Pergamon – Die Arbeiten in der Kampagne 2023

Abstract

The campaign’s focus was on the activities in Pergamon and its surrounding area as part of the research program “The Transformation of the Pergamon Microregion between Hellenism and the Roman Empire” (TransPergMikro). The Bauforschung team continued the investigations into the transformation of the Hellenistic gymnasium of Pergamon into a thermal gymnasium. A new aspect of the work lay in the documentation and research of ancient bank reinforcements of the Selinus (Bergama Çayı), which are an important testimony to human intervention in the natural environment. The combination of geophysical prospection and field surveys has provided evidence of a Roman tile manufactory north of Yığma Tepe in the suburban area of the ancient metropolis. The survey of the area surrounding the city examined the northern part of the lower eastern plain of the Kaikos (Bakırçay); it revealed breaks in the occupation between the Hellenistic and the Roman imperial periods. Another survey was dedicated to two ancient to Byzantine production sites for pottery and ceramic building material in the western lower plain. This year, the geoarchaeological research carried out by members of the physical geography team focused on the paleoenvironment and the ›clay‹ resources of the eastern lower Bakırçay plain and the adjacent hilly areas. Among the numerous material studies, a systematic investigation of roof tiles took place for the first time in recent years. As in previous years, capacity building, heritage preservation and conservation (with a focus on the theatre terrace and the eastern baths of the gymnasium) were also focal points.