[MUSIC]

>> Hi there.
It's Sue Beck, and it's my pleasure
to introduce Elizabeth Murphy, who's a
doctoral
candidate at the Joukowsky Institute for
Archeology
in the Ancient World at Brown University.
And I'm going to ask her to tell us a
secret about Sagalassos.
>> The site of Sag, or the region of
Sagalassos, has been documented as
having some of the highest altitude
cultivation
of olive, in fact, of the ancient world.
And this has been documented through a
variety of different techniques, such as
palynology.
And identifications of, and through raw
survey.
>> That's pretty cool.
You know, they used to say that the, the
limits of
the classical world was where the olive
can't grow, you're into barbarism.
So, so we're, we're way up high but, we're
way up high where, where is Sagalassos?
I love that name!
>> [LAUGH] The site of Sagalassos is
located
in modern southwest Turkey, or ancient, in
the Roman period at least, Asia Minor.
And it's a site located in the, in the
western
Taurus mountains about 30 kilometers
outside of Burdur or Isparta.
These are the modern cities.
>> Okay.
And does altitude, how, how, how high up?
>> The Sagalassos is actually located
on the, really the side of a mountain.
So it's situated between 1,450 and 1,700
meters
above sea level.
So it's really a mountainous site.
And it offers spectacular views.
And as a result.
>> And it's a, it's a, it's a city, I
mean, a major city in, from when to when?
>> Mm, the site was, well, there's an
earlier occupation, in fact, at a
plateau actually facing Sagalassos, which
dates at
least to the classical and Hellenistic
periods.
>> Huh.
>> We know occupation in the region
actually predates that and probably
goes back to at least the eighth the
eight, 8000 BC, in fact, so quite early.
But the site of Sagalassos itself as a
city begins in the late
Hellenistic period and continues through
the
Roman period into the early Byzantine
periods.
And so it was a major regional center for
the area of ancient [UNKNOWN].
>> And so, you know, so it's high point
is
really the Roman, like you know, first
couple of centuries.
CE or?
>> Amazingly Sagalassos offers a lot of
information about the late Antique Period
as well.
>> Okay.
>> And certainly had a very very
prominent earlier period.
Particularly beginning in the early Roman
Period, the late Hellenistic Period, early
Roman Period, you see massive expansion of
monumental building at the site.
But it's in fact in many ways known
amongst archaeologists
for its long term occupation during the
6th and 7th centuries.
And as a result it offers one
of the best documented case studies for
the late
Antique period, the late Roman Period for
the region.
>> This is a period that more and more
people are getting interested in.
It used to be that, now we really wanted
to
focus on the height of empire when Roman
was mighty.
But late Antique is is, is quite, quite
fascinating as things kind of fall apart
and reconfigure.
Now in this case study we're going to be
using a lot of footage Provided
by the, the Sagalassos project.
I'm just going to call it Saga from now
on.
[LAUGH] We'll call it Saga.
And so you'll be seeing Elizabeth and her,
and
her collaborators, the directors of the
project in action.
And you'll get some beau, it's a beautiful
site.
Check this stuff out.
And there's also a, a good website.
So what do you do there and how long have
you worked there and
do you stay up there or do you have to
climb the damn hill everyday?
>> well, my work has [INAUDIBLE].
I've been working there now for seven
years, going on eight years and.
>> She started in diapers.
But most of my research actually at the
site
has been focused not actually on the
Monumental City
Center itself, but rather on the
outskirts, the periphery,
and what we call the eastern suburbia of
the site.
Where really.
>> Like, like suburbs?
>> Really, yeah.
I mean, it's on the outside of the, the
city wall, in fact.
And so there's actually a, a large scale
area of,
well a rather large area, it's 6 hectares
in size.
That, that was home to a large industrial
area.
It was also an area in which we have a lot
of tombs, for example.
>> So it was part of, it was part of
the eastern Necropolis as well.
And we have a lot of evidence for other
things, like water infrastructure.
And and even in the late Antique period,
we
have a small church in that area as well.
So it's actually a very vibrant part of
the city, but it's
a part that often, at most cities, doesn't
get a lot of attention.
>> because it's not big and marble.
>> Yeah.
>> And monumental.
The, Sa, Saga's got that too, believe me,
you'll see.
>> Yeah, absolutely.
>> But this area is, is extremely cool.
And those of us, you know, we've talked
about this, the idea that we use
to focus on, you know, elite activity, and
high end stuff and luxury and all that.
And we're trying to,
you now, dig down, as it were, a little
deeper.