A Hydrogeological Model of the Panayırdağ

Reconstructing the Water Supply of a Fortified Archaic Predecessor Settlement of Ephesos

The goal of the project is a geological investigation of the Panayırdağ to the east of the excavation area of Ephesos. Remains of walls here attest to Archaic and Hellenistic settled areas which are currently the object of archaeological research. For a fortified settlement, a water supply inside the fortification is required. Nevertheless, the Panayırdağ today reveals itself as a limestone hill with no traces of groundwater. Therefore the question presents itself as to where the source of the water was in previous times.

The severely karstified, metamorphic limestone on the Panayırdağ falls flatly away towards the south-east and is punctuated by a chasm system of three steep clusters of chasms. Deep ravines parallel to the chasms cleave through the eastern section of the Panayırdağ at two levels. The Panayırdağ in the south is hydrologically isolated by phyllite from the karst system of the Bülbüldağ, the second city hill of Ephesos. The geological data support a hydrogeological model for the reconstruction of the water supply of a fortified archaic settlement which preceded Ephesos. The model describes a marine karst system, which at the level of the former sea level was able to form a non-extensive aquifer, a channel for ground water. Starting from the ravines, shallow wells could have reached this aquifer.

The archaic settlement area on the Panayırdağ is found on a structurally predetermined area. The presence of freely flowing water sources can be excluded in this karstified limestone area. Remains of wells or cisterns, however, are not known. Wells provide the only possibility for fresh water sources which would not have been only temporary. Thus a body of water at the height of the former sea level could have been available. Based on the mapped fortifications of the Archaic period, the ravines to the south of the north bastion present themselves as the possible location of well structures, which here could have been able to attain this level without having been too deep. The ravine which is located at a higher level, against which the western section of the fortifications abuts, is interpreted as a higher (older) part of the karst system. For this reason it would have drained below, and therefore in all probability was not aquiferous in the Archaic period.

A deep ravine on the south-east of the Panayırdağ may be mentioned as another location; this is found near a terraced area. The presence here of cultural debris and traces of workings on the rock walls are evidence of human activity in the Hellenistic period (oral communication, M. Kerschner).

Duration of Project

2010

Financing

OeAI

Contact

Gerd Rantitsch und Walter Prochaska

Department for Applied Geosciences and Geophysics

Montanuniversitaet Leoben

Analysis of the Origin of Ephesian Marbles

Exploitation and employment of white marble for architectural and sculptural purposes is attested since the earliest usage of this exclusive material in the region around Ephesos and in the ancient city itself. Decisive for this were the existence of high quality marble in the surrounding area and the importance of the city as a port of export for the most well-known and expensive types of marble from the hinterland of Asia Minor.

Since for historical and ancient objects the sources regarding the origin of the materials used for building are often very meagre, and since white marbles are difficult to differentiate from each other with the naked eye, for over 100 years an attempt has been made to identify the provenance of the marbles used by means of scientific methods of analysis. The first work in this area, on Greek and also on Roman marbles, was carried out with simple microscopic methods. At a relatively late date isotopic-geochemical methods were employed, methods which have since developed into standard practice for the analysis of the provenance of white marbles; the analysis of primary- and trace-elements, including ›rare earth‹ elements, has equally been added to the analysis of the origin of white marbles in recent decades. Most of the scientists working in this field, however, stress that in most cases one method alone cannot provide decisive results, but rather, a number of methods need to be combined. The generally large volume of data which arises in this manner always requires a multivariate statistical evaluation.

For the Ephesian marbles, a combination of differing geochemical methods is brought to bear for the analysis of origin. In addition to the analysis of the stable isotope of the carbonate (C- and O-isotopes), the content of trace elements in the marbles is also assessed. For the first time in the context of investigations of provenance, in addition an analysis of the liquid inclusions is used for the characterisation of the Ephesian marbles. Here, the so-called liquid inclusions – microscopically small inclusions filled with gas and liquid which are present in all marbles – are mechanically extracted and their chemical components are investigated by means of ion chromatography.

The white marbles which were obtained in the region around Ephesos can, based on results achieved to date, be assigned to the two main groups of Ephesos I and Ephesos II, to each of which a variety of quarries belong. In addition there are quarries which cannot be assigned to either of these main groups. A special type of marble with noticeable structure (white with black speckles) was exploited in certain quarries ca. 20 km north-east of Ephesos. This so-called Greco Scritto variety of Ephesian marble was apparently traded throughout the entire Roman empire and has been identified, amongst other sites, in Rome, Sirmium and Selinus. Since white marble by nature has few or no noticeable characteristics to the naked eye which might permit an attribution to a region of origin, in this case one must resort to expensive analytical methods. For this reason, knowledge of supra-regional trade in Ephesian marble is scarce and is currently limited to individual pieces or to certain objects of art historical importance (for example, certain garland sarcophagi). The data bank which has been created during the course of recent years, with the analytical parameters mentioned above, should form the foundation for the further investigation into the trade and distribution of Ephesian marble in the Roman world.

Within the framework of this work, numerous quarries in the region of Ephesos have been sampled in detail and investigated, in order to discover possible equivalents for the marbles used in Ephesian architecture and sculpture. In the meantime the databank contains approximately 450 analyses of Ephesian marble and about 700 quarry samples from quarrying areas from the classical deposits of the ancient world. It is therefore now possible to investigate artefacts from the city and to determine to what extent in a given period local marble was employed or whether imported marble was used. Furthermore, these investigations allow the question of original building materials to be pursued, or if perhaps architectural elements or spolia from earlier buildings were reused. Currently, for example, examinations of the provenance of the marble are available for the following structures: the Mausoleum of Belevi (marble Ephesos I and Herakleia am Latmos), Octagon (marble Ephesos I and II as well as the quarry at Tavşantepe), the Temple on the Curetes Street, the Serapeion, and the Harbour Baths.

Preliminary results indicate that for the most part local marble was employed for the architectural structures until the early Imperial period. Later, approximately after the 1st century A.D., imported marble seems to have played an important role, at least for prestige objects. Data for Ephesian sculpture is currently only available in individual cases.

Financing

OeAI

Contact

Walter Prochaska

Department for Applied Geosciences and Geophysics

Montanuniversitaet Leoben