Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
OLBA, cilt.21, ss.141-149, 2013 (AHCI)
Located in Southwestern Anatolia, Patara was one of the most important port cities in Lycia. The fact that Patara, along with Telmessos, had one of the largest and most secured seaports in Western Lycia enables us to trace the commercial amphorae in the city from Late Antiquity (c. 12th A. D.), uninterruptedly back to the 7th century B. C. Alongside this temporal continuity observed in the amphorae from the city, particularly as it was on the maritime trade route linking the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean cities and with its proximity to the prominent contemporary wine and amphora producers such as Rhodes, Cnidus, and the Rhodian Peraia, which produced in Anatolia under Rhodian control during the Hellenistic Period, resulted in the finds of a wide variety of amphora typologies at Patara. Despite the historical significance of the region as outlined above, neither a detailed analysis nor any comprehensive archaeological study has previously been conducted on the Roman amphorae from Lycia, obscuring through the lack of research, recognition of the region that reflects its importance. In this context, the four amphora stamps from the Roman Empire Period, unearthed at different sites at Patara, are of significant importance. The detailed analysis of these amphora stamps, the main focus of this study, should provide the first solid data to illuminate the trade affairs of Patara and particularly of Western Lycia during the early Roman period and it presents the first preliminary information regarding the overseas trade activities of the city during this period. These stamps, uncovered through only a limited number of excavation campaigns at Patara, indicate the city actively engaged in commercial affairs with the Italian peninsula by the 1st century B.C.