Project Details
Projekt
The Development of the City of Assos (Turkey) in Late Antiquity and Byzantine Times
Applicant
Professorin Dr. Beate Böhlendorf-Arslan
Subject Area
Prehistory and World Archaeology
Term
from 2012 to 2017
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 226372002
The research of Byzantine buildings in terms of their importance for the city structure was done so far for only a few cities in Asia Minor. The most extensive researches of this kind in Pergamon have provided information primarily for the middle and late Byzantine city, but only limited information for the late antiquity, since the settlement of this period, as well as the Roman city, got overlaid with the Ottoman and modern city of Bergama. Therefore the situation in Assos offers an unique opportunity, because the ancient city, the area around the Middle Byzantine Ayazma church and the acropolis have not been disturbed by modern buildings. The collection of information and re-study of the late antique and Byzantine buildings in the city and the already partially excavated city district in the ancient city, the new research in the Middle Byzantine church on the outskirts of the city and the within the late Byzantine time intensively used Castle on the Acropolis allow a comprehensive picture of the late antique and medieval townscape of Assos. Due to the in parallel executed documentation and evaluation of the findings of these areas, up until now unique for this time period, a continuous sequence of pottery and small artifacts could get developed , which complements the architectural history survey of the buildings in chronological order and socio-culturally. The ongoing discussed change processes for the late antique and early Byzantine times, culminating in the question "decline or transformation, can be optimally studied especially under these conditions, and thus provide impetus for the national urban research in Byzantine times.The intensive cooperation with the Turkish partner project and the research group at the BTU Cottbus for content development of the research program, the execution of the research on site and the development of the urban model is, compared to the previous research in Assos, a fundamentally new approach. Using the integration with the WissenschaftsCampus Mainz Byzantium between East and West, upcoming queries could get easily introduced to an interdisciplinary discourse. A complex development history, based on research of architecture and artifacts, of late antique and Byzantine city (and not just individual complexes) is a novelty in Asia Minor and may in future form the basis for further studies in other disciplines.As a result of the full research project, a complex description of the late antique and Byzantine Assos will get developed, not only based on architecture, artifacts and historical sources, but equally on all urban-architectural, archaeological and historical factors.
DFG Programme
Research Grants
