Excavations in 2005[1]
Following the survey in 2004 a licence
was granted to begin excavating some of the features identified in the report, however
the team were restricted to those areas on state or municipality owned land.
With a small team of 14 archaeologists
and students lead by Professor Mustafa Şahin three areas were selected: A
rescue excavation of three rock cut tombs unearthed during road works on the
Gümüşlük Yalikavak road, the bath complex and the structure in the mouth of the
harbour opposite Rabbit Island.
The three rock tombs had been badly
damaged during the road construction work. however a number of grave goods were
found during the excavation i.e. several glass and ceramic unguentaria (small
bottles commonly associated with funerary rites) and a ceramic oil lamp which
suggested that the tombs may be dated to the 1st century AD.
The Baths
From the existing remains the
archaeologists estimate that the external dimensions would have been 38m x 12m
and over 9m high with a vaulted roof, part of the apsidal northern portion is
still intact.
The disparity in the thickness of the
western wall at 2.5m compared with the eastern wall at only 1m raised the
possibility that the latter is a dividing wall consequently, if correct,
further excavations are required to establish the eastern limit of the
building.
One of the findings that supports the
theory for the building being a bath complex are the fragments of marble slabs
/ tiles and waterproof mortar lining some of the walls.
During the excavation of the western
half of the apse a thick layer of ash was discovered and the report suggests
that the majority of the marble slabs may have recycled at a later date, by the
use of a kiln, to produce lime.
No
dates were suggested for the construction of the building, but a fragment of a
Byzantine pottery ampulla with a cross motif indicates that it was probably
still in use during this period. The report concludes with a statement that
excavations would continue in 2006 however I am unaware of any further
excavations of this area during the period 2006-2013.
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| Apsidal Wall of the Bath Complex |
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| Fragment of the Marble Lining |
Harbour
Building
A
small two roomed structure at the entrance to the present harbour, opposite
Rabbit Island had been identified during the 2004 survey. The exact purpose of
the building was unknown but it was assumed that it was connected with the control
of the harbour, the full excavation was going to take two years but by the end
of 2005 the archaeologists were able to state the following.
The
structure had originally had an arched roof covered by terracotta tiles; the
first room was plastered and had a “belted fresco”. There was a mosaic floor
dated to the 5th century AD which had later been overlaid with
marble slabs, and that this later phase was connected to Christian practices as
they found a number of marble artefacts with cross motifs. A preliminary
excavation of the second room, to the rear of the building, identified
architectural marble which was thought to be in situ.
 |
| Harbour Building |
Excavation in 2006[2]
The
previous year’s excavation were under the direction / presidency of the Bodrum
Museum of Underwater Archaeology, by the start of the 2006 excavation season
the directorship had passed to Prof Mustafa Şahin of Uludağ University. 2006 also
saw the construction and opening of a purpose built research centre complete
with accommodation and storage facilities.
This
year with a larger team of 10 archaeologists and 34 students and with
arrangements in place to work on privately owned land, the excavations started
with seven trenches being dug in the area where a concentration of features
were identified in the 2004 Survey i.e. the field bordering the Western Harbour with the objective of trying to locate the centre
of the classical city.
 |
| Area Containing the First Seven Trenches |
The
fist trenches came down on part of a preserved water supply system, the pipes lie on a foundation of
purposely laid masonry and are encased in “thick plaster”. At some point the
pipe had been repaired by the addition of a large piece of worked
stone.
 |
| Water Supply System With Repair Just Visible Top Right |
 |
| Water Supply Laid On Worked Masonry |
The
continuation of the water supply system was found in a trench adjacent to the
“Harbour Church” where the archaeologists were looking for a possible earlier
alter. Although the alter was not found the team did uncover sherds of pottery
dating from the Orientalising period, the sherds are dated to 740 – 700 BC,
several hundred years earlier than Mausolus’ Myndos (circa 350 BC).
The
next series of trenches were excavated on and around the potential temple site
situated on an outcrop of natural rock. These trenches revealed the possible
temenos walls (the boundary or division between the public area and the
sanctuary or sacred area). The construction method along with fragments of red
and black pottery fragment used as packing / filling suggests a date of circa
350 BC.
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| Worked Natural Stone on the Western Face of the Rock Outcrop. Possible Temple Site |
 |
| Columns on the Possible Temple Site |
A trench on top of the outcrop uncovered a building with a mosaic floor dating from the Byzantine era. Little detail is given about the mosaic, but a report titled Myndos Mosaics by Derya Şahin[3] describes it as being 490 x 54 cm constructed of white, black, yellow, green and brown tesserae forming a pattern of hexagons filled with squares. The interlaced bands of the mosaic were very similar to a previously recorded mosaic found at Torba, raising the possibility that both mosaics were produced by the same workshop in the 5th or early 6th century AD.
The most notable find from this area was
a marble block on which remained 17 lines of text. The inscription describes
how the people of Stratonikeia (near Eskihisar) had petitioned Myndos for
privileges including tax exemption,
similar to those afforded to the people
of Alabanda (near Çine), suggesting that Myndos was an important business or
administrative centre during this time.(The two cities were 100km & 80km
away respectively). No date is recorded for the
inscription.
There
is no map or diagram included in the web-report to show where the 7 trenches were
located. There is a single reference to Trench E where obsidian fragment were
found. Obsidian, like flint, was used for the production of tools and weapons
during the Stone and Bronze Ages which again led the archaeologists to suggest early
activity in the area many centuries before Mausolus rebuilt Myndos.
In
Sep 06 we noticed a trench in the area of the proposed theatre, but unless this
is Trench E there is no reference to it the excavation in the report.
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| Theatre Trench ? |
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| Trench in the Area of the Proposed Theatre |
A
second area was excavated between the university research building and the
Mimosa Restaurant this revealed a paved area with an in situ base and part of a
Doric column suggesting that structure may be the remains of a stoa (covered walkway) overlooking
the harbour.
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| Possible Stoa |
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| Possible Stoa |
The
team also returned to the building in the harbour entrance no mention is made
of the architectural marble referred to in the 2005 report but the excavation
of the second room did reveal a large number of marble plates which bore
Christian cross design and a natural fresh water spring. As the spring appears
to flow directly out of the rock face, at the rear of the building, it raises
the question was the building constructed on the site a “sacred spring”?
To
date (Jun 14) these were to be the last excavations on the mainland as the state
licence to excavate was suspended in 2007 and when excavations recommenced in
2009 the work was restricted to Asar Adasi / Tavşan Adasi (Rabbit Island). Although
no digging has been allowed on the mainland since 2006 there have been a series
of non-invasive investigations in the form of a
field survey in 2010 and geophysical surveys
in 2011 & 2012 which identified several targets for further investigation.
See Theatre Page
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