Influences of Milesian Urban Form in Early Tieion (15 min)

Presenters

Sahin Yildirim, Bartin University

Abstract

Tieion, one of the important cities of the southern Black Sea, was founded by the Milesians. Recent excavations in the acropolis of Tieion have provided new data confirming that the city was founded in the last quarter of the seventh century B.C.E. The architectural remains belonging to the Greek colonization age in Tios shows various similarities with the architectural structures found in Kalabaktepe in Miletus in terms of plan and construction techniques. In Kalabaktepe, the remains of simple structures with oval and rectangular plans, especially dated to the Late Geometric period, were unearthed. The oval and rectangular planned structures found in the Tieion excavations and dated to the last quarter of the seventh century B.C.E. show that the western Anatolian residential architecture may have been brought to Tieion by the colonists. The regular city plan and monumental architectural structures of Miletus have been seen since the sixth century B.C.E. Even on the mainland of Miletus in the eighth–seventh centuries B.C.E., there was no advanced architecture. Therefore, the primitive architecture seen in colonial age settlements in the Black Sea region is not surprising.

Finds such as votive figurines, offering vessels, and Doric capitals from the Archaic period temple unearthed in the acropolis at Tieion show an urbanization shaped around a sanctuary. There is a similar construction in Kalabaktepe, and production-based workshops appear together with residences in both Tios and Kalabaktepe.

Along with the Ionian ceramics dated to the Archaic period, a large number of locally produced Phrygian pottery were also encountered in Tios. Old Phrygian inscriptions engraved on some of these sherds have also been found. The Phrygian and other local cultures found in Tieion from the same layer as the colonial age settlement also show that the Milesians were in contact with the local cultures living in the region.