Abstract
Pedasa was the only Karian city that withstood Persians. It is understood that the 6th and 5th centuries BC were the heydays of the city as well as the times when the Acropolis fortification system was strengthened with outer walls against the Persian threat. The fortification of the Acropolis outer walls with bastions and towers took place between the end of the 5th century and the beginning of the 4th century BC. The tower building, situated on a hill sloping north-southwardly on the entrance way of the city to the southeast of the Athena Sanctuary, must have been a watchtower for controlling the entrance and exit to the city.
The importance of the Pedasa-Athena Sanctuary for the entire peninsula is further supported with the discovery of the Athena sculpture, dated to the 2nd century BC, in addition to inscriptions and other finds. In the light of these finds, it is understood that the sanctuary area came into use in the 10th century BC; and, from the beginning of the 7th century BC, the temple terrace was reorganized as a cult place with architectural features and saw its prime around the third quarter of the 6th century BC. The stone-paved road, coming from the Acropolis and running towards the temple terrace, was among the important steps of the construction and organization activities in the 4th century BC in the sanctuary. The finds dated to Archaic and Classical periods that were retrieved from the fill of the road leading to the sanctuary were taken from the bothroi -in which they were previously deposited during the construction activities of the 4th century BC in the sanctuary- and actually used as a filling for the road. The monumental terrace wall bordering the sanctuary in the south is understood to be built in the second half of the 4th century BC with the finds from the foundation level.
The soundings in the lower town of Acropolis yielded data showing that Pedasa was densely inhabited in the outer fortification wall during Archaic Period. The platform graves and stone tumuli spread all over the mountains and hills in the entire territorium are the prominent grave types at Pedasa. Represented with several examples in the other Lelegian settlements, the stone tumuli are closely related with the platform graves in terms of their chronologic use and quantity. Of the first priority research topic in our Pedasa excavations since the beginning, the platform graves are very important for investigating the fundamental themes like the Western Anatolian and Aegean social structure, land use, chronology, and burial customs through a less known grave type that is special to the region. Having no known parallel in the Southeastern Aegean during the Bronze Age, the platform graves, as a distinctive structure belonging to Lelegian identity, are of an entirely new practice for the region in terms of grave architecture and burial customs. The Early Iron Age dwellings at Pedasa, which we research them with our excavations, enrich our understanding and interpretation of a less known building type by comparing its examples from other regions like Western Anatolia, islands and the other side of the Aegean. Among the primary Lelegian structures, reflecting the rural character of the society based on husbandry and agricultural production, the compounds (integrated farmsteads), though less in number, are important structures at Pedasa that we investigate with our excavations and research.
In this paper, a summary of our knowledge achieved during the excavations and research conducted continuously by our team at Pedasa since 2007. The data related with the foundation of Pedasa, which is understood as in the transition period between the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age, are the most important readable information for the Early Iron Age of the Karian regional culture. The obtained results are not only supported with the grave goods but also dwellings and their material culture which belonged to the owner of these graves.