HACIMUSALAR EXCAVATION

Excavations on the mound of Hacimusalar, 20 kms. south of Elmali in the central Lycian plateau, have been carried out for three short seasons since 1994. The project is under the direction of Ilknur Ozgen, Chair of the Department of Archaeology and History of Art. Also involved in the project are three other Bilkent faculty members, Julian Bennett, Deniz Kaptan Bayburtluoglu and Jean Oztürk, as well as Mark Garrison of Trinity University.

The mound, the largest in the Elmali plain (300 x 350 m. and 13 m. high), was surveyed in 1993, the ceramics and other surface finds collected indicating occupation from possibly as far back as the Neolithic and extending into the Late Roman/Byzantine period and beyond. Epigraphic evidence suggests that this was the site of the ancient city of Choma, and the river which flows past the site has been identified as the River Aedesa mentioned by Pliny. The prosperity of the settlement during antiquity would have depended to a large extent on its strategic location on a major route through the highlands down to the Lycian coast, and on its rich environment, which provided excellent hunting and fishing, and well-irrigated agricultural land. The site was situated until very recently on the shore of a large lake (drained only within the past 20 years) and the mountains surrounding the plain were covered by dense cedar forests.

Excavations between 1994 and 1996 have concentrated on the top of the mound, and trenches opened at the north, east and west edges, and in the centre, have uncovered evidence of primarily Late Roman activity. Structures on the west and east edges appear to belong to fortification systems, and there are indications of an atelier in the north part of the site. Two of the three areas excavated towards the centre of the site have revealed at least three major phases of domestic building, and the third area was used as a cemetery, the orientation and position of the burials in accordance with Late Roman/Christian burial practices. At some depth beneath the level of the burials the ceramics are uniformly of Late Hellenistic date. The hypothesis at present is that there was expansion into the plain perhaps from the Early Imperial period, and indeed traces of a large building at the west foot of the mound indicate a structure with the dimensions and layout of a bath-house. At some later date, occupation of the top of the mound was intensified, perhaps with refortification of earlier defense systems, and including use of the east part of the site as a cemetery.

Last update: January 7, 1998.