Medieval ceramics from the Türbe : an archaeometric viewpoint

S.Y. Waksman (1, 2, 3) , Marie-Myriam Carytsiotis (4)

1 ArAr - Archéologie et Archéométrie
2 CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
3 MOM - Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée - Jean Pouilloux
4 LA3M - Laboratoire d'Archéologie Médiévale et Moderne en Méditerranée

The Türbe excavations provided information about the Byzantine and Turkish periods of Ephesos / Ayasuluk. Chemical analyses confirm the presence of several categories of ceramic imports belonging to the main "middle Byzantine production" that were widespread in the Mediterranean and date back to the 12th and 13th centuries. Ephesos is part of the distribution area of this production, together with several other Western Anatolian sites such as Pergamon and the nearby castle of Anaia/Kadikalesi, where it is present in significant quantities. Pottery was also manufactured in Anaia. It was diffused not only at a regional level, as shown here through examples found in Ephesos, but also reached the Crusader states as seen by its noticeable presence in Saint-Jean-d'Acre. Ceramic production in Ephesos is documented in the Türbe excavations through the discovery of rubefied layers, kiln furniture and wasters (Parrer, this volume). Several local groups, showing different chemical features, were identified thanks to local reference samples. These groups do not differ from those previously defined in a preliminary study of the Artemision material. The present study complements the previous chemical characterization and further illustrates the local manufacture of various types of table wares, from coarsely potted plain glazed to more "sophisticated" ceramics of "Islamic" types (turquoise glazed and molded wares). The latter would correspond to the introduction in the local repertoire of new stylistic and technological traditions, a phenomenon which would have occurred at the Beylik period in other Western Anatolian sites as well, such as Milet and Sardis. In Ephesos, the association of turquoise glaze or molded decoration with low-calcareous pastes, instead of calcareous ones, suggests an adaptation of the initial pottery traditions, as may be observed for example in Syria. The high degree of fragmentation of the sherds in the Türbe excavations on the one hand, and the fluvial disturbances of the stratigraphy on the other hand, made it difficult to reconstruct the typo-chronological features of the local repertoire. Some connections could be made with the better preserved material from the Artemision, but were limited within our sampling. It is hoped that further sampling and analyses of ceramics coming from other excavations in Ephesos / Ayasuluk (Tribune, Isa Bey Hammam, etc...) will make it possible for us to give further insight into these questions.

Mots clés: Pottery; Archaeometry; Provenance studies; Byzantine period; Turkish period; Ephesos

Domaines: Archéologie et Préhistoire

S.Y. Waksman, Marie-Myriam Carytsiotis. Medieval ceramics from the Türbe : an archaeometric viewpoint. Sabine Ladstätter. Die Türbe im Artemision : Ein frühosmanischer Grabbau in Ayasuluk/Selçuk und sein kulturhistorisches Umfeld, 53, Österreichischen Archäologischen Institut, pp.293-311, 2015, Sonderschriften des Österreichischen Archäologischen Instituts, 978-3-900305-77-2. ⟨hal-01391473⟩