Gordion

The dominant visual record of the Phrygians on the landscape at Gordion is that of the tumuli that dot the ridges and valleys around the ancient city. Recent studies have put the number of tumuli at around 240, and while only 44 have been investigated archaeologically, these have
provided a framework of absolute and relative dates. The dates for many of these tumuli must also be adjusted to the new chronology of Gordion, in which the destruction level of the Citadel Mound is now dated to around 800 BC. The tumuli are related geographically and visually to the city, with many placed prominently on ridges and flanking the major roads. A pattern of the development of tumulus fields can also be tentatively suggested. Because of its great size, Tumulus MM visually dominates all of the other tumuli, and it also provides the clearest evidence for the nature of its construction, including the participation of a large portion of the local population.

This report is the final draft of a currently unpublished report on the excavations of Roman Gordion by Andrew L. Goldman and Mary M. Voigt.  For more information about the excavations, which are currently being prepared for publication, or permission to use the illustrations (which have been secured and are not for publication), please contact Andrew Goldman at goldman@gonzaga.edu.

Thursday September 3
RI24 PHRYGIAN IDENTITIES, IDENTIFYING PHRYGIA MATHEMATICS BUILDING - ROOM 417
Chair: Dr. Catherine Draycott
Organiser(s): Dr. Catherine Draycott, Ms. Yasemin Özarslan, Prof. Hakan Sivas

http://eaaglasgow2015.com/session/phrygian-identities-identifying-phrygia/

Over the past few decades the archaeology of Phrygia has seen important new developments. Explorations at Gordion, identified as the central seat of the Iron Age Kingdom of Phrygia have readjusted the stratigraphy, showing overlaps of Hittite and Phrygian period occupation, and dramatically moving the heyday of the site back to the 9th century BC.  Surveys at the same site are expanding understanding of the site’s limits and later occupation, while those in the Phrygian Highlands to the West have discovered new monuments from various periods. The discovery of Phrygian inscriptions and new sculptures at the site of Kerkenes Dağ east of the Kızılırmak River (the ancient Halys) has expanded the territory thought to have been occupied by Phrygian speaking groups.

Although new discoveries have been rich, however, so far there has been little overall consideration of approaches to Phrygia and Phrygian culture as larger concepts. Usually considered to be immigrants from the Balkans, who entered Anatolia at around the turn of the first millennium BC, this origin ‘myth’ sets up notions of ethnic purity and cultural contiguity that continue to inform Phrygian archaeology. Are Phrygians a ‘pure’ race? How does one identify ‘Phrygians’ and define ‘Phrygian culture’? Is it consistent and stable or does it change over time and space? How are definitions of Phrygia and Phrygians entangled with modern notions of national and ethnic identity?

Please note: the published abstracts booklet erroneously includes the pre-edited versions of abstracts for the papers.  The document uploaded here includes the correct versions.

Session Programme:

08:00 – 08:10 Introduction

08:10 – 08:30 The Archaeological Implications of the “Phrygian Wanax”, Öztürk, H (University of Cincinnati / ASCSA)

08:30 – 08:50 Phrygians vs. Neo-Hittites: reconsidering the political history of Central Anatolia in the Middle Iron Age, d’Alfonso, L (ISAW New York University)

08:50 – 09:10 Kingdom, Empire or Polity? Reassessing the nature of political authority in the Early-Middle Iron Age of central Anatolia, Krsmanovic, D (University of Leicester)

09:10 – 09:30 Phrygian or Phrygianized: A View from Kerkenes Dağ, a late Phrygian Capital East of the Halys River, Summers, G (University of Mauritius)

09:30 – 09:50 A New Rock-cut Necropolis from Western Phrygia (Demirkaya Necropolis), Sivas, H (Anadolu University)

09:50 – 10:00 Discussion

Coffee break

10:30 – 10:50 The practice of everyday’s identity in Roman Phrygia, Kelp, U (German Archaeological Institute)

10:50 – 11:10 The Findings of Aizanoi Graves and Interpreting, Özer, E (Pamukkale University); Özer, A

11:10 – 11:30 Two Sanctuaries from Aizanoi in Phrygia: Meter Steuene and Aba Sultan, Taşkıran, M (Pamukkale University); Özer, E

11:30 – 12:30 Discussion

Few archaeobotanical studies of Roman agricultural practices and their environmental impact in Anatolia (modern Turkey) have been published. New data from Roman levels at Gordion, a multi-period urban centre in central Anatolia, indicate that free-threshing wheat, most likely Triticum aestivum (bread wheat), was the focus of agricultural practice, in contrast to earlier periods when a more diverse agricultural system included greater amounts of barley and pulses. Evidence for increased levels of irrigation and wood fuel use relative to dung, along with regional overgrazing, provide further evidence for significant change in land-use practices during the Roman period. The emphasis on T. aestivum cultivation coupled with extensive grazing had significant environmental implications, leading to severe overgrazing and soil erosion on a regional scale. Historical sources and limited data from other Roman period sites suggest that similar patterns of agriculture may have been practiced across central Anatolia during the Roman period. We propose that this may have been due to externally imposed demands for taxation or military tribute in the form of wheat, and conclude that these demands led to the adoption of an unsustainable agricultural system at Gordion.