Excavations in Patara end with surprizing discoveries

ANTALYA - Doğan News Agency

A 3,000 year-old figurine, a goddess statue and a coin are among the most important findings in excavations in Antalya’s ancient city of Patara. DHA photo

This year’s archaeological excavations in the ancient city of Patara, located in the southern province of Antalya’s Kaş, have ended. Among the findings this year were the statuette of the goddess Asteria and a seal owned by the Egyptian king Ptolemares and his wife Arsinoe.

The excavations in the ancient city of Patara, one of the six big cities of the Lycia Union, have been continuing for 26 years. This year 30 academics, five archaeologists, 14 archaeology students and 20 laborers worked for 2.5 months in the ancient city.

In addition to the goddess statuette and the seal, a Lydian coin dating back to 610-570 B.C. and a figurine from 3,000 B.C. were unearthed this year in the area.

Head of the excavations Professor Havva İşkan Işık said they had worked in three areas, including the Tepecik Acropol, Port Bath and Great Basilica. “Among the findings, the figurine, from 3,000 B.C., the early Bronze Age, made us the happiest. It gave us clear information about the history of Lycia,” she said.

Earliest coin

As for the coin, the professor said, “This is one of the secondary emission coins printed right after the first coin in history. It is the earliest coin discovered in the Lycia area. There was also a road guide monument that we found many years ago. It shows the distance between all of the cities of Lycia. A milestone of this monument is also among this year’s findings.”