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Amorium Excavations 1991: The Fourth Preliminary Report

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 June 2015

R. M. Harrison
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Extract

This was the fourth season of excavation at Amorium in east Phrygia, and the team worked for four weeks, from 28th July 1991. Archaeological aims this year comprised the continued excavation of the Byzantine Church in the Lower Town, and more detailed study of the small finds, notably the pottery, glass, and inscriptions. Additional aims included the establishment of an official excavation-house (which is necessary by Turkish Law) in the village of Hisarköy, and the construction of a permanent storage depot there. The village of Hisarköy now consists of only about twenty mud-brick houses and two stone buildings, i.e., the cami and the school (which closed in summer 1991). This village was said to have been created in 1892, with about 32 houses, and its recent decline is linked particularly with the attraction felt by the inhabitants to the nearby town of Emirdaǧ. The local harvest takes place in July, releasing a large body of manpower for our excavation's needs in late July and August, as the villagers' families (who work in Eskişehir, Afyon and further afield) come home for their “vacation”. The declining local population does, however, mean that it is easier to find accommodation for the excavation team.

Type
Research Article
Information
Anatolian Studies , Volume 42 , December 1992 , pp. 207 - 222
Copyright
Copyright © The British Institute at Ankara 1992

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References

1 Previous interim reports have appeared in: AS XXXVIII (1988), 175–84Google Scholar, XXXIX (1989), 164–74, XL (1990), 205–18, XLI (1991), 215–29.

2 The staff were Lucy Bown (pottery), Gordon Lawson (architect), Elizabeth Harrison (photography and housekeeping), Martin Harrison (director), Mary Harrison (catering), Osman Kızılkılıç (pay and insurance), Isabella Sjöström (archaeologist), Roberta Tomber (Roman fine pottery), and Derek Welsby (archaeologist). The representative (temsilci) was Süleyman Eskalen from Aya Sofya in Istanbul. Visitors included Michael Ballance, James Crow, Stephen Hill, Chris Lightfoot and the British Ambassador and Lady Daunt.

3 We were deeply grateful to the Turkish authorities in Ankara, particularly to the Director General, and to Mr. Ahmet Topbaş, director of the Museum at Afyon. The 1991 season was funded by kind grants of the British Academy, the Craven Committee (Oxford), the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara, Koç Holdings A.S., All Souls College, Lincoln College, the Worshipful Company of Grocers, the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies, personal gifts, the Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies, the Denis Buxton Trust, and the National Westminster Bank PLC.

4 AS XL (1991), 222–4Google Scholar.

5 The fabric type numbers referred to are explained in detail in AS XL (1990), 213 fGoogle Scholar.

6 AS XLI (1991) 226Google Scholar.

7 op. cit., 222.

8 op. cit., 219.

9 op. cit., 226, Fig. 6, nos. 9–15.

10 op. cit., Fig. 7, no. 4.

11 op. cit., 220.

12 AS XXXIX (1990), 214Google Scholar.

13 I am grateful to Dr. John Hayes for his comments on the early fine wares. The pottery was drawn by Lucy Bown and prepared for publication by Graham Reed.

14 Kenrick, P. M., 1985. The Fine Pottery, Excavations at Sidi Khrebish Benghazi (Berenice) III, 1. TripoliGoogle Scholar.

15 Hayes, J. H., 1972. Late Roman Pottery. LondonGoogle Scholar.

16 I am grateful to Dr. N. J. Christie, who provided various suggestions on the whole preliminary report.