Amorium’da Bizans’tan Türk-İslam’a Geçişin Kültürel Yansımaları: Sırlı Seramik Buluntuları
Öz
Amorium Antik Kenti, hem Bizans hem de Türk-İslam döneminin kültürel dönüşümünü bünyesinde barındıran önemli bir yerleşim merkezidir. Kent kazılarında ele geçen buluntu türleri de dönemin kültürel ve estetik değerlerinin bir yansıması olarak, bu dönüşümün izlerini takip etmede nitelikli veriler sunmaktadır. Bu buluntu türlerinin en yoğun grubunu da çoğunlukla seramik kap parçaları oluşturmaktadır. Arkeolojik katmanlarda sıklıkla koruna gelen seramik buluntuları, stratigrafik analizlerin tespiti ve bölgedeki tarihsel gelişimin saptanması noktasında son derece nitelikli bir malzeme grubunu teşkil etmektedir. Ayrıca bölgedeki gündelik hayatı, tüketim alışkanlıklarını ve diğer kültürlerle olan etkileşimleri yansıtması açısından da önemli arkeolojik bulgulardır. Dolayısıyla bu çalışmada Amorium Kenti kazılarında bulunan ve mutfak servis kapları olarak tanımlanan bir grup sırlı seramik buluntusu ele alınmıştır. Orta Bizans dönemi ve Türk-İslam dönemine tarihlenen bu buluntular, 2018 ve 2023-2024 yıllarında Aşağı Şehir’de yer alan Büyük Mekân ve BBD alanları ile Yukarı Şehir’de yer alan İç Sur’da ele geçmiştir. Çalışmada her iki döneme ait sırlı seramik buluntularının incelenmesi ve bu yolla seramiklerdeki estetik anlayışın dönüşümüne ilişkin bir değerlendirme amaçlanmıştır.
Anahtar Kelimeler
Cultural Reflections of the Transition from Byzantine to Turkish-Islamic in Amorium: Glazed Ceramic Finds
Öz
The ancient city of Amorium is an important settlement center that embodies the cultural transformation of both the Byzantine and Turkish-Islamic periods. As a reflection of the cultural and aesthetic values of the period, the artifact types recovered from the excavations of the city provide qualified data to follow the traces of this transformation. The most dense group of these finds are mostly ceramic sherds. Ceramic finds constitute a highly qualified material group for stratigraphic analysis and understanding the historical development in the region. They are also important archaeological findings in terms of reflecting the daily life, consumption habits and interactions with other cultures. This study focuses on a group of glazed ceramic finds from the excavations in the city of Amorium, identified as kitchen service vessels. These finds, dating back to the Middle Byzantine and Turkish-Islamic periods, were discovered in 2018 and 2023-2024 in the Great Space and BBD (Large Building East) areas located in the Lower City and in the Inner Wall located in the Upper City. The study aims to examine glazed ceramic finds from both periods and thereby evaluate the transformation of aesthetic understanding in ceramics.
The Byzantine-period glazed ceramic finds discovered in the Lower City Great Space and BBD (Large Building East) area are associated with Byzantine production dating to the late 8th and early 9th centuries in the context of the find-site relationship. The glazed ceramic finds from the Turkish-Islamic period discovered in the Inner Wall area, which likely belong to the same production group, have been dated to the 14th century based on similar examples in Anatolia and the context of the find-site relationship. However, it is not possible to talk about a local ceramic production during the Turkish-Islamic period for the time being. It is possible that Turkish or Byzantine craftsmen in the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries continued to produce in the city under the patronage and to the taste of the new dominant power of the city, the Turkish-Islamic settlers. However, such an assessment of local production requires archaeological data such as kilns or kiln material. On the other hand, the glazed ceramics of Amorium and the glazed ceramics of Eskişehir Karacahisar Castle, which is located close to Amorium, are very similar. In recent years, different studies on the glazed ceramic finds found during archaeological excavations in both centers support this data. However, the excavations at Karacahisar Castle as well as Amorium have not yet yielded any data on Turkish-Islamic ceramic production. Therefore, for the time being, it is possible to conclude that both centers were located within the commercial circulation hinterland of an as yet unidentified production center in the region.
The Byzantine glazed ceramics found in the city are mostly brown and mustard yellow colored glazes. However, the Turkish-Islamic communities that settled in the city after the end of the Byzantine rule in Amorium significantly influenced this aesthetic approach in ceramic vessels. The Turkish-Islamic period monochrome glazed and sgraffitto ceramics found in the Inner Wall area show a change in the color palette and aesthetic preferences. In this period, green and turquoise colors came to the forefront in monochrome glazed ceramics. The variety of motifs and color combinations on sgraffito ceramics with purple and green glaze reflect the esthetic understanding and technical skills of the period. This change in Byzantine and Turkish-Islamic glazed ceramics can be considered as a reflection of cultural transition.
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