2,000 bronze statue fragments found in ancient capital

During an excavation in the ancient metropolitan city of Izmir province in western Turkey, approximately 2,000 fragments of bronze statues were found in what amounted to a Late Antiquity scrapyard. The fragments, from statues dating from the Hellenistic to Roman Empire periods (3rd century BC – 4th century AD), include recognizable parts – fingers, toes, eyes, shoes – as well as piles of unknown fragments destined to Abandoned. is melted down and recycled.

Evidence of settlement at the metropolitan site dates back to the Neolithic Age, with Bronze Age remains indicating a Hittite presence in the 14th century BC, and a Mycenaean presence between the 14th and 12th centuries BC. The planned city dates back to Hellenistic times (3rd century BC). It prospered due to its location on the trade route linking the Aegean coast with central Anatolia and its fertile agricultural land (the geographer Strabo praised its wines in his writings of the first century BC). and continued to flourish under the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire.

Archaeologists believe the bronze fragments were collected at the end of the Empire, when Christianity became the dominant faith and polytheistic symbols and temples were targeted for destruction. Bronze was expensive, and statue fragments could be converted into real cash by simply melting them down and creating coins from the metal, let alone statues without pagan associations.

[Excavation director Prof. Dr.] Ebeck stated that the square and rectangular bronze plates indicate the manufacture or restoration of the Met statue, stating the following:

“The square and rectangular bronze plates we found next to the statues are very important because they indicate production. Some statues have square gaps in their bodies. These gaps were used to seal the inner core during the mold stage, one of the stages of production of the statues. The holes produced by the iron pins indicate that there was an activity in the metropolitan area aimed at producing or restoring bronze statues.”