B051: Kara Dere Settlement (also "Tekeliler Settlement 1")

Page reference: Christopher Ratté and Peter D. De Staebler (eds.). Aphrodisias V. The Aphrodisias Regional Survey (Verlag Philipp von Zabern: Darmstadt/Mainz, 2012), 26, 71, 85, 222, 223, 231, 396 - Book catalogue no.: Olive Oil cat. 9. <http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/92569>

B051

Settlements3: Hellenistic4: Roman

Local Name: TekelilerLatitude: 37.35.21.30Longitude: 28.41.46.08Elevation: 877mDimensions: approximately 90 m by 40 mDescription: This settlement, located just 1.3 km up the Kara Dere stream northeast of Koca Ören, is poorly preserved. The large-scale limestone construction of the walls at the site is similar to that at Koca Ören and Tekeliler. The site measures approximately 90 m by 40 m, but unfortunately the greater part of this area has been disturbed by the creation of modern agricultural plots, with many of the walls plowed up and the blocks reused in field walls. Only one full room is preserved, and additional evidence suggests at least four others. Thickets of scrub oak reduce surface visibility to almost zero in parts of the site. The only press element found at the site is a single socket block (B052). The one fully defined room is on the south side of the ** site. The room measures approximately 5.90 m by 3.50 m, with the door on the west side, and the in-situ socket block is built into the room's south wall. The socket block is at modern ground level, so any other surviving agricultural blocks are presumably buried. The walls are constructed partly out of marble petit appareil masonry, but the socket block and the blocks surrounding it are the local limestone. North of the socket block is a vertical limestone slab, 1.19 m long and 0.19 m wide, in the same relative location as the similar block at Yolüstü, perhaps to support the press beam when not in use. A robber's pit in the northwest corner of the room has exposed two large marble slabs at the same level as the socket block, which could be part of a podium connected to the pressing process, perhaps where the fiscinae were placed. The lack of visibility at this site made pottery collection impossible, and the only sherds found were pithos body fragments seen near the socket block. This makes it difficult to assess the chronological relationship between sites on the southwest plateau. The proximity of Koca Ören, Tekeliler, and Kara Dere and their similar construction and architectural characteristics imply a dense network of olive oil processing sites on the plateau, suggesting that this area was at least in certain periods an important local economic center.Finds: Finds were sparse and not helpful in determining the date of occupation of the site.

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