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©The Archaeological Settlements of Turkey - TAY Project
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Myrina |
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Type:
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City |
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Altitude:
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m |
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Region:
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Aegean |
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Province:
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Izmir |
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District:
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Aliaga |
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Village:
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Birkitepe |
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Investigation Method:
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Excavation |
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Period:
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Archaic Classical |
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| It is located at so called Birkitepe to the north of the Aliaga District of Izmir. It is where the Güzelhisar Brook spills into the sea on the northern shore of the brook's mouth. The city was founded on the two hills called Birkitepe and Öteki Tepe. The acropolis of the city is on Birkitepe while the necropolis is on the northern slopes and the north hill that overlooks these slopes [Bean 2001:87-88]. Öteki Tepe lies on the shore of a cove which composes the natural harbor of Myrina at the end of a small peninsula between this cove and the Güzelhisar Brook. Excavations were conducted in the necropolis area in 1880-82 by the French archaeologists, E. Pottier and S. Reinach, and published in a book called "La Nécropole de Myrina" in 1887. No excavation took place at the city center [Bean 2001:88]. Among the graves uncovered at the Myrina Necropolis are terra cotta figurines from the graves dated to the Archaic and Classical Period. They include female figurines, grotesques, Demeter, Korea and Dionysos masks, female figurines with costumes, bird and rooster figurines. A majority of the graves unearthed in the necropolis are dated to the Late Hellenistic 1st and 2nd centuries BC [Bean 2001:89]. Solely 1000 pieces of finds unearthed during the necropolis excavations in the ancient city of Myrina consist of the Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic Period figurines, which suggest that the city was a center compatible with Tanagra. Furthermore, the graves vary in terms of burial gifts; some of them do not contain anything at all while some contain gifts of various items. The gifts do not necessarily have a specific meaning, they were probably the beloved items of the person before he/she died [Bean 2001:90]. |
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