ARCHAEOLOGY – HIDDEN CITY PROVIDES FASCINATING INSIGHT INTO THE STRUCTURES OF HELLENISTIC SETTLEMENTS

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The discovery of an ancient city buried beneath the sands of modern-day
Syria has provided evidence for a Hellenistic settlement that existed for
more than six centuries extending into the time of the Roman Empire. The
site provides a unique insight into the structures of a pre-Roman
Hellenistic settlement. The project, funded by the Austrian Science Fund
FWF, sheds new light on city life in the Hellenistic period.


The Syrian deserts have long kept an important secret hidden deep beneath
their sands – the remains of the pre-Roman Hellenistic settlement of
Palmyra. Until now, the only evidence for the existence of such a settlement
was to be found in historical writing. As part of an FWF-funded joint
project, the Institute of Classical Archaeology at the University of Vienna,
the German Archaeological Institute and the Directorate General of
Antiquities and Museums in Syria have been the first to track down the
location of this early city. Moreover, their findings are now producing a
unique insight into the structures of a pre-Roman Hellenistic settlement.

"Although a settlement dating back to the second millennium BC has already
been identified as Palmyra, a new settlement was evidently established at
another site in the third century BC and was later abandoned in the Roman
period. While we know a great deal about the later Roman city, the
Hellenistic settlement of Palmyra has never been investigated," explains
Project Manager Prof. Andreas Schmidt-Colinet from the Institute of
Classical Archaeology at the University of Vienna. "The current
investigation gives us a unique opportunity to analyse the transition from
the Hellenistic period to the time of the Roman Empire by studying the
settlement structures that have been uncovered here over a wide area."

CHRONOLOGY OF THE SETTLEMENT & TRADE ROUTES
In view of the large size of the area, the project has thus far focussed on
small sections of the ancient urban settlement structures. This work is
already yielding results, particularly as regards the chronology of the
individual phases of construction and the trade and commercial background of
the Hellenistic "Sand City". The investigations show that building
activities were divided across various major phases stretching from the
third century B.C. to the end of the third century A.D. This indicates that
the site could have fallen out of use around the time when the city was
conquered by the Roman emperor Aurelian or around the construction of the
wall under the emperor Diocletian.

Pottery finds are particularly important for helping to determine the trade
routes used by the citizens of Palmyra. Overall, the archaeologists have
found far larger amounts of local domestic pottery than imported ceramic
goods from other areas. Nevertheless, amphorae from Rhodes – large clay
containers used to transport wine – and goods imported from Africa show that
Palmyra had connections with far flung corners of the world from the late
Hellenistic period until the late Roman period. Prof. Schmidt-Colinet
comments on the team’s discoveries: "Our pottery finds reveal a continuous
progression of Hellenistic-Roman ceramics over a period of 600 years. What’s
more, we now have the first ever archaeological evidence for a Hellenistic
settlement with continuous habitation over six centuries extending into the
Roman period."

ANIMALS ON THE MENU
The team of archaeologists has also uncovered initial evidence for the
keeping and usage of domestic animals. "Kitchen waste" shows that the
inhabitants kept and ate primarily sheep and goats, as well as dromedaries,
cattle and pigs. In contrast, gazelles, wildfowl and fish seldom appeared on
the menus of the Hellenistic inhabitants of Palmyra.

Looking to the future, the archaeologists aim to completely uncover a
monumental courtyard-type structure at the centre of the Hellenistic
settlement that has close parallels with Syrian caravan structures. However,
the team is not just hoping to reveal how or why the individual rooms were
built, it also wants to determine the overall importance of the structure
for the city of Palmyra. At the end of the project, the findings from the
excavations, which have been made possible by the FWF, will be combined with
aerial photographs and structures that are still visible above ground to
provide a topographical map of Palmyra.


Image and text will be available online from Monday, 23rd June 2008, 09.00
a.m. CET onwards:
http://www.fwf.ac.at/en/public_relations/press/pv200806-en.html


Scientific Contact:
Prof. Andreas Schmidt-Colinet
University of Vienna
Institute of Classical Archeology
Franz Klein-Gasse 1
1190 Wien
Austria
T +43 / 1 / 4277 – 40601
E univie.ac.at" target="_blank">Andreas.Schmidt-Colinetunivie.ac.at

Austrian Science Fund FWF:
Mag. Stefan Bernhardt
Haus der Forschung
Sensengasse 1
1090 Wien
Austria
T +43 / 1 / 505 67 40 - 8111
E fwf.ac.at" target="_blank">stefan.bernhardtfwf.ac.at

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Vienna, 23rd June 2008



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