Taşlıca-Mersincik. A Multicultural Meeting Point

Yıl 2022, Sayı: XXX, 45 - 82, 05.05.2022

Bülent Kızılduman Seren S. Öğmen

Öz

In the course of a survey carried out on the borders of Taşlıca village in the Karpas Peninsula
a new archaeological site was recorded. To evaluate the historical role of the area, work at Taşlıca
was carried out with special care and was named Taşlıca-Mersincik in the literature. The limits of
the archaeological site and its chronology were determined. Within the site which will be declared
to the scientific world as Taşlıca-Mersincik, pottery, fragments and unfinished statues, as well
as architectural stone sculpture and structural pieces were identified. Among the many finds is a
select group consisting of 24 statue fragments, carved stone, and terracotta fragments. Together
with diagnostic pottery from the surface they were used for a chronological comparison with other
sites. The great majority of the Taşlıca-Mersincik pottery, consisting of coarse ware and vessels
for everyday use, belongs to Cypro-Archaic II. The existence of a very small number of pieces
of Late Roman date demonstrated the existence of a later occupation as well, but no continuous
settlement. Ceramic cinders retrieved within the area, might point to pottery production or ritual
activities at the site. The sculptural fragments show both domestic and foreign characteristics and
belong to the second half of the Archaic II phase. They indicate a possible sculpture work-shop
showing international influences. The location of the site close to important straits and harbour
areas, as well as the multicultural nature of the artefacts hints at overseas contacts and a possible
harbour site at the coast. As a result of the survey at Taşlıca-Mersincik, information concerning the
sociocultural and economic life of the settlement was recorded. Thus, it is likely that, as a result of
future stratigraphical excavation, the role of the settlement, as well as that of the Karpas Peninsula,
within the eastern Mediterranean networks might become much clearer

Anahtar Kelimeler

Cyprus, Archaic, Location, Statue, Multicultural, Harbor

Kaynakça

• Akurgal 1997 Akurgal, E., Eski İzmir I Yerleşme Katları ve Athena Tapınağı, Ankara. Androiti 2016 Androiti, M., “Toward Further Understanding The Mixed Character Of The Archaic Statuettes Of Cypriot Type”, Approaching Cyprus (eds. R. Maguire – J. Chick), Cambridge, 110-126. Ataç 2006 Ataç, M.-A., “Visual Formula and Meaning in Neo-Assyrian Relief Sculpture”, The Art Bulletin 88 (1), 69–101. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/ stable/25067226