Citation
Page reference: Christopher Ratté and Peter D. De Staebler (eds.). Aphrodisias V. The Aphrodisias Regional Survey (Verlag Philipp von Zabern: Darmstadt/Mainz, 2012), 307 - Book catalogue no.: Aqueducts cat. 7. <http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/92562>
Description
Local Name: Yaykın
Local Informant: Mehmet Yilmazer
Local Information: In middle of tobacco. The cistern is located on the Bingeç plateau, 0.8 km east of the modern village of Yaykin and 16.3 km southwest of Aphrodisias.
Latitude: 37.36.13.385
Longitude: 28.35.34.836
Elevation: 822.41m
Dimensions: p. D (total): 3 m ** Internal dimensions: 8.3 m by 8.3 m ** Th (walls): 0.49 m ** p. D (mortar): 1.8 m
Description: Preservation: The interior surfaces of the cistern have been coated in modern mortar to a height of 1.5 m above the current bottom of the cistern. ** Construction: The square cistern is constructed of coarsely worked fieldstones including limestone and quartz, at the top of which is a subashlar course incorporating some brick for chinking. The white mortar bonding the masonry has small stone inclusions. A staircase of marble blocks leads down to the bottom of the cistern. ** Description: The square cistern measures 8.3 on a side. According to a local informant, about 100 years ago a resident of Tavas built walls around the earlier structure to prevent animals from falling into it. Modern mortar, which is 1.5 m high along the interior walls of the cistern, covers a layer of older red-orange mortar with sparse, small stone inclusions, which seems to be a hydraulic lining for the original walls of the cistern. The local informant suggested the marble blocks of the staircase were brought here from the nearby ancient site of Bingeç (Plarasa).