Citation
Page reference: Christopher Ratté and Peter D. De Staebler (eds.). Aphrodisias V. The Aphrodisias Regional Survey (Verlag Philipp von Zabern: Darmstadt/Mainz, 2012), 251, 252, 285, 297, 298 - Book catalogue no.: Aqueducts cat. 4. <http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/92986>
Description
Local Name: Kavaklıdere
Local Information: A cross section of the conduit is visible in the west (right) bank of the Kavaklıdere, a tributary of the Morsynus river, almost 5 km west of Aphrodisias.
Latitude: 37.42.54.83
Longitude: 28.40.15.35
Elevation: 432m
Dimensions: H (total): 0.9 m ** W (total): 1 m ** Th (side walls and vault): 0.20–0.30 m ** Interior H (conduit): 0.77 m ** Interior W (conduit): 0.47–0.50 m
Description: Preservation: The subterranean conduit is located in a highly erosive sandy escarpment under cultivated fields. The conduit itself is well preserved, but it has been made visible at this point where the waters of the meandering Kavaklıdere likely facilitated its collapse. The original conduit floor appears to have disintegrated, leaving only a sand-rich sediment layer. ** Construction: The vaulted conduit is built of mortared rubble masonry in a single layer of fieldstones including schist and quartz and stream stones. The thickness of the walls and vault ranges between 0.20 m and 0.30 m. The stones are between 0.20 m and 0.30 m long, with smaller stones of 0.05–0.10 m interspersed. The masonry is bonded with a blue-gray lime mortar with densely packed and very small stone inclusions about 0.001–0.002 m in size. The floor of the conduit is not constructed of the same rubble masonry; only a sand-rich sediment layer is preserved with stone inclusions varying in size from 0.01 m to 0.12 m. A packing of mortared rubble was piled on top of the vault, so that the exterior of the conduit appears rectangular in section. ** Description: The external dimensions of the conduit are 0.9 m high and 1 m wide. The interior dimensions of the conduit are 0.47–0.50 m wide and 0.77 m high. The conduit is situated about 3 m above the current streambed and 1.8 m below the ground level of the bank. A construction trench above the conduit extends all the way to the current ground level and cuts through multiple layers of stream deposits. The conduit is filled with sediment to a height of about 0.64 m, the same height as the calcareous deposits lining the north interior wall, which are 0.005–0.007 m thick, and includes no stones larger than 0.05 m.