Page 88 - TINA Dergi Sayi 11

TINA

Denizcilik Arkeolojisi Dergisi

Thus, coastline of the ancient period should be some sand dunes are observed on the northern part
drawn a little further into the bay. of Kurşunlu Hill. It is most likely that these dunes
To the east of the harbor bay, at present there is rise on rocks. If such rocks exist, then we can as-
no known buildings that will enable us to make as- sume that the harbor bay had a dangerous entrance
sumptions about the coastline during the ancient pe- even though it was not narrowing during the ancient
riod as above. However, these two examples suggest period. Maybe that’s why a second lighthouse was
that the proposal for eastern coastline of the ancient mentioned in an inscription on a statue base recov-
period by Öner should be drawn a little back. Then, ered from the Patara Lighthouse . It seems that two
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the eastern coast of the inner harbor should be drawn lighthouses were built to ensure safe entry of boats
a little further to the west. to the harbor bay.
For the western coast of the harbor bay, Öner As seen, new geoarchaeological studies are re-
took the border of the current reeds as a base for quired: for archaeological studies, it is important
the coastline of the ancient period. Thus, the sea to determine the scenario for ancient shoreline
encroached next to the Hadrian’s storage buildings changes in the harbor bay in a few thousand years
(horrea) during Antiquity. However, remains of a
building that appeared following an unfortunate fire between initial settlement and abandonment of the
in the reeds in 2014 indicate that the coastline here city as much as possible. Besides, pollen analysis
should also be withdrawn back to a certain level for of samples from drillings will also elucidate floral
the ancient period (Fig. 11). The building, lying to a background of Patara. In this sense, drillings were
little north of the above mentioned storage buildings, re-initiated in the harbor bay of Patara in the sum-
and remaining at least 20 m inside the bay from the mer of 2017 by a team of geoarchaeologists from
current border of reeds, was built of large limestone the Johannes Gutenberg (Mainz) and Şeyh Edebali
blocks, with an arch built of bricks over the entrance (Bilecik) Universities (Fig. 12). A total of six, one
gate. Due to its location, it is likely to have been re- being closed, drillings were carried out during this
lated with the activities in the harbor. study. An analysis of these drillings will be pub-
Another issue that needs to be clarified is the en- lished elsewhere soon, and they indicate the need for
trance to the harbor bay. In Öner’s reconstruction, a revision as mentioned before . For instance, the
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the entrance is completely open. As described above, drilling PAT 6 that was carried out near the western
the Patara Lighthouse was built on a rocky elevation, coast indicate that this area had a terrestial/coastal
that means there can be similar rocks in the vicinity. feature once the middle of the bay was a sea; but,
As a matter of fact, to the east of the Lighthouse later on the shoreline moved further by sea level rise.

26 IŞKAN – ECK – ENGELMANN 2008.
27 The results of these studies will be published elsewhere soon. Currently, C14 analysis of samples from the PAT 5A drillings is car-
ried out. Based on these results, we will be able to determine approximately when the Patara bay was used as a harbor.

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