Early Byzantine Pottery from Limyra’s West and East Gate Excavations

Year 2020, Issue: 23, 378 - 407, 15.11.2020

Philip Bes

https://doi.org/10.47589/adalya.838038

Cited By: 3

Abstract

This article presents and discusses Early Byzantine pottery that was excavated at and around Limyra’s East and West Gates in 2011 and 2012. Not all excavated contexts were relevant to the aim of the study, which focuses on the Early Byzantine period. Pottery that pre- and postdates this period also occurred frequently. The
pottery from selected contexts was sorted and quantified using fabric, shape and surface treatment as classificatory principles. It is noteworthy that pottery datable between the 2nd century BCE and the 3rd, perhaps the 4th century CE was not found in stratigraphic context: it was only identified in the form of residual fragments.
Early Byzantine pottery occurs in large numbers, and especially around the West Gate there is a strong signal for contexts datable to the 5th and early/first half of the 6th century CE. All amphorae were imported, mostly from various parts of the Eastern Mediterranean; small quantities originated in the Western Mediterranean and the
Black Sea. Most cooking vessels and part of the utilitarian and tableware repertoire, however, was obtained from local/regional workshops, pottery now partly better understood in terms of fabric and typological repertoire.

Keywords

Limyra, ancient Lycia, Roman pottery, Late Roman amphorae, lyciennes kaolinitiques, ancient urbanism

Thanks

My gratitude goes out to Dr. Martin Seyer (Austrian Archaeological Institute - Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna), director of the Austrian archaeological research in and around Limyra since 2007, for offering me the opportunity to study the pottery presented here. The Austrian Archaeological Institute kindly supported my research stays in Limyra (2013-2016, 2018-2019). My sincere appreciation goes out to Banu Yener-Marksteiner, Sandra Mayer, Helmut Lotz, Ulrike Schuh and Katharina Kugler for help in various ways, and to Alexandra Dolea (Austrian Archaeological Institute - Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna) for allowing reference to pottery from the Polis West excavations of 2016, 2018-2019. Photography of the finds was kindly undertaken by Regina Hügli (Vienna). Pencil drawings were made by Sandra Mayer and Rolf Sporleder, and digitized by Nicola Math (Austrian Archaeological Institute). Hylke de Jong kindly improved the English.

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