Larisa'daki (Aiolis) antik taş ocaklarında yöntem ve sürece ilişkin tespitler
Observations on the method and process of the ancient quarries in Larisa (Aiolis)
Yazar: GİZEM MATER
Danışman: PROF. DR. NEJAT TURGUT SANER
İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi / Lisansüstü Eğitim Enstitüsü / Sanat Tarihi Ana Bilim Dalı / Sanat Tarihi Bilim Dalı
Derece: Doktora, 2024
Konu: Arkeoloji = Archeology ; Mimarlık = Architecture ; Sanat Tarihi = Art History

Özet:
İzmir Menemen'in Buruncuk ilçesine bağlı Larisa yerleşimi antik dönemde Aiolis olarak adlandırılan bölgenin önemli kentlerinden biridir. Arkeolojik verilerden elde edilen bilgilere göre, yerleşim tarihi Neolitik dönemlere kadar uzanmaktadır. En erken tarihli mimari kalıntıları ise Erken Tunç Çağı'na aittir. Bugün arazide karşılaşılan mimari buluntular ise MÖ 7. yüzyıl ile MÖ 4. yüzyıl arasına tarihlenmektedir. Gediz ovasına hakim bir sırt üzerinde konumlanan Larisa iki tepe ile aralarında kalan alanlardan oluşmaktadır. Tepeler izmir banliyö tren hattı ile birbirlerinden ayrılmıştır. Ova seviyesinden daha alçak olan ve Batı'da bulunan kısım Larisa Batı olarak adlandırılmaktadır. Kulelerle desteklenmiş surların sardığı akropol bu tepenin en üst noktasıdır ve yönetim yapıları ile dini yapıları barındırır. Güneyinde ve kuzeyinde yerleşim alanları yer alır. Akropolün kuzey, kuzeydoğu ve doğusuna yayılan alanlarda çeşitli tipte mezar yapıları ile nekropol bulunur. Tren yolunun kuzeyinde devam eden nekropol yerini tarım alanlarına bırakır. Ardından yükselmeye başlayan ve Larisa Batı'dan daha yüksek bir tepe olan Larisa Doğu'nun eteklerinde yerleşim terasları başlar ve en tepe noktasında ise bir kale konumlanmıştır. Bölgedeki ilk araştırmalar 20. yüzyılın başında Alman ve İsveçli arkeologlar tarafından gerçekleştirilmiş, özellikle akropole yoğunlaşılan çalışmalarda yerleşimi saran surlar, tapınak, saraylar gibi pek çok yapı ortaya çıkarılmıştır. 2010 yılından itibaren İTÜ mimarlık tarihi öğretim üyesi Prof. Dr. Turgut Saner tarafından başlatılan mimari ağırlıklı yüzey araştırmaları kapsamında, 20. yüzyıl çalışmaları daha da genişletilerek yerleşim alanının tamamına yayılmıştır. Alanda yapılan gözlemlerde antik dönemlerde uygulanan çok sayıda blok elde etme izlerine rastlanmıştır, 20. yüzyılda kapsam dışında bırakılan bu faaliyetler, 2010 araştırmaları ile üzerine düşünülmeye başlanan konulardan biri olmuş ve bu çalışma da böylece şekillenmeye başlamıştır. Yüzey araştırmaları devam ettiği süre boyunca arazi çalışmalarıyla paralel ilerleyen belgelemeler yapılmıştır. Batı Anadolu kıyılarındaki en geniş volkanik alan olan Yunt dağının güneybatı bölümünü oluşturan Dumanlı dağdan Gediz ovasına uzanan bir sırt üzerinde konumlanmıştır. Volkanik karakterli olan bu yapı üçüncü jeolojik zaman olan Tersiyer'in (yaklaşık 65-2,5 milyon yıl) alt dönemlerinden biri olan Neojen'de (yaklaşık 24-2,5 milyon yıl) meyadana gelen jeolojik olaylarla şekillenmiştir. Dumanlı Dağı oluşturan piroklastik bir örtü üzerine gelen andezit lavlarla kaplanmıştır. Larisa'nın bu andezit alana yayılan bir yerleşim olması inşaatlarda da bu yerel malzemenin tercih edilmesini sağlamıştır. İşlemesi zor ancak hava koşullarına dayanıklı olan bu malzemenin Larisa inşaatlarında yetkin bir biçimde kullanıldığı görülmektedir. Yerleşimin konumlandığı alanlarda ve yamaçlarında irili ufaklı kaya öbekleri ile yaygın kaya yüzeylerinde ocakçılık faaliyetlerine ait izler bulunmaktadır. Blokların ana kayadan ayrılmadan hemen öncesi ve ayrıldıktan sonraki aşamasına ait olan bu izlerde en çok kama yönteminin kullanıldığı görülmüştür. Kama yönteminin Larisa'da en erken MÖ 6. yüzyılın ortasından itibaren kullanıldığı anlaşılmıştır. Kama yöntemi dışında şerit halinde açılan kanallar yardımıyla da blokların ana kayadan ayrıldığı anlaşılmıştır. Kimi durumlarda kamalar şerit halinde açılan kanalların içine yerleştirilerek ayırma ve bölme işlemleri gerçekleştirilmiştir. Dolayısıyla şerit halinde kanalların açıldığı yöntem de büyük oranda kama yöntemi ile birlikte ilerlemiştir. Larisa'nın andezitleri gri-mavi tonlarından kızıl-kahve tonlarına, yer yer pembeye uzanan geniş bir renk aralığına sahiptir. Ocaklardan birlikte çıkarılan bu farklı renklerdeki andezitler inşaatlarda da renkli bir görünüm sağlamıştır. Ocaklardan blok elde etme izlerinin dışında, taşıma, kaldırma, bağlama yerleştirme gibi sonraki aşamalara ilişkin izler az da olsa inşaat bloklarında görülebilir. Böylece inşaat sürecinin tutarlı bir öyküsü ortaya konabilmektedir. Ayrıca bloklar üzerindeki, aletlerin bıraktığı izlerden külünk, kama, murç ve keski kullanılmış olabileceği de anlaşılır.

Abstract:
In ancient times, the region along the Aegean coast and inland between Adramyttion (Edremit) and Smyrna (Izmir), was identified as Aeolis. Larisa (Buruncuk) on the river of Hermos (Gediz) was one of the prominent cities of southern Aeolis. Larisa is located on a hill-top north-northwest of the Buruncuk district of Menemen, İzmir. The ancient settlement spread over the two hilltops that are part of Dumanlı (Sardene) volcanic mountain and they expand towards the Hermos Plain. Larisa surely benefited from Hermos river and the valley, which provided wealth and abundance to its inhabitants. The earliest settlers of the city were apparently indigenous people (e.g. Lelegians and Pelasgians), who were residing in the entire Aegean region before the arrival of Greek tribes. According to archaeological data, the settlement dates back to the Neolithic period and earliest architectural remains belong to the Early Bronze Age. However the architectural finds encountered in the field today are dated between the 7th century BCE and the 4th century BCE. Examinations present that the inhabitants of the city, abandoned Larisa abruptly by the beginning of the 3rd century BCE. Due to the lack of Roman and Byzantine settlement Larisa majorly shows the characteristics of an early Greek and Greco-Persian settlement patterns. Located on a ridge overlooking the Gediz plain, remains of Larisa are located two hills and the areas between them. Both territories are residential centers and represent unique characteristics, social dynamics, and structures.The hills are separated from each other by the Izmir suburban train line (IZBAN). The main settlement of Larisa, the Larisa West, also known as "the acropolis" consist of three districts; acropolis which is surrounded by defense walls and houses residential buildings of the rulers, several sacred and public buildings; southern and northern urban areas consist of dwellings of the prominent families of the city and a wide necropolis. The higher hill is called Larisa East which is about one and a half kilometre distant from Larisa West, has two major sectors. One is a triangular shaped fort probably established during the 5th century BCE. The construction of eastern traingular shaped fort was closely related to the construction projects of the western acropolis. The fort must have served as a shelter for the eastern dwellers and for Larisa West's residents in case of a threat or a siege. The other sector in Larisa East is defined by the settlement area, which covered by the terraces that lead towards the Hermos Plain. In this area, there are ruins of simple dwellings for eastern residents of the city who were most probably responsible for logistics of the main settlement.  Two hillocks rising in the level of Hermos Plain are also considered as part the Larisa settlement. While there are not any traces of buildings on Küçük Tepe; Koca Tepe houses a monumental building with a courtyard and thick walls, which probably served for agricultural activities. The area between Larisa East and Larisa West contains numerous ancient building remains and terraces for ancient agricultural activity and necropolis area with various types of grave structures which is spread to the north, northeast and east of the acropolis. The first excavations began by the joint efforts of Germany and Sweden. Johannes Boehlau, archaeologist and museum curator from Kassel (Germany) and Lennart Kjellberg, archaeology professor from Uppsala University (Sweden), conducted the first excavations in Larisa. Kjellberg's primary motivation was to explain the bonds between Mycenaean culture and orientalizing Greek culture through the studies on the history of ornament. Larisa was chosen to support this hypothesis and so the excavations began in 1902. The field works terminated after three campaigns held between 1932 and 1934. Many structures such as fortifications surrounding the settlement, temples and palaces were uncovered during these excavations. Besides various architectural stone pieces, ornamented terracotta plates and terracotta roofing elements and also a large number of small finds were found in the area. These groups of finds are dated to 7th to 5th century BCE. Most of the architectural stone pieces, including Aeolic capitals; small finds and a large group of terracotta plates, are preserved in Istanbul Archaeological Museums. A certain group of finds is kept in İzmir, Stockholm and Germany. Following the excavations, a three-volume book entitled "Larisa am Hermos" was published consecutively in 1940 and 1942. After these campaigns, the publication of major volumes of the results, and further studies in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum, no other excavations or survey studies were done in Larisa until 2010. Between 2010-2021 a team from the Istanbul Technical University conducted an architectural-archaeological survey under the direction of Prof. Turgut Saner with the permission and support of the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The new studies focused on these three major spots and intensively focused on documentation of settlement patterns, architecture and construction techniques in Larisa. Re-evaluation of the incomplete architecture-based results of the 20th century studies is one of the primary motivations of the new field surveys. Furthermore, observations continue on wider settlement areas in order to provide a new comprehension of Larisa's urban character. Understanding the layout and the development of the settlement, to define greater settlement plan and to perceive constructional features and buildings are three focal points of the architectural-archaeological field surveys. Observations in the area revealed numerous traces of block-extracting activities practiced in antiquity. These activities, which were excluded in the 20th century studies, became one of the topics to be considered with the 2010 surveys. Documentation was carried out in parallel with the fieldwork during the surveys. Larisa is located on a ridge extending from Dumanlı Dağ, which forms the southwestern part of Yunt Dağı, the largest volcanic area on the western Anatolian coast, to the Gediz plain. This volcanic structure was shaped by geological events that occurred during the Neogene (approximately 24-2.5 million years), one of the sub-periods of the Tertiary (approximately 65-2.5 million years), the third geological time. The area consists of geologically young volcanic material however its formation is rather complicated and has spread over a long time span. In earlier periods more explosive activity dominated and pyroclastic material covered wide areas. Then, volcanism continued with viscous andesitic lava eruptions. Dumanlı mountain and Larisa ridge are composed of mainly andesitic lava. As a volcanic rock, andesite has various characteristics depending on mineral composition and suitable to work for architectural purposes. Larisaean buildings consist of foundations, retaining walls and independently rising wall sectors which were made of local stone -andesite. Upper parts of the walls were mud-brick and timber. The so-called Phocaea stone was also used especially for the production of architectural members such as column capitals and frieze blocks, and a somewhat shiny white limestone can be seen as inserted into the masonry as well. And they were elaborated with black and red coloured terracotta plates. The regional andesite presents a wide color spectrum ranging from gray-blue tones to reddish-brown tones and sometimes pinkish which can be seen side-by-side at the quarries of Larisa. Larisa West is especially very rich in colors, whereas the natural landscape at Larisa East is dominated by reddish rock formations. Blocks of different colors were used in the construction work beyond a decorative approach, primarily for practical purposes. The major aim was to keep the losses at a minimum while carving. Only a significant exception is to be seen at Tower I. Every rock cluster, large or small, in and around the settled areas of Larisa was used for stone extraction purposes. In addition to certain slopes of the hills, free-standing solid rocks on the surface of the settlements which were considered as most convenient for transportation, were randomly used for extracting building stones. On Larisa East, construction blocks of the fort were obtained from higher levels, while dwellings' blocks were exploited from rock clusters which exist nearby, on the same levels. One of the major quarries of Larisa West is to be found on the southeastern slope of the city facing the site of the abandoned village of old Buruncuk. At the southernmost edge of the settlement, a new and large quarry eliminated a portion of the city. There are also leftovers of recent quarrying activities on the north, but they are abandoned for the last forty-fifty years. Above these northern quarries, on higher levels, there are traces of ancient quarrying activities. Approximately a hundred and sixty eight traces referring to stone extraction processes have been identified so far at the settlement areas of Larisa. These have been documented through photographs and drawings, and the location of most of them has been manually recorded by GPS in order to accomplish a detailed catalog. The applied method and the entire extraction process can clearly be identified through these traces. Ancient quarries in Larisa (and the utilization of rock clusters of every size) reflect a well-organized construction activity. It is also possible to collect information on the average size of construction blocks. According to tool marks, picks, wedges, crowbars, hammers and pointed chisels must be used as quarry tools. Block extraction methods can be presented as two majör groups: narrow-linear and wider regularly carved channels (or grooves). The narrow-linear channels are divided lengthwise into two sub-groups. These marks obviously served for the splitting of small or middle-sized blocks from the natural rock. The other group is a series of wedge holes with each one much shorter than the previous type and the dimensions change occasionally.Some of these wedges were directly set on the surface, while the others were carved slightly deepened on the surface of the rock to form a channel. These channels can be considered as the preliminary stage of opening smaller holes on the surface. Apart from the longer or smaller/shorter wedge-holes, there are also a few cases with larger openings, which are arranged in a right angle to each other. This method seems to differ from the widespread method of splitting through other types of wedge-holes. The significant distinction is the regularity of placing of the openings/channels. The quarrying marks identified in Larisa refer either to the preparation for block extraction or to the current state after the extraction from the bedrock Today, the visible remains in Larisa are predominantly from the timespan between the 6th and 4th century BCE. The dating of the operation of the quarries would be expected to match with this chronology. The earliest examples to be dated securely have been identified in the masonry of the late 6th century, early 5th century BCE acropolis walls. Numerous blocks carrying a trace of the remaining half of a wedge holes subsequent to their extraction can still be seen on the façade and in the filling of this circuit wall. The quarrying traces identified in Larisa refer either to the preparation for block extraction or to the state after the extraction from the bedrock (one half of the trace remains on the natural rock, the other half on the extracted block). In this way, both the applied method and the entire extraction process can clearly be identified. It is also possible to collect information on the average size of construction blocks. Ancient quarries in Larisa and the utilization of rock clusters of every size reflect a well-organized construction activity. In numerous cases, it can be seen that wedge holes were opened but the extraction was not accomplished. This fact possibly fits with the conclusion that Larisa had to be suddenly abandoned as a consequence of an invasion. Apart from the traces of obtaining blocks from the quarries, traces of the subsequent stages such as transportation, lifting, and placement can be seen on the construction blocks, albeit to a lesser extent. Thus, a coherent story of the construction process can be presented. In addition, the traces left by the tools on the blocks can also indicate which tools may have been used.