A THOROUGH TYPOLOGICAL STUDY ON THE STAMPED AMPHORA HANDLES FOUND DURING THE 2013 EXCAVATION SEASON FROM THE WESTERN AREA OF LYCIAN STRUCTURE IN XANTHOS

Abstract

Xanthos was one of the most important cities of Lycia, in Southwestern Anatolia. In the north-east of the
Ancient City of Xanthos, to the west of the Lycian Building along the western wall of this building, the
soundings taken in a south-north direction revealed in the initial strata that these areas were used as
workshops during the Byzantine Period. When the work continued in the south-north direction, an “annex
place”, built adjacent to the west wall of the Lycian Building, was identified in 2013. From the soundings made
in the area many pottery sherds belonging to the Hellenistic Period were unearthed from the filling layer
during the 2013 excavation season. Among these finds, twenty-three stamped amphora handles are
noteworthy. The amphora handles document the origin of the amphorae that reached Xanthos and its
surroundings, and the commercial activities of the city and the Lycia Region during the Hellenistic Period.
Eighteen of these stamped amphora handles are of Rhodian and five of Knidian origin. The Rhodian amphora
stamps recovered from the site are generally dated to between the 3rd century B.C. and the 1st century A.D.,
while the Knidian amphora stamps are dated to between the 2nd and 1st century B.C. Through this study, the
role of Xanthos in the distribution maps of commercial amphorae of the island/islands and Western Anatolian
cities that traded with the cities in the Lycian Region during the Hellenistic Period is, to some extent,
established. The information on the fabricans and the eponyms which dated them, who were active in the
ancient cities of Rhodos and Knidos, with which the city of Xanthos was in commercial contact, are presented
here for the first time, although it is a small group.