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Much further south, east of the present-day Kemer Bridge, which crosses the
Ağlasun Çayı, leading from Ağlasun to Manastır in the hills bordering the plain to the
south, the remains can be seen of a concrete substructure, which most probably belongs
to a Roman predecessor of the Kemer Bridge.
Both finds, the monumental tomb and the bridge, confirm the fact that the valley
was an important traffic artery and that in Roman times the elite eagerly used the roads
to display their wealth by the construction of monumental tombs.
No evidence for an agricultural exploitation of this part of the valley was discovered.
The Northern Part of the A¤lasun Valley on the Hills Southeast of Sagalassos (Fig. 14)
As a result of interviews taken from the villagers to expand our knowledge of the
presence of ancient remains in and near the village, 3 areas/sites were visited:
- The Kum Mahallesi Bridge, which also seems to go back to Roman times.
- The remains of a Roman cellar or tomb near the house of Ali Samancı in the
Bâlâ Mahallesi. This subterranean construction must have formed part of a large building
of which two pillars can be seen in the schoolyard nearby. The fields in the vicinity
of the Bâlâ Mezarlığı and south of it yielded extremely few ceramic remains. However,
two olive press weights were located here, one on top of the cemetery wall, and
one lower down the slopes, nearer to the valley of Ağlasun, which may indicate that
this part of the area, the gentle south-facing slopes, may have mainly been turned over
to (olive) cultivation, possibly causing the scarcity of ceramic remains. However, a geomorphological
assessment of the erosion risk on these slopes will be necessary to
correctly interpret this phenomenon.
- The site at Akyamaç, located on a south-facing plateau southeast of Sagalassos,
in the fields of Cafer Savaş, where the remains of a structure can still be seen, in
the vicinity of which fragments of an ostotheca were found, and the remains of a complete
dolium. A new grid was set out south of this structure, on the hill slopes occupied
mainly by wheat cultivation and grasslands. Survey here confirmed the existence of at
least one large structure which incorporated ashlars, and of which part of a long wall
with an adjoining room can still be seen in situ. Lots of Sagalssos Red Slip Ware and
coarse ware fragments (including several dolium fragments) were located near the in
situ remains of this structure’s walls. The use of ashlars, the apparently large size of
the structure and the high amount of fine wares probably identify this structure as a suburban
villa, several of which were already found on the hills south of Sagalassos. Since
in the pottery in its vicinity is overwhelmingly Late Roman-Early Byzantine, the villa
may possibly be dated to this period.
Because of dense vegetation, a new grid was set out ca 50 m. west of the Akyamaç
area, in a landscape of mainly grassy slopes interspersed with prickly oak. Some
150 to 200 m. south of this structure a second concentration of pottery could be delimited,
mainly consisting of post-Roman pottery. At this place an olive press was also
found, as well as a basin for pressing the olives, pointing to the nearby processing of
olives. In the same area a number of old terrace walls can be seen, on top of which pine
trees with a diameter of 50 cm. have grown. Other walls run perpendicular to the
contour lines and seem to ‘surround’ an area of ca. 100x100 m.
A limited survey was carried out in ‘Manastır’, a place in the hills southeast of
Sagalassos, about which the villagers tell that there are a lot of pottery and tiles here
(Fig. 14). The survey indeed proved the existence of an affluent site/settlement here (a
villa?), possibly with a tomb/small necropolis attached to it as is attested by elements
of decorated vase ostothecae. The exact extent and nature of this settlement is not
clear yet.
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