2022
The excavations at Aspendos are carried out under the direction of Asst. Prof. Mustafa Bilgin on behalf of Afyonkarahisar Kocatepe University with permission granted by the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. In this context, the excavations at Aspendos started on 05.08.2022, following the participation of Kenan GÖRENDAĞLI, one of the experts of the Hagia Sophia Museum in Istanbul and representative of the Ministry on 04.08.2022. The excavations were terminated on 30.12.2022.
The excavation house used for the accommodation of the team, the execution of scientific studies and the coordination of fieldwork is situated in Küme Evleri, No: 82, Belkıs Neighbourhood, Serik District in Antalya. The units of the excavation house were designed in 2019 – 2020 by placing nine containers and organizing a landscaped garden. A depot, an office, a photography studio, a dining hall, a kitchen, two WC / showers and three dormitories provide the suitable space for the team’s accommodation and the conduction of the studies. A container that serves as a depot has been arranged for the 2022 excavations, and the required security measures, including monitoring with a camera system, have been taken. The office in the excavation house provides technical equipment such as computers, printers, scanners, internet connection, drawing materials and conservation materials. The garden of the excavation house has been arranged for the preliminary cleaning and classification of pottery sherds and other finds.
Within the scope of the 2022 excavations, the team conducted field visits to the areas outlined in the schedule for the necessary inspections and reviewed the workflow. Based on the examinations in the field and the work schedule the excavations were planned to be carried out on two major areas: the Vestibulum of the Basilica, which was excavated between 2014 and 2020, and the Northeast Stairway related to the Basilica, found on the northeast-southwest ramp in front of the vaults in the northeast of the building. The excavations in the Vestibulum began on 22.08.2022 and ended on 04.10.2022, while the excavations in the Northeast Stairway started on 10.10.2022 and were completed on 23.12.2022.
2022 ASPENDOS EXCAVATIONS
In 2022, work in Aspendos was mainly carried out in the Vestibulum of the Roman Basilica, the Northeast Stairway discovered in the northeast of the Basilica, and the Vaulted Space.
Roman Basilica
Vestibulum 4
The Vestibulum of the Basilica was excavated between 2014-2020. The work was carried out -respectively from southwest to northeast- in Vestibulum 1 (V1) in the 2014-2015 excavation seasons, Vestibulum 2 (V2) in 2016, and Vestibulum 3 (V3) at the northeast end of the area in the 2019-2020 excavation seasons.
The excavations in 2022 started in the unexcavated cultural fill between V2 and V3 with the aim of understanding its phases of use and the correlation of the stratigraphy with other areas.
The borders of cultural fill defined as V4 measure 5.10 m on the western edge, 5.15 m on the eastern edge, 8.80 m on the northern edge and 8.70 m on the southern edge. The work started at an altitude of 60.56 m and ended at 58.86 m. A total of five layers and eleven deposits, detected by following the changes in the soil, were excavated from the upper to the lower elevation.
The excavations in Vestibulum 4 produced results parallel to the deductions of the previous excavation seasons. The pottery sherds from the Roman Imperial Period (1st-2nd century AD), Late Antiquity (5th-7th century AD) and Middle Byzantine Period (12th century AD) revealed the phases of use of the building. Most of the finds belong to the Middle Byzantine Period suggesting that the basilica, which was converted into a church in Late Antiquity, maintained its use as an important part of the church in the Middle Byzantine Period. So far, work in this area has revealed no archaeological finds dating later than the 12th century AD.
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Northeast Stairs
Initially located on the eastern edge of the Hellenistic Agora, the Market Building was converted into a Basilica during the Roman Period, and three huge adjacent vaults were built to the eastern edge of the building. The front opening of the northernmost vault was closed in a later phase of use. Excavations were shifted to this area to understand when the later arrangements in this part of the basilica took place.
The work started at the lower level of the ramp running on a northeast-southwest axis in front of the closed-off third vault to determine whether the two stairs, which were partially visible under the soil, continued to the northeast. These stairs were uncovered in the initial stages of work, and it was determined that they run parallel and adjacent to the eastern edge of the Basilica, extending from the conglomerate at the upper elevations down to the bedrock. The stairway, running from southeast to northwest for 30 meters, is formed by alternating stairs and platforms. The width of the stairs and platforms was occasionally expanded up to five meters, depending on the topography and the location of the buildings to the northeast. This arrangement of stairs and platforms helped to partially level the steep slope of the area.
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Vaulted Space
A vaulted space extending in the northeast-southwest direction was unearthed to the east of the stairway and the platform, which were uncovered on the fourth terrace of the Northeast Stairway. This structure built on the northeast stairs was formed by a dromos carved into the bedrock and a vaulted space constructed of brick bound by lime mortar. The space measures 3.44 m long and 60 cm wide, along with the dromos.
Located at the eastern boundary of this structure is a rectangular plan building with its foundation carved into the bedrock. The walls surrounding the Vaulted Space were probably destroyed by illicit diggings.
The finds unearthed during the excavations reveal that the Vaulted Space was built immediately after the Northeast Stairway.
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