PURPLE‐DYE PRODUCTION IN LYCIA – RESULTS OF AN ARCHAEOZOOLOGICAL FIELD SURVEY IN ANDRIAKE (SOUTH‐WEST TURKEY)

Abstract

Summary. In 2003 a substantial deposit of heavily fragmented shells of purple snails was by chance located at the site of Andriake, the ancient port of the Lycian city of Myra near Demre, in southern Turkey. The archaeozoological and archaeological record of a survey project in 2004 proved the identification of a large installation for the production of purple dye. Adjacent to a well preserved Hadrianic granary and partly superimposing the remains of a U‐shaped building, the deposit is wrapped around three sides of a subterranean cistern. Apparently dating to the sixth century AD, the deposit contains approximately 300 m3of shell debris. The unique chance of examining an undisturbed and well preserved manufacturing place for purple dye provides an excellent opportunity to investigate the processual particularities as well as the ecological impact of purple‐dye production in antiquity.

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