Unguentaria of patara in Hellenistic and Roman periods

Most of the material that is studied in this thesis, which includes theHellenistic and Roman Period unguentaria of Patara, came from the cemeteries at thesite. These pieces were mostly gathered from the 1993-2005 excavations ofunderground buried tombs. 52% of the material coming from the underground buriedtombs, followed by Tepecik cemetery burials with 27%, the No. 3 Temple-tomb with11%, the Hurmalık Bath with 4%, the Theatre with 3% and the Main Street andSurvey with 1% of each (Fig. 2). 203 of the 967 pieces form the catalogue of thispaper. The largest quantity of material comes from tombs 34, 42 and 46. This studyis necessary because of the large numbers of unguentaria discovered at this site.The aim of this study is the identification of the unguentaria of Patara, thepresentation of this data according to its place of manufacture and its importance inthe general typology of unguentaria and evidence for probable production at this site.Also an attempt is made to establish evidence concerning the trade relationshionshipsand areas of influence upon and from the city.Although the unguentaria of Hellenistic Period are studied in a chronologicalsystem, the Roman ones studied in a typological system due to the various new formsthat appear in this period.From the study of this material, it can be obsorved that the use of unguentariain Patara continued in the period between the 4th century B.C. until the 7th centuryA.D. without interruption. Their most intensive use was between the 2nd centuryB.C. and the 1st century A.D., coinciding with the establishment of Lycian league.This intensive use and probably the production of the pottery on site must be relatedto this period of political and economic prosperity.Although a large variation in the material is to be observed between the 4thcentury and 3rd century B.C., their use was as not frequent as during the 2nd century