Architecture | American Journal of Archaeology

Marble Wall Revetment in Roman Times: Materials and Techniques

website — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 22:12:34 +0000

Making marble wall revetment in Roman times required real know-how. Surprisingly, ancient sources are silent on the installation methods of revetment. The archaeological literature is also sparse, but there are two schools of thought: one assumes that a plaster layer was applied before the marble slabs, while the other assumes that mortar was poured behind the slabs held in place by metal clamps. All point out the presence of shims on the plaster, although there has been no consensus as to their function. The recent discovery of an organic material (based on pitch and beeswax) helps us understand how these shims were laid: they were placed behind the slabs, before the slabs were installed, to hold them in place when the mortar set. Above all, it provides a clear understanding of how the Romans went about installing their marble revetment: choosing one or other of the two supposed variant methods as required. This synthesis also gives us the opportunity to present a typology of metal clamps and to discuss several adaptations of the technique, such as the practice at Pompeii of preparing the wall surface with a toothed chisel.

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The Gladiatorial Spectacles in Cyprus and the Enigma of the Amphitheater at Salamis

website — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 22:46:53 +0000

Of the 12 cities that were active in Cyprus during the Roman Imperial period, current archaeological data indicates that gladiatorial and related spectacles were held only in Paphos, Salamis, and Kourion. The first two were the most important cities of the island and most probably organized such shows from the first century CE; in Kourion this happened later, in the first half of the third century CE. Concerning the venues where these events took place, there is evidence suggesting that the theaters of all three cities received provisional or permanent modifications to host these events. Additionally, Paphos boasted an early oval amphitheater. Salamis was also believed to have had an amphitheater, as suggested by late first-century CE inscriptions. Here it is argued that the “amphitheater” referenced in these inscriptions was actually a stadium, partially uncovered during excavations in the 1960s. Furthermore, an actual amphitheater excavated in Salamis, often associated with the inscriptional amphitheater, is now proposed to be a later structure, integrated into the preexisting stadium, likely dating from the mid fourth century CE. These revised interpretations have significant implications for the understanding of Roman spectacles in Cyprus.

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Asserting Control Through Water in the Roman Period: The Evidence from Southern Jordan and the Case of Khirbet al-Khalde

website — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 22:46:53 +0000

This article examines water management and control by the Roman army in arid environments, with a focus on southern Jordan. It presents the results of an aqueduct survey at Khirbet al-Khalde (Wadi al-Yutm, Aqaba Governorate), situated 26 km to the northeast of modern Aqaba. The aqueduct, which is the best surviving example of its kind in the Wadi al-Yutm, connected the site’s small fort (castellum) to a spring located approximately 1 km to the southeast. The aqueduct is notable because of its steep incline, and its construction is further evidence for the complex water management systems that are found in this region. The article argues that the aqueduct at Khirbet al-Khalde facilitated the control asserted by the army over water points along the Via Nova Traiana and, by extension, over trade and movement along this frontier zone.

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Fieldwork at Phrygian Gordion, 2016–2023

website — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 22:46:53 +0000

This article presents the results of the last eight seasons of work at Gordion in west central Türkiye, focusing primarily on architectural conservation, excavation, and remote sensing on the Citadel Mound. The recently discovered South Gate appears to have been in use for over 1,200 years, from the ninth century BCE to the fourth century CE, and with an approach road nearly 100 m long. New excavations in the Mosaic Building Complex, first unearthed in the 1950s and dated at that time to the late fifth century BCE (Persian period), have demonstrated that it was actually constructed a century and a half earlier (ca. 575 BCE) and reconstructed after Gordion came under Persian control. The discoveries within the complex include a stone omphalos and two gilded ivory sphinxes that probably adorned a throne. The Mosaic Building may also have housed the cart with the Gordian Knot cut by Alexander in 333 BCE. The eighth-century Tumulus 52 included more than 3,000 amber beads imported from the Baltic, and the decedent may have been a member of Midas’ family. Gordion was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site List in 2023, the 20th site in Türkiye to be so honored.

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The Citadel of Gordion and the Dating of the Midas Monument at Midas City

website — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 22:46:53 +0000

The rock-cut Midas Monument at Midas City, about 150 km west of Gordion, appears to reproduce the kind of megarons that were in operation in Iron Age Phrygia. In a 2023 article in the AJA, Geoffrey Summers argued that the Midas Monument was carved in the early sixth century BCE, when the surrounding area was under Lydian control. In this note, we address his arguments in detail and maintain that the available evidence supports a late eighth-century BCE date for the carving of the Midas Monument, when Midas served as king of Phrygia.

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Beyceğiz Tumulus: A Middle Phrygian Cenotaph near Gordion

website — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 19:54:35 +0000

The Beyceğiz Tumulus, 11.5 km east of the Phrygian capital of Gordion, was the target of multiple looting attempts, prompting a salvage excavation from 2013 to 2017 by the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara in partnership with the Gordion Archaeological Project. Remote sensing indicated a chamber-shaped anomaly near the tumulus center, which became the focus of excavation. The anomaly turned out to be a stone platform built on bedrock, which proved to be the center of radiating guide walls that separated sediment fills used for the original construction of the tumulus. No trace of any kind of burial or ritual deposit was found. The most reasonable explanation is that the tumulus was a cenotaph. The ceramics found inside it provide a terminus post quem for its construction in the late eighth century BCE. The construction technique of the tumulus demonstrates the importance of design, planning, logistics, organization, and cooperation. Its prominence in the landscape around Gordion suggests that it was both a memorial and a visual marker on a major road leading from Gordion to the Phrygian citadel of Hacıtuğrul.

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Visual Experience in a Pompeian Domestic Space: Analysis Using Virtual Reality–Based Eye Tracking and GIS

website — Tue, 17 Sep 2024 16:10:50 +0000

Ancient sources indicate the importance that views and viewing had in Roman society, particularly in the domestic sphere. Archaeological studies have found evidence of this in the remains of Roman houses while at the same time remarking on the ritualistic character of the activities they hosted. View planning would therefore have been part of the homeowner’s social paraphernalia. Although relevant, these studies have relied on direct experience of physical remains, or models that privileged the single perspective frame. Human perception proves to be more complex, influenced by body and eye movement and illumination. This research, based on three case studies from the House of the Greek Epigrams in Pompeii and combining virtual reality–based eye-tracking technologies and geographic information systems, presents a novel investigation of perception in the Roman house and its manipulation for the construction of social identity.

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Late Fifth-Century CE Wall Mosaics from the Tetrapylon Street in Aphrodisias: Evidence for a Wall Mosaic Habit in Late Antiquity

website — Tue, 17 Sep 2024 16:10:50 +0000

This article presents evidence for late fifth-century CE wall mosaics from Aphrodisias, provincial capital of Caria, in western Asia Minor. The mosaics formed part of the decoration of an upper-story gallery belonging to one or more luxurious private residences located alongside the Tetrapylon Street, the city’s main north–south avenue. They are therefore a rare example of Late Antique wall mosaics from a domestic context. We present the context in which the mosaic fragments were found, the motifs that can still be recognized, and some of the technical characteristics of these mosaics. Combined with other elements of decoration found in association with the mosaic fragments, we offer a reconstruction of the decorative program of the gallery. We then broaden our view to trace wall mosaics elsewhere at Aphrodisias and discuss waste attesting to glass tessera production. We argue that an itinerant wall mosaic workshop or workshops were active at Aphrodisias in the late fifth and early sixth century CE, when the city’s monuments and residences were undergoing renovations in the wake of an earthquake. We examine the possibility of a wall mosaic habit that was much more widespread than previously thought, extending beyond the ecclesiastical contexts with which it is conventionally associated.

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The Christian Building at Dura-Europos: Rethinking the Archaeology of the World’s Oldest House Church

website — Mon, 01 Jul 2024 04:00:00 +0000

In his final report of the excavations at Dura-Europos, Syria, the scholar Carl Kraeling established the site’s Christian Building as the ancient world’s preeminent example of a domus ecclesiae, a house converted into a church through architectural adaptation. In Kraeling’s interpretation, a private domestic structure (House M8A) built in 232 CE was later remade as a community-owned church through a single, deliberate program of modification. This article engages with legacy ideas about the Christian Building, unexplored archival records, and recent studies of Dura-Europos to rethink the building’s phases, functions, and dating. I argue that House M8A was not the domus ecclesiae that Kraeling envisioned—wholly, instantly, and permanently converted to a church—but a Christian house that retained a domestic aspect even as it was adapted for religious activity. The article proposes new phases for the building and advances an earlier chronology for its construction in the late second or early third century CE, a time that better fits revised estimates of Dura’s Roman development. This reinterpretation of the world’s oldest domestic church building bears significant repercussions for our understanding of early Christian architecture and communities and underscores the value of critical thinking and revisiting legacy ideas in archaeology.

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The First Koinon Temple of Roman Sardis: A Sanctuary from the First Century Through Late Antiquity

website — Mon, 01 Jul 2024 04:00:00 +0000

An artificial terrace in the center of the city of Sardis in western Asia Minor formed a focus of urban life from the Early Imperial period until the early Byzantine era. Following the earthquake of 17 CE, the terrace became a major sanctuary of the imperial cult belonging to the koinon of Asia. The lavishly ornamented octastyle temple and broad range of honorific monuments attest the importance of the sanctuary for the first three centuries CE. In the fourth century, the temple was largely demolished, and the sanctuary plaza converted to elite housing. This region was later enclosed by an impressive fortification wall built almost entirely out of spolia from the temple and sanctuary. The houses were destroyed by one or more earthquakes in the early seventh century, and while most of the area was apparently abandoned, traces of occupation cast light on this little-known period of Sardis’ history.

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