Traces of ancient trade unearthed in Xanthos excavations

ANTALYA

Excavations in the ancient city of Xanthos in Antalya’s Kaş district, the administrative center of the Lycian Civilization and a UNESCO World Heritage site, are revealing evidence of trade from antiquity.

Located on two hills overlooking the plain along the Eşen Stream (Xanthos River), the city has been under excavation led by Associate Professor Hasan Kasapoğlu from Atatürk University’s Archaeology Department.

As part of the Culture and Tourism Ministry’s “Heritage for the Future” project, restoration work is also being carried out in the city, where shops along the main street are being unearthed. The artifacts discovered in these shops provide valuable insights into the region’s ancient commerce.

Kasapoğlu said excavations in Xanthos and the sacred site of the Lycian League, Letoon, began in March 2025. “We are currently working on the northern side of the main street, known as the Roman-era colonnaded street,” he said, noting that they have identified two large shops measuring 19 and 15 square meters.

“We have largely uncovered the 19-square-meter shop,” he said. “The excavations are significant in helping us better understand the city’s overall layout. We found parts of scales, weights, coins, nails, metal objects, roof tile fragments, ceramics and storage vessels used for oils, all of which provide important information about trade in that period.”

Kasapoğlu added that findings dating back to before the Lycian principalities have also been uncovered. “The settlement area of the city was previously thought to date back to the late 8th century B.C. However, the discoveries made in the shop excavations could push the city’s history back by another 400 to 500 years. Once these materials are analyzed in the laboratory, we will share the results with the academic community and the public,” he said.

Work is also ongoing to restore the mosaic floors of the city’s basilica, which served as a public building for legal and commercial affairs. “The basilica consists of two rooms with mosaic floors. We have uncovered and begun restoring the mosaics, which have become one of the most visited areas. There is also a large 2,500-square-meter church with richly decorated figurative mosaics on its floor. Its surface is currently covered for protection. We have prepared a restoration project and plan to build a roof structure over it, restore the site and open it to visitors as part of cultural tourism,” Kasapoğlu added.