Roman Marble Quarries Research Papers (original) (raw)

This is the program of an e-conference that was held on Byzantine marble trade on May 8-10, 2022.
In our paper we report on the results of some observations within the territories of the ancient region of Lydia and the Upper Cayster Valley: on the archaeological materials found, but not published, in the Turkish provinces of Manisa and Uşak, and in the towns of Bayındır, Tire, Ödemiş and Kiraz in the Upper Cayster Valley in southeastern part of the province of Izmir. Especially in the area of the eastern Upper Cayster Valley and around the towns southeast of Izmir, that is, from east to west, Bayındır, Tire, Ödemiş, Kiraz and Beydağ, there are numerous archaeological sites and a strong heritage especially of the Late Roman and Early Byzantine periods. In this area the period between the mid-sixth and early seventh centuries AD is the most representative period considering the archaeological material both on the surface of each sites and in the local museums.

1. Roman and Early Byzantine stone quarries
near Bayındır in the Upper Cayster Valley

In November 2019, illegal excavations and the resulting destruction were carried out using explosive materials on the Mermertepe (literally “Marble Hill”), located ca. 1 km west of Paşayeri, 5 km southwest of Buruncuk, 20 km southeast of Bayındır on the border of Tire and 100 km southeast of Izmir, registered on the 1 block, 54 plot of the land registry’s map. The area is a hilly and uneven land, and it is approximately 1.210 m southwest from the Izmir-Ödemiş Highway. In the area, which is still used as a quarry, marble cutting and carving processes were carried out during the Roman period, especially in the second and third centuries A.D. This situation is clearly evident from the traces of ancient chisel and stone cutting tools found throughout the whole area of Mermertepe. Semi-worked marble architectural elements were encountered in the area as well. The most prominent and significant find in this area is the lower part of a human figure with a height of 20 cm and a width of 7 cm. Formerly there were two more male portraits on the upper right side of this figure; however, this multifigured part of the quarry, together with the upper part of the figure I have documented, were heavily damaged and destroyed. Obviously these two male portraits belong to young men approaching maturity who are beardless and have short hair or are even bareheaded. The damaged figure on the left is incised only lightly on the surface and only some body parts were displayed in outline. He is standing to the left with both arms outstretched in an unknown gesture. There is an incised elongated object, perhaps a masonry tool, on top of his right arm identification of which would depend upon the context of the composition of which it was a part. The reliefs are unusual for a number of reasons: these faces have not sufficiently distinctive characteristics to be considered portraits; thus, they depict figure types rather than portraits. This figure and the two portraits presumably belong to the Roman period, to stonemasons, workers or employers working in the marble quarry at that time; no comparable example is known to the author from Asia Minor.
Just 100 m opposite Mermertepe there is a further stone quarry site on Karatepe (literally “Black Hill”), perhaps used rather in the Late Antique-Early Byzantine period. This is also a rugged hill site, called Bukolion in the Byzantine period, the modern Ali Paşa Çiftlik bordering on the town of Tire and registered on the parcel 316 of the land registry’s map. On the southern slopes of Karatepe, where a modern farm construction is located, quite a lot of terracotta roof tile and brick fragments and pottery sherds were observed in early 2022. The area in question must have been a farm house between the fourth and sixth centuries A.D. As is clearly evident from the traces of stone cutting on the rocks found throughout the area, stone cutting and carving processes were carried out in Karatepe as in nearby Mermertepe.
These quarries were perhaps used by the inhabitants of some urban centres, Hypaepa and Dios Hieron, in east of ancient Thyaira (modern Tire) where the Caystrian Plain began.

2. Architectural plastic elements and their spolia
in Byzantine, Late Medieval and Ottoman Lydia

In Lydia existing architectural stone elements of the Roman period are mainly related to tomb or temple architecture. The raw material for most of the marble elements used at Roman sites in Lydia was mined locally or in Phrygia. At the beginning of the Byzantine period, the use of architectural elements in marble became a major element of ecclesiastical architecture in the region, where the use of earlier architectural, sculptural and other remains as spolia, i.e. construction material in secondary-use contexts for later buildings and graves, is very common. Especially, the number of Byzantine marble ecclestiastical architectural elements and their re-use in later Ottoman buildings are very common in Lydia, even though Byzantine architectural plastic monuments are not studied in depth, and studies on the relationship of artistic developments to historical events of the Byzantine period are lacking in Lydia. But in any case there must had been at least one local workshop for architectural plastic in Lydia during the Byzantine period, given the wide range of production and carving quality of local finds, from quite mediocre to highly skilled. We should also add that the artistic quality of the monuments in this chapter is generally at the lower end.
Also the marble used for these elements is mostly of Phrygian or Lydian origin. Each Byzantine architectural plastic element that we were able to document in Lydia, presents a different variant of traditional elements, a unique combination of both geometric and floral decoration and the individual stylistic expression of the sculptor. There are no extant examples of a particular decoration being replicated exactly on a second monument. The uniqueness of each monument suggests that the decoration, even though it appears repetitive and adheres to a set of general norms, was an element of consideration by both the sculptor and the patron, in most cases local churches. Also most of these elements have not been found in datable archaeological contexts; therefore their dates are not secure and their chronology remains a difficult issue. We have tried to date each piece, when the condition and quality warrant, to a general stylistic milieu. The dates assigned here are conservative and should be considered as rough approximations.
Although the original purpose of these ecclestiastical plastic elements was to decorate churches and monastaries, one can only presume, if a need arose for precut stone in later Turkish-Islamic periods, that they were seen as having fulfilled their original function and would then be re-used. But the features of re-using an earlier Byzantine-Christian element in a Turkish-Islamic monument have not yet been studied in Lydia.

Keywords: Phrygian marble, Lydian marble, local marble sources, Lydia, Upper Cayster Valley, Manisa, Izmir, western Turkey.