Pergamon – Report on the Projects of the 2012 Campaign

Abstract

The projects of the Pergamon Excavation in 2012 focused on the investigation of the Hellenistic royal city as well as the surrounding area in the framework of the current research programme. In accordance with the instructions of the Turkish Directorate General for Cultural Heritage and Museums, no excavations were conducted. In the course of conservation measures in the Red Hall, work continued on conserving the southern vaulted substructure and on restoring and provisionally erecting one of the large supporting figures in the south court. In the Gymnasion the parodos arch of the Odeion was re-erected and various measures carried out on the south-east side of the complex, including shifting a large heap of excavation debris. Conservation measures were carried out at a number of other locations on the acropolis hill and at the Asklepieion. The archaeological survey on the west slope was completed but for a few scattered sections. The picture is emerging of a residential quarter that is composed of small building lots and is fully adapted to the morphology of the terrain instead of conforming to the structure of a regular street system. The network of roads consists of several transverse lanes fit for vehicular traffic which are crossed by stepped roads leading uphill, and as such it is comparable to that on the east slope. The remains of several large structures indicate that the west slope remained an attractive location in the Roman imperial period. The prehistoric survey concentrated on Gümüş valley, where the settlement structure of the 3th–2nd millennium BC with a central place was identified and where also evidence was found of occupancy in the 6th–5th mill. BC – the earliest evidence of human presence in the Kaikos valley yet discovered. Geo-archaeological investigations at Elaia and the surrounding area yielded further information on the history of the silting up of the bay, while a salvage excavation in the suburban part of the city uncovered a second necropolis. Another salvage excavation, on Molla Mustafa Tepe, afforded new insights into the form and inventory of a rural Meter sanctuary.