The Countryside of Aphrodisias [Paperback]

Aphrodisias is one of the most important archaeological sites of the Greek and Roman periods in Turkey. Excavations at Aphrodisias have been carried out by New York University since 1961 and have revealed an unusually well-preserved and picturesque ancient town. A survey of the surrounding territory undertaken between 2005 and 2009 resulted in the discovery of hundreds of new sites spanning three millennia of human occupation in the region. This book presents the rich archaeological remains of the countryside of Aphrodisias, ranging from isolated farmsteads to fortified citadels, from burial mounds to marble quarries, and from Roman aqueducts to Ottoman cisterns.Preface Chronology 1 Introduction 2 Before the Founding of Aphrodisias 3 The Founding of Aphrodisias and Its Impact on the Surrounding Region 4 The End of Antiquity 5 The Middle Byzantine Revival 6 From the Seljuk Conquest to the Present Day 7 A Tour of the Countryside of Aphrodisias Notes Bibliographical Abbreviations Index of People and Places Index of SubjectsChristopher Ratte is Professor of Classical Archaeology and Director of the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology at the University of Michigan. He is the author, coauthor, or editor of five books and more than 30 articles and excavation reports on the archaeology of Anatolia. He supervised excavations at Aphrodisias from 1993 to 2005 and directed the Aphrodisias Regional Survey from 2005 to 2009. Angela Commito is Visiting Assistant Professor of Classics at Union College. She is interested in the dramatic changes in Graeco-Roman life that mark the collapse of classical antiquity in the eastern Mediterranean. She has carried out archaeological fieldwork in Italy, the Republic of Georgia, and Turkey, including participation in the Aphrodisias Regional Survey from 2007 to 2009. This book succeeds in its stated aim of presenting the findings of the Aphrodisias Regional Survey to a wider audience. In particular the book is successful in giving a sense of each perlĂ2