3. Cilt - Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı

abandoned in the early imperial period. In addition to pottery, the fi nds from one ofthese hilltop citadels included signifi cant amounts of slag and other byproducts ofiron processing, and study of satellite imagery showed that the soils down slope ofthis area are unusually rich in iron, suggesting that as well as serving as lookoutsand hilltop redoubts, some of these fortifi cations may have been established tosecure valuable natural resources.Aphrodisias is located in a natural border region near the east end of theMaeander river basin, and both the tombs and the rural fortifi cations identifi ed sofar help to give a clearer picture of the complex cultural identity of the surroundingvalley before the adoption of Greek civic culture, the tombs pointing toward Lydiain the north and east, the fortifi cations toward Caria in the south and west. Thefounding of the city was clearly a major event in the history of the valley, and itremains poorly understood. Was it the result of the infl ux of a new population, orof the colonial policies of larger powers such as the Hellenistic kings of Syria orRome? Or was it that the local aristocracy had become aware of the benefi ts thaturbanization had brought their neighbors in the Maeander valley, and that theywanted to participate in the larger pan-Mediterranean culture of cities? A majorobjective of all aspects of the regional survey is to shed further light on thesequestions.4) The Roman Imperial Period (1st century B.C.E. to 4th century C.E.)Quarries and other natural resources: Aphrodisias was famous in the Romanperiod for its virtuoso sculptors, and one of the reasons why the buildings of thecity are so well preserved is that so many of them are built out of marble. Anextensive series of seven ancient marble quarries located just 2 km from the sitehas long been known, but never fully studied 5 . In addition, the survey has revealedmuch more extensive evidence for marble quarrying on the south side of the valleythan was previously known; six different quarries have been identifi ed. One ofthese, near the modern village of Yazır (10 km as the crow fl ies from Aphrodisias;Fig. 9) is larger than any one of the individual quarries nearer to the site. Thesediscoveries give a much better sense of ancient marble exploitation on a regional5 P. Rockwell, “The Marble Quarries: A Preliminary Survey,” in R.R.R. Smith and C. Roueché,eds. Aphrodisias Papers 3 (JRA suppl. 20, Ann Arbor 1996) 81-103; G. Ponti, “AncientQuarrying at Aphrodisias in the Light of the Geological Confi guration,” in R. R. R. Smith andC. Roueché, eds. Aphrodisias Papers 3 (JRA suppl. 20, Ann Arbor 1996) 105-10.107