PURPLE-DYE PRODUCTION IN LYCIA - RESULTS OF AN ARCHAEOZOOLOGICAL FIELD SURVEY IN ANDRIAKE (SOUTH-WEST TURKEY)

Authors: FORSTENPOINTNER, GERHARD¹; QUATEMBER, URSULA²; GALIK, ALFRED¹; WEISSENGRUBER, GERALD¹; KONECNY, ANDREAS³

Source: Oxford Journal of Archaeology, Volume 26, Number 2, May 2007 , pp. 201-214(14)

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Abstract:

Summary.

In 2003 a substantial deposit of heavily fragmented shells of purple snails was by chance located at the site of Andriake, the ancient port of the Lycian city of Myra near Demre, in southern Turkey. The archaeozoological and archaeological record of a survey project in 2004 proved the identification of a large installation for the production of purple dye. Adjacent to a well preserved Hadrianic granary and partly superimposing the remains of a U-shaped building, the deposit is wrapped around three sides of a subterranean cistern. Apparently dating to the sixth century AD, the deposit contains approximately 300 m³ of shell debris. The unique chance of examining an undisturbed and well preserved manufacturing place for purple dye provides an excellent opportunity to investigate the processual particularities as well as the ecological impact of purple-dye production in antiquity.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0092.2007.00281.x

Affiliations: 1: University of Veterinary MedicineDept. of ParthobiologyUnit on Archaeozoology and Comparative MorphologyVeterinaerplatz 1A-1210 ViennaAustria 2: Austrian Academy of SciencesInstitute for Studies of Ancient CultureBaeckerstrasse 13A-1010 ViennaAustria 3: Im Gereute 8A-1230 ViennaAustria

Publication date: 2007-05-01