Pergamon - Bericht über die Arbeiten in der Kampagne 2009

In 2009, the projects of the Pergamon Excavation focused on the investigation of the Hellenistic royal city as well as the surrounding area in the framework of the current research programme. In the course of conservation work on the Red Hall, the conversion of the southern round tower into a museum was completed and the first stage of construction was inaugurated. Field research on the east slope of the acropolis mountain concentrated on the potential natural sanctuaries and the so-called workshop. In the process a site was identified with a very high degree of probability as a sanctuary of Meter-Cybele and in general the evidence increased of cult activities in this part of the urban area. The discovery of a road on the upper east slope is of great importance for an understanding of the urban infrastructure. In the surrounding region, work once again centred on the poleis of Atarneus and Elaia, the early Bronze Age settlement site of Yeni Yeldegirmentepe, the western part of the Kaikos valley, the Kane Peninsula and the area around Elaia. Contrary to expectations, several ancient settlement sites were identified in the alluvial plain of river Kaikos; this, in combination with the geoarchaeological investigations conducted here for the first time in 2009, will lead to the reconstruction of a historically differentiated picture of the environment and settlement structure. At Elaia, thanks to a combination of archaeological, geophysical and geoarchaeological methods, it is now possible to follow the history of the settlement and its harbours from the 3rd millennium B.C. until their abandonment in the 6th/7th century. Here, important new information has been provided in particular by 14C-datings on the establishment and silting up of the closed harbour and by two pollen profiles from its basin. In the area surrounding Elaia, a potential early Byzantine successor to the city has been discovered. In addition, we have gained an insight into the military system controlling access to the Kaikos valley from the south. An emergency excavation in a tumulus north of Elaia brought to light an unusual installation which may be an expression of conscious commemoration of the mythical past of the city and landscape.