Focus on Fortifications: Southern Asia Minor

The investigation of fortifications in the Mediterranean area is made easier by new digital documentation methods, new questions arise from this and contribute to the research of the site. As a result of archaeological excavations and investigations at the East Gate and the Landwall of Side, new questions arose for this ancient city on the South Coast of Asia Minor in Pamphylia. Before research at the East Gate has been started, the fortification system of Side was considered a prototype of a Hellenistic complex. Above all, the dating to the Roman Imperial period provides new standards as a result of investigation at the East Gate with regard to the fortification system in connection with the monumental Hoftore, the urban structure and the history of the city of Side as well as the region of Pamphylia. These results also require a reconsideration of the fortifications of Pamphylia and the adjacent geographically closest regions in Pisidia. While the excavations and the architectural record at the East Gate of Side have been finished, initial investigations at the Main Gate of Side have been started in 2019. This gate a Hoftor after the current terminology differs in its construction and equipment compared to other buildings in Side and especially the East Gate and the Landwall. According to the first research campaign, the Main Gate was a free-standing building in its first period, which was only connected to the curtain wall of the Landwall by a small linking wall in a further construction phase. The aim of the project is a precise investigation of the building history at the Main Gate, so that this building will be archaeologically and historically investigated and placed in the fortification system of Side. This would complete the project "Fortification System of Side" together with the East Gate and the Landwall as a whole. In the processing of the find material from the excavations carried out so far at the East Gate and the Landwall of Side from the sondages of the years 2012 to 2018, it became apparent that the initial dating of the Landwall and the East Gate depends strongly on the chronological classification of certain forms of the so-called Cypriot Sigillata or ESD (Eastern Sigillata D), which is to be subjected to a closer examination on the basis of the macroscopic classification in `fabrics`. With the archaeological investigation and structural-historical evaluation of the main gate of Side, the last important part of Side`s fortification system will be investigated. These studies will provide important new insights for the study of the Roman city walls. The evaluation of the stratigraphic units from the sondages of the Landwall and the East Gate excludes a Hellenistic dating for the complex, as claimed in scientific research. After a precise macroscopic analysis of the Cypriot Sigillata, the initial dating of the fortification system to the late 1st c. AD will also be proven. According to the current state of research, the Main Gate can be dated earlier, as it was only later connected to the Landwall by a small wall. Based on this, the Main Gate would have been erected as a freestanding building on the main street of the former city of Side. During the expansion of the city in Flavian times, when the theatre was renewed as well as the Agora, the Landwall and the East Gate were finally built.