Alahan Monastery, Fourth Preliminary Report

1967 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 37-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Gough

This report should really have appeared in Anatolian Studies XVI (1966). Dis aliter visum. During the autumn of 1965 and the first half of 1966 the present writer was either ill or in hospital, and so unable to work to any purpose.After a fallow season in 1964, excavations at Alahan were resumed in 1965 between the 26th June and the 21st August, a period of exactly eight weeks. The average number of men employed was twenty-five. The Director was again in charge, with Mr. R. P. Harper as his deputy. Mr. G. Bakker again acted as our architect, while Mrs. Bakker dealt with small finds and conservation. Field assistants were Miss Margaret MacDonald, Messrs. T. B. Mitford (Institute Fellow for 1964–1965) and Anthony Ray. Towards the end of the excavation Mr. J. W. Hayes visited the site to advise on pottery and coins, while Miss Margaret Ramsden assisted in the tedious but skilled task of cleaning up skeletons for photographing.

1996 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 11-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sally-Ann Ashton

AbstractThis is a short report on a selection of the small finds from the excavations of a Roman house which lies to the west of the theatre at Lepcis Magna. The pottery and coins from the current levels of excavation have been dated to the late 5th and early 6th centuries AD; however, many of the objects seem to be residual. One of the most interesting finds was a solid bronze ring, decorated with two female figures. The object seems to have been functional, with the ring and the bars on which the woman are seated being attached to a soft material such as leather. These characteristics, which can be found on parallel examples, along with other bronze artefacts from the site suggest that the former was part of the decoration of a horse drawn carriage. Several pieces of jewellery were found including two gemstones which were once part of a finger ring, dating from the 2nd century AD. The first is a garnet and shows the goddess Artemis/Diane in her role of huntress, holding a bow and arrow. The second, which is a cornelian, is decorated with a portrait of a youth and may well be a local copy of a type circulating at the time. Many pieces of locally crafted bone and ivory were also found, including a bone plaque with a floral decoration which was originally intended as a decorative inlay for a small object such as a box. A similar piece from Egypt has been dated to around the 3rd or 4th centuries AD.


1964 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 185-190
Author(s):  
Michael Gough

Last year, during the months of July and August, the Institute completed a third season of excavation at Alahan Monastery in Isauria and, although the season was fairly short—six weeks in all—more workmen were taken on to ensure a maximum effort. Many of these, with six or seven years experience of early Christian excavations at Daǧ Pazarı and Alahan, quickly instructed the newcomers. Of the British staff, Mr. Guthrie and Mr. Martineau helped Mrs. Gough with the administration as well as on the site. Miss Hall, Mr. Harper and Mr. Hayes acted as site supervisors, while Mrs. Gerard Bakker was again responsible for pottery and small finds. The expedition's architect and draughtsman was Mr. Adrian Cave, of the Architectural Institute. Finally, by a happy coincidence, the representative of the Turkish Government was Bay Süleyman Gönçer, who found himself after his retirement from the Directorship of the Afyon Museum with a British expedition again, after so many years of collaboration between the wars with Dr. Winifred Lamb at Kusura and with Sir William Calder during his Phrygian explorations.


1963 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 105-115
Author(s):  
Michael Gough

Excavations at Alahan Monastery were continued during the summer of 1962 for a period of exactly eight weeks, from early July until 1st September. The Director was accompanied by Mrs. Gough, and Mr. Robin Guthrie acted as his chief assistant. Messrs. Gerard Bakker and Anthony Harrison, the expedition's architects, were responsible for the survey and partial restoration of newly excavated buildings, and Miss Susan Harrison for pottery and small finds. Miss Caroline Pickard and Mr. David White were field assistants. Bayan Süheyla Keskil, Director of the Antakya Museum, acted as the official representative of the Turkish General Directorate of Museums and Antiquities. To her and to the Kaymakam of Mut the expedition is grateful for their co-operation. An average of twenty-four workmen was employed, many experienced from earlier excavations at Alahan and Dağ Pazarı, and Süleyman Yemenici was again a most efficient foreman. The number of visitors to the site showed a great increase over 1961, and if a jeep road could be built to cover the 300 metres of steep slope from the main road to the monastery, there is no doubt that this outstanding monument of the early Christian period would soon be better known and appreciated (Pl. XXXa).


1972 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
pp. 163-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. D. Barnett

Over twenty years have passed since the present writer first drew attention to the remarkable but completely forgotten archaeological discoveries made at the Urartian site of Toprak Kale, discoveries made in 1880 by Rassam and his associates, Dr. Raynolds and Captain Clayton, acting for the British Museum. I also summarised the results of the work in 1898 at the same site done by Lehmann (afterwards Lehmann-Haupt) and Belck; these finds are now all well-known. Since then, modern museum conservation work and study has resulted in several new achievements, such as in a fresh publication of the candelabrum at Hamburg Museum, the discovery and publication by Professor G. R. Meyer of a small silver pectoral at Berlin with a presentation scene and á detailed study by him also of the large bronze figure of a “eunuch” in the same museum. Professor Meyer also mentions a fine bronze palmette forming part of a wall panel of bronze plate made up of 17 fragments, also part of a bronze model building similar to that in the British Museum. Lastly, a brief preliminary report of the fruitful excavations of Professors Afif Erzen and Emin Bilgiç, in 1959–61, has been published. One of their most notable finds was another shield similar to those found by Rassam and Lehmann-Haupt with concentric friezes of lions and bulls and a dedicatory inscription of Rusas III.


2017 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 127-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Jakubiak

The Marina el-Alamein Archaeological Project concentrated on excavating the area in the northern part of the harbor town, where a street (S1) existed, running north–south toward the harbor, lined by buildings on both sides. A test trench was dug across it to study the stratigraphy. It helped to identify several street levels and at least two major building phases in this area. One of the structures (H39) contained a hypocaust furnace that led to the building interpreted as a bathhouse. A pebble mosaic was uncovered immediately west of the furnace. Opposite Building H39 and across street S1, there was a large and richly furnished residential house (H42). It encompassed two paved courtyards, which were in use in the first half of the 2nd century AD. Three seasons of excavations (2012, 2013 and 2014) were followed by a season devoted in its entirety to documentation of the pottery and other small finds from the excavations and checking of the documentation from earlier seasons.


2004 ◽  
Vol 99 ◽  
pp. 201-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugh Beames ◽  
Angeliki Tsigkou ◽  
Nicola Wardle ◽  
Lesley Beaumont ◽  
Aglaia Archontidou-Argyri

This article presents a preliminary report on the excavation campaigns of 1999 to 2001 conducted in the Sanctuary of Apollo Phanaios at Kato Phana on Chios by the 20th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities in collaboration with the British School at Athens. An account of the stratigraphy and architectural remains encountered is first presented, followed by a selected catalogue of the ceramic and small finds. The report concludes with a discussion of the chronological development of the site. While prior to the resumption of excavation work at Kato Phana in 1999 it was commonly held that the sanctuary had been established in the Late Geometric period, the new finds suggest that the history of cult worship here may extend back to the Late Mycenaean and the subsequent Protogeometric, Early Geometric and Middle Geometric periods. Excavation results now also reveal that by the seventh century BC the sanctuary had been architecturally embellished with permanent stone structures, with further architectural remodelling taking place on at least two subsequent occasions during the Archaic period. Though the paucity of Classical, Hellenistic and Roman finds from the site is puzzling, the Early Christian period provides a wealth of ceramic and small finds and architectural remains.


1992 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 207-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. M. Harrison

This was the fourth season of excavation at Amorium in east Phrygia, and the team worked for four weeks, from 28th July 1991. Archaeological aims this year comprised the continued excavation of the Byzantine Church in the Lower Town, and more detailed study of the small finds, notably the pottery, glass, and inscriptions. Additional aims included the establishment of an official excavation-house (which is necessary by Turkish Law) in the village of Hisarköy, and the construction of a permanent storage depot there. The village of Hisarköy now consists of only about twenty mud-brick houses and two stone buildings, i.e., the cami and the school (which closed in summer 1991). This village was said to have been created in 1892, with about 32 houses, and its recent decline is linked particularly with the attraction felt by the inhabitants to the nearby town of Emirdaǧ. The local harvest takes place in July, releasing a large body of manpower for our excavation's needs in late July and August, as the villagers' families (who work in Eskişehir, Afyon and further afield) come home for their “vacation”. The declining local population does, however, mean that it is easier to find accommodation for the excavation team.


2000 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 103-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Mattingly ◽  
Mohammed al-Mashai ◽  
Phil Balcombe ◽  
Tertia Barnett ◽  
Nick Brooks ◽  
...  

AbstractThe fourth season of the Fezzan Project continued the interdisciplinary approaches of previous seasons. Geographical and environmental work focused principally in sampling sediments for scientific dating and with integrating ground observation with remote sensing data. Excavations continued at Old Germa, where the site has now reached Garamantian levels. In a separate development, the tentative identification has been made of an early mosque at the site, in an area adjacent to the G1 excavation trench. Substantial results were gained from work aimed at enhancing the important data recorded by Charles Daniels in his earlier excavations and survey in the Wadi al-Hayat. The enhancement of the Daniels' survey archive was integrated with completion of the wider prospection being undertaken by the new project. This survey included fieldwalking, standing building survey, analysis of the foggara irrigation systems and recording of rock art scenes. Finds work comprised the finalisation of a pottery type series for the Germa area, the study of small finds from the recent survey work, botanical analysis and completion of lithics recording. A programme of radiocarbon dating is now being undertaken to improve the phasing of sites and monuments. The first two volumes of final reports are now in preparation.


2001 ◽  
Vol 32 ◽  
pp. 133-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.J. Mattingly ◽  
N. Brooks ◽  
F. Cole ◽  
J. Dore ◽  
N. Drake ◽  
...  

AbstractThe Fezzan Project completed its five-year fieldwork cycle in 2001. The geographical research team located numerous additional palaeolake sites within the Edeyen Ubari, using a combination of Remote Sensing technology and field visits. Additional samples were taken for analysis and dating from many lake edge locations, relating to both the large Pleistocene lake and to the numerous smaller Holocene lakes that have been identified by the team. The excavations at Old Germa were taken down through Garamantian occupation levels to the natural subsoil below the earliest cultural horizon. The earliest activity, represented by a few mudbrick walls and hearths built directly on the natural soil, is believed to date to c. 400-300 BC. Traces of several phases of Garamantian buildings were uncovered, along with numerous rubbish pits, which yielded a rich assemblage of finds, including, for the first time, examples of Garamantian figurines, small 3-D sculptures of humans and animals. Work on the various classes of finds (pottery, small finds, lithics and other stone artefacts, metallurgical evidence, etc.) complemented the excavation work. In addition, a small amount of further survey work was carried out on sites in the Wadi al-Ajal, along with a contour survey of Old Germa and standing building survey at a number of other sites.


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