Excavations at Saraçhane in Istanbul. Volume 1, The excavations, structures, architectural decoration, small finds, coins, bones, and molluscs

544 Pages·2014·66.389 MB·English

by  R. M. Harrison, M. V. Gill;

Excavations at Saraghane in Istanbul
VOLUME 1

Copyright £ 1986 by Princeton University Press
Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton,
NewJersey 0854*>: and by Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection
1703 32d Street, N.W.. Washington, D.C. 2(XX)7
In the United Kingdom Princeton University Press. Guildford, Surrey
All Rights Reserved
Library ot Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data will be found
on the last printed page of this book
ISBN 0-691-03582-2
This book has been composed m Lmotron Bembo
Clothbound editions ot Princeton University Press books are printed on
acid-free paper, arid binding materials are chosen for strength and durability-
Publication of this volume has been assisted by a grant
from the Publications Program of the National Endowment for the
Humanities, an independent federal agency.
Printed in the United States of America by Princeton University Press,
Princeton, New Jersey
To
the memory of
NEZIH FIRATLI
(1921-1979)
in gratitude

CONTENTS
PREFACE R. Μ. HARRISON IX LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHS XV
SUMMARY R. M. HARRISON XI LIST OF TABLES XXI
LIST OF DRAWINGS XIII LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS XXIII
I
THE EXCAVATION 1
CHAPTER ONE. DISCOVERY AND BACKGROUND R. M. HARRISON 3
CHAPTER TWO. THE STRUCTURES R. M. HARRISON 11
CHAPTER THREE. THE STRATIGRAPHY R. M. HARRISON 34
CHAPTER FOUR. INTERPRETATION R. M. HARRISON 111
II
THE CATALOGUES 115
CHAPTER FIVE. THE MARBLE CARVING R. M. HARRISON 117
CHAPTER SIX. THE INLAYS AND REVETMENT R. XL HARRISON AND Μ. V. GILL 168
CHAPTER SEVEN. THE MOSAICS R. M. HARRISON AND Μ. V. GILL 182
CHAPTER EIGHT. THE PAINTED PLASTER R. M. HARRISON AND Μ. V. GILL 197
CHAPTER NINE. THE WINDOW GLASS R. M. HARRISON AND Μ. V. GILL 204
CHAPTER TEN. THE BRICKSTAMPS S.J.HILL 207
CHAPTER ELEVEN. THE SMALL FINDS AL. V. GILL 226
CHAPTER TWELVE. THE COINS Λ/. F. HENDY 278
CHAPTER THIRTEEN. THE HUMAN BONES D. BROILIWELL 374
CHAPTER FOURTEEN. THE ANIMAL BONES AND MOLLUSCS K. KOSSWIG 399
III
DISCUSSION 403
CHAPTER FIFTEEN. THE CHURCH OF ST. POLYEUKTOS R. M. HARRISON 405
NOTES 421 INDEX 429 PHOTOGRAPHS 433
vii

PREFACE
R. Μ. HARRISON
THE EXCAVATIONS described in this and the subsequent land harvest. Three of the original fifteen, Ali Eryigit,
volume were carried out in the years 1964 to 1969 by Sabahattin Yurtseven, and Recep Celik, served us for
Dumbarton Oaks and the Archaeological Museum of all six seasons and deserve special mention, as does our
Istanbul under the joint direction of Dr. Nezih Firath tough and indomitable foreman, §erif Qavu§. In 1967
and the present writer. Those who worked with us on all but two of the sixty-seven workmen came from
the site know how very much we all owe to Dr. neighbouring villages in Tokat. We owe much to their
Firath's constant help and advice and encouragement, hard and careful work and to their absolute reliability
to his unrivalled knowledge of Istanbul's Roman and and high morale.
Byzantine archaeology, and, quite simply, to his lively Further work in Istanbul, on site and in the Museum,
and smiling inspiration. Our debt is incalculable, and was carried out in a series of study-seasons, by Mr.
his early death in March 1979 after long illness is a very D. Brothwell (human bones) and Professor K. Kos-
bitter loss. swig (animal bones and molluscs) in 1969, Dr. Hayes
Dr. Firath was to have written the first chapter, cov- in 1970 and annually to 1979, Mr. Lawson in 1971, Dr.
ering the excavation by heavy machinery of the under- Michael Hendy (Roman and Byzantine coins) in 1973
pass-crossing in the winter of 1964-5, which he moni- and 1974, Mr. Stephen J. Hill (brickstamps) in 1975,
tored, and the catalogue of pre-church sculpture. and the writer in 1971 and annually to 1976.
Although what appears here as the first part of chapter Grateful acknowledgement is made to Mr. Necati
2 is a poor substitute for what he would have written, Dolunay, Director of the Istanbul Archaeological Mu-
this and all subsequent chapters owe a great deal to his seum throughout our work (until his retirement in
observation and insight. 1978 and succession by Dr. Firatli), and to his staff for
In addition to Dr. Firatli and the writer, the team in technical and practical help; special mention must be
1964 consisted of Mr. Gordon R.J. Lawson (architect), made of the Museum's Laboratory services and of Mr.
Dr. John W. Hayes (pottery specialist), and Mrs. Eliz- Mehmet Tunqdag for his expert pottery- and marble-
abeth Harrison (photographer). These five continued to mending. We had ready access to the Museum at all
work for each of the six seasons, and we were joined times, not only to work on recently excavated Sara-
in 1965 by Mr. C. Arthur, Dr. N. Asgari, Miss qhane material there, but to seek comparanda and to
U. Izmirligil, and Miss P. Pfeiffer; in 1966 by Misses consult specialist departments, such as Conservation
Y. Akyurek, I. Musluba§, Pfeiffer, E. Sanford, M. Tu- and Coins. We particularly valued the assistance on site
ηιης, and M. Williams; in 1967 by Mr. M. Ali§an, Miss of many members of the Museum's staff, which helped
S. Barutcu, Mr. O. Belener, Mr. C. Burgess, Professor to make this excavation an effective collaboration.
G.D.B. Jones, Mr. J. Little, Miss Pfeiffer, Mr. S. §i§- For support and encouragement, thanks are also due
manoglu, and Mr. M. J. Vickers; in 1968 by Mr. to the Turkish Directorate-General of Antiquities in
E. Akyildiz, Miss Barutcu, Mr. S. Eriz, Dr. Margaret Ankara, which issued and each year renewed the nec-
V. Gill, Miss Izmirligil, Mr. §i§manoglu, Mr. J. Tait, essary permit, and whose Director in those years, Mr.
Miss G. Ulug, and Mr. Vickers; in 1969 by Dr. Gill, Hikmet Gurqay, we were privileged to welcome on the
Mr. §i§manoglu, and Mr. and Mrs. Vickers. site each summer.
Hired labour rose from fifteen in the first campaign At Dumbarton Oaks we owe a particular debt of
to sixty-seven in the fourth and consisted almost en- gratitude to Mr. J. Thacher, Professor Ernst Kitzinger,
tirely of villagers from Tokat, some 800 kilometres east and the late Professor Paul A. Underwood, who initi-
of Istanbul, seeking work in Istanbul before their up- ated the project and supported us unstintingly through-