Artifacts restored in ancient Stratonikeia

MUĞLA – Anadolu Agency

The ancient city of Stratonikeia, located in the western province of Muğla’s Yatağan district and listed on the UNESCO Temporary World Heritage List, has been undergoing excavation, restoration and conservation works for decades. 

Prof. Bilal Söğüt is the head of excavations in the 3,500-year-old ancient city, which is home to artifacts from the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman and Turkish Republic periods.

Söğüt said part of the excavation house in the ancient city served as a laboratory, where the old artifacts unearthed in the city have been restored. 

He said the cleaning, preservation and - if necessary - restoration of ceramic and metal artifacts were carried out in the house, and continued: 

“First of all, we focus on the cleaning of the historical artifacts here. Then conservation work is carried out, which means the missing parts of the artifacts are completed. There are differences among the artifacts; you can’t use the method in every piece. For example, the mine of the metal is different. We continue working my making necessary applications to the artifacts.” 

Söğüt said the works in the laboratory had been directed by Pamukkale University Department academic Fatma Şenol. 

“Works here do not differentiate between periods. In a process of 3,000 years, there are artifacts from every period. While one is cleaning an Ottoman-era piece, the other is cleaning a Byzantine-era coin. Another person is working on a ceramic bowl from the mid-Byzantine era. We take all necessary measures to protect all the artifacts under the inspection of experts. We reinforce them and prolong their life. Then we deliver the artifacts to the museum,” Söğüt said. 

Stratonikeia, a city in the interior of Caria, is located in the present-day village of Eskihisar. The first scientific excavations at the site began in 1977 under the direction of Prof. Yusuf Boysal. Söğüt has been carrying out research, excavations and restoration work at the site since 2008.

The structures discovered in the city include fortification walls, a city gate with its monumental fountain, a colonnaded street, a gymnasium, a bouleuterion, a bath, a theater, a temple and a water structure. In addition, a bath from the Emirates Period (14th-15th century A.D.), a mosque from the 19th and the 20th centuries, a coffeehouse and a number of dwellings, streets, shops and fountains can be found in the ancient city.

The house situated near the ancient city center had been taken under conservation and used as excavation house until 1999.  Now, it is serving as the Museum Store House.

The two story house has a large courtyard at the ground level and a kitchen on one side of the courtyard.