A Roman Imperial Period ringstone depicting Athena, the goddess of Assos, has been discovered in the Assos Ancient Site in the Ayvacık district of Çanakkale.
Nurettin Arslan, the head of the excavation team, stated that the 1,700-year-old ringstone with the depiction of Athena belonged to a prominent person in the city and was used as a seal.
The ancient city of Assos, where many of Plato's students, including Aristotle, lived for three years, is considered one of the best-preserved examples of a polis city-state. Archaeological excavations at Assos, which have revealed that the city’s earliest habitation dates back 200,000 years to the Paleolithic Era, are conducted by a 20-member team led by Nurettin Arslan from Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University's (ÇOMÜ) Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Archaeology.
The excavations are sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and IÇDAŞ. Scientific research conducted by a team of academics and students from various universities continues for 12 months. Documentation, publishing and the restoration and conservation of minor artifacts are carried out in the excavation house's storage and laboratory.
Arslan noted that excavations in different parts of the Assos Ancient Site will be ongoing in 2024.
"Currently, we are working in the large Byzantine-era structure complex located just behind the western gate, which we can describe as an inn or guesthouse. Each year, we uncover one part of this large structure. Today, we are inside one of these spaces. The structure consists of numerous rooms, each with its unique functions. We aim to understand this structure's function and purpose and how the spaces were used. The crushed stones discovered in this room provide preliminary information suggesting that it might have been a small kitchen. Last month, we also began work on a Roman-period fountain structure located on the eastern edge of the Agora. Due to the large blocks obstructing our work, we shifted our focus to this area. After removing the stones, we plan to reveal the pool area of the fountain and restore the monumental Roman-period structure so visitors can view it. Additionally, we will continue our work on the construction phases and historical details of the Byzantine-era castle or walls on the Acropolis outside the city.”
Arslan, the head of the Assos excavation, stated: "During our work this year, we found a valuable ringstone made of stone in the Ksenedochion structure. This ringstone depicts Athena, who was the main goddess of the city, standing. As far as we know, such stones were quite common during the Roman period, but they were also used before and after that era. We can say that this belonged to a prominent person in the city and was used as a seal. We estimate it to date to the 2nd or 3rd century A.D., suggesting a history of 1,600 to 1,700 years. This, of course, helps to identify individuals. In the ancient period, such seals were used as a substitute for signatures, similar to how signatures are used today.
