Rough Cilicia Archaeological Survey Project: Report of the 1996 Season

This is a report for the 1996 season of the Rough Cilicia Archaeological Survey Project. This intensive, systematic archaeological survey took place in the vicinity of known Cilician pirate bases and their hinterlands . These sites offer a unique opportunity to evaluate the material remains of a distinctly nontraditional culture of the Hellenistic world, a culture receiving little previous archaeological attention. Our intention is to complete a surface survey of the sustaining areas of the three main sites, Coracesium (Alanya), Selinus (Gazipasha), and Antioch ad Cragum (Güney), including the intervening coastal strips as well as the major ridges that connect the coastal area with the Anatolian Plateau

2023 Addendum to the Rough Cilicia Kiln Site Ceramics (Syedra, Delice, Biçkici, and Antiochia ad Cragum): An Update to the Kiln Sites

This addendum summarizes the ceramic remains recovered by the Rough Cilicia Archaeological Survey Project at four posited amphora kiln sites in the survey area: the Syedra Kiln Site, the Biçkici Kiln site, the Antiochia ad Cragum Kiln Site, and the Delice Kiln Site. All four sites were identified early on during the survey (1995-1997). The survey team conducted grab collections and triaged dozens of sherds recovered by 1997, before returning the bulk of these fragments to the field. A representative sample of the amphora fragments together with context ceramics for each site was conserved at the Alanya Archaeological Museum. In 2003 the survey team conducted a magnetometric survey of the Biçkici and Suedyra kiln sites with minimal results. Due to the longevity of the survey (1996-2011) members of the survey team, particularly Rauh, Dillon, Autret, and Kızılarslanoğlu, conducted repeated visits to the sites and recovered additional diagnostic fragments as they surfaced. These visits occurred almost annually, with intensive inspections occurring in 2008 and 2011. In September 2021, Rauh inspected the remaining collections from the kiln sites stored in the Alanya Archareological Museum

Rough Cilicia Archaeological Survey Project: Report of the 2003 Season

The Rough Cilicia Survey Team was investigating the role of Rough Cilicia as a production region to the ancient Roman Mediterranean economy. Our investigative methods in the 2003 season included remote sensing of satellite imagery; surface, geomorphological, and maritime survey; charcoal analysis of ceramic production residue for timber identification; and biogeochemical analysis of regional terrestrial vegetation preserved in sediments. The project team identified crucial indicators of economic production activities associated with the renewable resource of timber (particularly cedar) from Cilician mountain forests. To refine this question, the project was examining the basin of the Biçkici River (modern Gazipaşa, Turkey) as a zone of ancient industrial development. The research was funded by a grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation

Rough Cilicia Archaeological Survey: Report of the 2008 Season

The 2008 season of the Rough Cilicia Archaeological Survey Project was conducted between July 18 and August 5, 2008. The research agenda of the 2008 season consisted of off-site pedestrian survey in the highland canyon of the Biçkici River, more specifically, the terraced agricultural terrain in the village of Karatepe. The scattered communities (mahalleler) of Karatepe extend along the lower slopes of the semicircular canyon (approximately 8 km across) that encloses the Biçkici watershed. At Sugozu Yayla the crest of the canyon stands at 1700m above sea level (asl). At the base of canyon lies a long flat alluvial terrace, 500m asl, that is dissected into a peculiar V-shaped landmass by the two branches of the river. Small neighborhoods such as Kaynarca, Akkaya, and Sugozu are nestled in the sloping terrain surrounding this central terrace between 800 and 400m asl. This unusual landscape has been a source of interest to the project since 2000. It was the intention of the project director to investigate some portion of the terrain this season to better understand patterns of land use in this highland basin during antiquity

Rough Cilicia Archaeological Survey Project: Report of the 2000 Season

During the 2000 season the RCASP Survey Team surveyed approximately five square kilometers in the vicinity of Lamos and along the ridges surrounding the Adanda River valley in interior Rough Cilicia. Geoarchaeological inspection of beach, lagoon, and terrace deposits of the Hacimusa River was conducted by F. Sancar Ozaner and Hülya Caner. Together Ozaner and Caner identified the locations where geomorphological trenches would be excavated during the 2001 season. Caner also collected surface sediments from lagoonal deposits of the Hacimusa and Bickici Rivers for further analysis. Under the direction of Michael Hoff and Rhys Townsend, a preliminary architectural map was made of Lamos, including the fortress, the agora, and the necropolis. The walking team, directed by LuAnn Wandsnider identified forty cultural complexes, including three previously unknown urban sites -- Tomak Asarı (RC 0019), Govan Asarı (RC 0040), and Goçuk Asarı (RC 0030). Including Lamos, all four urban sites demonstrate significant concentrations of Hellenistic and Early Roman ceramic remains. Along with Hellenistic pottery, mortar-free, dressed stone masonry is visible in some monumental structures at Lamos. Additionally, concentrations of Late Roman pottery appear to be less predominant than those encountered at sites along the coastal ridge of the survey zone

Rough Cilicia Archaeological Survey: Report of the 2011 Season, Part Two

The 2011 season of the Rough Cilicia Archaeological Survey Project was conducted between July 21 and August 12 2011. During the 2011 season of the Rough Cilicia Archaeological Survey, pedestrian survey was secondary to the main task of obtaining pollen and carbon samples from geormorphic trenches in the Taseli Plateau. If time allowed, the team walked limited transects in the vicinity of the trenches themselves. Toward the end of our stay at Gökgözlük Yayla we devoted one full day of pedestrian survey in the vicinity of Sugözü Yayla where sherd scatters had been observed in 2007, when the team excavated a geomorphic trench at that location. In addition, the team obtained information about uninvestigated sites known to local inhabitants and devoted a few days to attempts to locate these. In all, some nine transects were inspected during the highland survey. We identified one pre-ceramic lithic production site near Trench 5 at Günnercik Yayla (RC 1101), house remains at Beobaşı Yayla (RC 1103), evidence of settlements at Sugözü Yayla (RC 1102) and Armutlar Mevkii (near Çile, RC 1104), and a monumental village site at Çoruş in the valley of the Geceler River behind Gazipaşa (RC 1105). We also re-inspected the lithic production center at Sivritaş Tepe in the Bickici Highland (RC 0802) and the amphora kiln sites near Syedra (Yeşil Öz River mouth), the Delice River, the Bickici River, and Antiochia ad Cragum. We collected total of 209 ceramic and stone artifacts that were deposited at the Alanya Museum

Rough Cilicia Archaeological Survey Project: Report of the Year 2000 Season

During the 2000 season the RCASP Survey Team surveyed approximately five square kilometers in the vicinity of Lamos and along the ridges surrounding the Adanda River valley in interior Rough Cilicia. Geoarchaeological inspection of beach, lagoon, and terrace deposits of the Hacimusa River was conducted by F. Sancar Ozaner and Hülya Caner. Together Ozaner and Caner identified the locations where geomorphological trenches would be excavated during the 2001 season. Caner also collected surface sediments from lagoonal deposits of the Hacimusa and Bickici Rivers for further analysis. Under the direction of Michael Hoff and Rhys Townsend, a preliminary architectural map was made of Lamos, including the fortress, the agora, and the necropolis. The walking team, directed by LuAnn Wandsnider identified forty cultural complexes, including three previously unknown urban sites -- Tomak Asarı (RC 0019), Govan Asarı (RC 0040), and Goçuk Asarı (RC 0030). Including Lamos, all four urban sites demonstrate significant concentrations of Hellenistic and Early Roman ceramic remains. Along with Hellenistic pottery, mortar-free, dressed stone masonry is visible in some monumental structures at Lamos. Additionally, concentrations of Late Roman pottery appear to be less predominant than those encountered at sites along the coastal ridge of the survey zone

The Rough Cilicia Archaeological Survey Project: Report of the 1999 Season

In 1999 the team turned attention to an area of mountainous rural hinterland behind Iotape and some 500 m above the valley of the Delice Çay and the village of Kahyalar.Employing coarse interval survey methodology we conducted a sweep of a network of ridges extending from a peak known locally as Nergis Tepesi to the village of Kahyalar below. When evidence of past human activity or disturbances was observed by the team, especially architectural remains or ceramics clusters of more than one sherd per square meter, the area became designated as a \u27site\u27, if only for purposes of recording. Once encountering such an area we recorded our location on 1:5000 topographical maps and through static GPS measurement employing a Sokkia Locus III device. Every site location, description, and typology was recorded on field data sheets prepared by Wandsnider. If present, architectural remains were measured, photographed, and sketched. In addition, team members conducted relatively thorough ceramics collections

Caveat Emptor Collecting and Processing Pottery in Western Rough Cilicia

This paper furnishes a preliminary assessment of the field and laboratory procedures used to obtain ceramic field data by the participants of Rough Cilicia Archaeological Survey Project in western Rough Cilicia (Gazipasha District, Antalya Province, south coastal Turkey). Between 1996 and 2004 the pedestrian team of the Rough Cilicia Survey conducted pottery collections and otherwise processed field pottery as its principal operation. Through nine consecutive field seasons the pedestrian team identified and processed an aggregate of 7313 sherds. This is a self-archived copy of the paper that was presented in 2004 and published in 2006 as Rauh, Nicolas K., and Richard Rothaus 2006 Caveat emptor: Collecting and processing pottery in Western Rough Cilicia. In Old pottery in a new century: innovating perspectives on Roman pottery studies: atti del convegno internazionale di studi, Catania, 22-24 aprile 2004. Daniele Malfitana, J. Poblome, and John Lund, eds. Pp. 347–362. Monografie dell’Istituto per i beni archeologici e monumentali, 1. Catania: Istituo per Beni Archeologici e monumenti - CNR

Rough Cilicia Archaeological Survey: Report of the 2007 Season

The 2007 season of the Rough Cilicia Archaeological Survey Project was directed by Nicholas Rauh of Purdue University. Dr. Hulya Caner of the Institute for Marine Science Management at Istanbul University supervised the work of our highland pollen trench excavations. Dr. Unal Akkemik of the Department of Forest Botany, School of Forestry, at Istanbul University conducted the dendrochronological research. These scholars were assisted by graduate student, Margaret Bloome, of Arizona University, and undergraduate students Phillip Ramirez (Purdue University), Aaron Fettgather (American University), Alexander Jillions (American University) and Charlotte Rose (Brown University). Due to permit complications the field season lasted one week, August 2-9, 2007. This season the team focused on paleo-environmental research in the Biçkici Highland behind Gazipasha. Our purpose was to obtain data to determine the age of the current cedar forest near the tree line of the Tauros Mts. as well as to obtain pollen data from trench excavations at the same elevation to determine the remote history of the forest. At the highland (yayla) village of Sügözü, the team, supervised by Hulya Caner, excavated an open pit to obtain 50 soil samples of remarkably remote age. Unal Akkemik was able to obtain 15 tree ring samples from old growth cedar, black pine, and juniper trees in the vicinity to demonstrate that the current highland forest cover is relatively young