they will try to bring to light the ancient underlying structure.

Debertolis Paolo and Sara Acconci - August 2, 2011