E043: Built Tomb, "Bird Tomb"
Aphrodisias Regional Survey
2007-06-27
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Citation
Christopher Ratté and Peter D. De Staebler (eds.). Aphrodisias V. The Aphrodisias Regional Survey (Verlag Philipp von Zabern: Darmstadt/Mainz, 2012). <http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/92975>
Other Identifiers
E043
Subjects
Tombs 4: Roman
Description
Local Name: Aphrodisias, Southeast Necropolis Local Informant: Erdal Bey Local Information: E/ SE of Southeast Gate Latitude: 37.42.16.259 Longitude: 28.44.14.773 Elevation: 530m Axis: north Dimensions: Antechamber Length: 4.60m ** Antechamber Width: 2.50m Description: Underground chambers very well preserved, nothing visible above ground; entirely excavated by Aphrodisias Museum in April 2005; the description relies on both observation and the museum report. Birds are msiting in all the putlog holes in the antechamber. The tomb consists of three interconnected vaulted spaces. They are accessed by a steep staircase (nine stairs, W: 0.45m, rise: 0.20-0.25m, tread: 0.15-0.18m) that descends toward the north, and the uppermost stair is a threshold block for a door that opens toward the north. The stairway enters an antechamber (Room A), an e-w vaulted space (L: 4.50m, W: 1.35m), through a vaulted doorway at the eastern end of the southern wall; the two vaults intersect at a groin vault, and the final stair is 0.80m above the floor, which is paved in sandy gravel. At the crest of the tympanum on each end wall is the opening for an air vent (H: 0.32 m, W: 0.40). A robber's pit through the north wall of the antechamber shows that it is 0.78 m thick. The main burial chamber is reached through an arched doorway (H: 1.70, W: 0.85, D: 0.80) at the western end of the south wall of the antechamber. The extrados of the arch reaches the height of the springing point of the vault. ** The main burial chamber is a complex vaulted space. It is roofed by three vaults: two n-s oriented vaulted spaces (L: 4.10 m, W western: 1.90 m (Room B), W eastern (Room C): 1.80 m,) joined on the northern side by an e-w oriented barrel vault. The intersections between the wider n-s vaults and the narrower e-w vault are groin vaults. The wall between the two n-s vaulted spaces is 0.60 m thick. Square piers (L: 0.40-0.60m) project into the four outer corners of the main burial chamber, probably an aspect of the foundation for the monumental superstructure. The vaults abut on the corner piers, and in the northeast corner, the undersides of the stair blocks interrupt the corner pier and the intrados of the vault. An airshaft near the ceiling opens up through the south end of Rooms B and C. The walls are built of regularly coursed petit appareil masonry. The individual blocks are on the larger side (H: 0.20-0.26m, w: 0.36-0.58m, D: 0.32-0.53m), and throughout the mortar beds are scored at a careful downward angle. The most carefully finished masonry is on the south side of the arch between the antechamber and the burial chamber; seventeen well cut voussoirs form the arch, and the mortar beds are finished with a pyramidal ridge that makes a shallow apex between the stones. Each of the vaults in the substructure is built in two stages. The lower half is constructed of petit appareil masonry, and the upper half appears to be a poured mass of mortared rubble (Th: 0.30 m). At the groin vaults – between the stairs and A, and at the northern end of B and C – indentations into the mortar follow the line of the intersecting vaults, perhaps the impression left by lath strips that covered joints in the centering. A second impression is also seen in mortar, that of a loosely woven rough cloth, like a burlap mat, on the eastern wall of room A and in the area of the lowest stairs. Square putlog holes are seen at the base of each vault. Three evenly spaced pairs are in the north and south walls of A (H: 14-20 cm, W: 18-20 cm, D: 20 cm), and further putlog holes in each end wall at level of the bottom of the air vents. One pair each are in the southern parts of Rooms B and C, just north of the corner piers; in each space there is also a single hole in the outer wall that is level with a shelf at the bottom of the arch between the two; and three tightly spaced holes are in the wall north of the B and C, opposite the shelf below the arch. Round putlog holes are found at the apex of the crossing vault north of B and C (eastern diam. 0.13 m, western diam. 0.08 cm). Six built cists of varying widths (L: 1.80-1.90 m, W: 0.55 to 1.05 m, D: 0.55 m) are located in B and C, three on each side. The plastered dividing walls (W: 0.32-0.40 m) are coursed, but they are more roughly built than the walls of the tomb itself. The n-s dividing wall in the northern crossing vault between B and C is the roughest, and the final cist wall built across the doorway between A and B was removed during excavation. A narrow shelf (0.06-0.14 m) projects from all the walls of B and C at the height of the dividing walls of the cists to provide additional support to the cover slabs. Undisturbed soil was found 2.90 m below the crest of the vaults. The architecture and finds suggest to the excavators a "late Roman date, perhaps fourth century. Finds: From the museum records: bones; charcoal; brick fragments; iron nails; 4 complete small glass unguentaria, and 4 fragmentary ones; and 7 complete lamps (one with a palmette handle), and 10 fragmentary lamps.
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