A053: Çamarası Quarries

Page reference: Christopher Ratté and Peter D. De Staebler (eds.). Aphrodisias V. The Aphrodisias Regional Survey (Verlag Philipp von Zabern: Darmstadt/Mainz, 2012), 197, 198 - Book catalogue no.: Quarries cat. 4. <http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/92956>

A053

Quarries8: Modern4: Roman

Local Name: Çamarası, between Keçikırılân and Düğün YurduLatitude: 37.37.58.56Longitude: 28.41.14.10Elevation: 828mDimensions: Quarry 1: H: 6.0 m, W: 50 m, D: 12 m, Vol: 3,600 m3 ** Quarry 2: H: 5.0 m, W: 33 m, D: 18.6 m, Vol: 3,069 m3 ** Quarry 3: H: 1.2 m, W: 15 m, D: 10.6 m, Vol: 191 m3 ** Quarry 4: indeterminate ** Quarry 5: H: 6.1 m, W: 8.5 m, D: 4.2 m, Vol: 207 m3 ** Quarry 6: H: 9.1 m, W: 12.1 m, D: 5.65 m, Vol: 622 m3 ** Quarry 7: H: 6.9 m, W: 19 m, D: 11 m, Vol: 1,442 m3Description: Location: 2 km south of village of Çamarası, between Keçikırılân and Düğün Yurdu, 9 km southwest of Aphrodisias. Elevation ca. 825 masl. Modern road to ancient quarries is used for access to active emery mine at the top of the hill and in the recent past to a now-defunct marble quarry at the site of ancient quarries. Two of the largest quarries in the series are visible along the western side of the road. Region is now an unpopulated and desolate zone overgrown with scrub oak. Quarries situated in the same marble-rich zone as the Hançam, Kızıl Cağıl, Ören, and Nargedik quarries. ** Number and dimensions of quarries: Two medium-sized and five small quarries are scattered over an area of 1.5 m2. Scrub oak may obscure other small pits that have not been identified. ** Geological age, grain size, and color: Mesozoic. Medium to coarse grained. White, white and gray mottled, and brecciated marble. ** Modern quarrying: Quarry 1 moderately disturbed, used by the active emery quarry as a dumping ground; the others are undisturbed. Large quarry on the hillside between ancient quarries is modern. ** Joints and quality of marble: Joint spacing 1.40–2.75 m long and 1.70–3.80 m wide. Surface displays moderate fracturing, but marble quality improves at deeper levels. Medium to high quality. ** Quarry organization and evidence for extraction: Quarries lie on a high plateau in separate upper, middle, and lower districts. In the lower district, Quarries 1 and 2 are large, oval pit quarries and preserve traces of pick- and point-chisel marks, separating channels, and wedge holes along the lateral sides. In the middle, 50 m north of Quarry 1, are Quarries 3 and 4, both small pit quarries. Quarry 3 is a square pit quarry, and pickmarks on the west face cover an area 1.40 m high, 3.80 m wide, and 1.20 m deep, the approximate dimensions of an average-sized sarcophagus. Quarries 5 and 6 are also small pits and line a road leading to the modern emery quarry. ** Quarry 7, one of the best preserved of all the quarries on the south side of the valley, is in the upper district, 0.5 km south of the main quarry area on a ridge above the plateau offering a dramatic view of the south part of the Morsynus river valley. Two parallel slipways lead 200 m from the quarry to the road. A rectangular face is dug 11 m into the hillside, and a series of five steps formed by joints in marble juts outward from the quarry face. A separating channel on the top step shows that the width of the block to be extracted was 0.50 m. ** Blocks: A roughed-out column is abandoned on the perimeter of Quarry 1. A cracked threshold block (H: 0.76 m, W: 1.75 m, and D: 0.53 m) and seat block (H: 0.70 m, W: 0.75 m, and D: 0.25 m) are abandoned in the spoil heap near Quarry 2. A sarcophagus chest (H: 1.05 m, W: 1.20 m, D: 2.75 m) is abandoned in Quarry 5; the cracked chest has been only partially hollowed, and 10 m to the south lies its corresponding lid (H: 0.40 m, W: 1.25 m, D: 2.30 m).Finds: There are a number of smaller quarries off the road all over this area, not particularly large. We found some as we investigated the surrounding area, one of which was located at Long: 28.41.338/Lat: 37.37.721/elev: 864m (point 116)

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