Old Smyrna-Bayraklı agricultural industry and technology

Old Smyrna (Bayraklı Ruins), located within the borders of Bayraklı District of İzmir Province, is recognized as the oldest settlement established as a city in İzmir. Since 1948, archaeological studies have revealed that the city was continuously inhabited from the Early Bronze Age to the Hellenistic Period. It has a safe area protected by Sipylos to the north and a gulf suitable for a harbor opening to the Aegean Sea to the west. There are plains suitable for agriculture to the east. For these reasons, it became one of the most important settlements in the Gulf of Izmir from the Early Bronze Age onwards and experienced a very bright period in the VII century BC. It is known that the main sources of livelihood of the inhabitants of the Old City of Smyrna were agriculture and animal husbandry. Among the agricultural products, it is thought that cereals, olives and grapes were consumed predominantly. Grain grinding stones used in the preparation of agricultural products for consumption, stone press chambers used for grapes and olives, mortars and stone vessels with many uses constitute the main subject of this thesis. Within the scope of the thesis, the grinding stones unearthed during the old excavations and the excavations after 2014 and the different stone vessels used during production were analyzed. These grinding equipment were evaluated under the headings of simple upper grinding stones, Olynthos type grinding stones, lower grinding stones, press chambers, mortars and stone vessels used in the production of grain, wine and olive oil.