Roof tiles found on ancient shipwrecks of the Caria region

The Caria Region, which is located in an important geographical area like Western Anatolia, covers the southwestern part of Anatolia. The Region which consists of partly mountainy and partly lowland areas has no extensive river network. In particular regions agriculture is developed especially producing of olive and wine has an important role in antique age. Except these maintain their life with fishing and animal breeding. The Karia Region has settelments that were founded in the bronze age, some of them are still inhabited today, has witnessed two important historical events. This is due to them being the gate to the western part of the Anatolia. This region has been dominated by various civitization. The civitizations, which have reigned over these lands, used the knowledge of the local people, about the marine for themselves. Because of having indented region and many sheltering harbors, it is one of the main resons to be prefered. In the Caria Region there are many natural and artificial harbors. Some of them are Iasos, Myndos, Halicarnossos, Keramos, Knidos, Loryma, Physkos and Kaunos. This harbour cities are important for Caria Region because of the maritime trade. The archaoelogical excavations undertaken in these cities, and in other cities which are not near the coast, have shown that the roof tiles, which are are subject of this tesis, can be found there. These roof tiles have been preferred instead of difficult materials to process and costly materials like marble. . It's used as Kalypter and Stroter in Roman Period it is used as Tegula and Imbrex. The production of roof tiles was very cheap and easy. Because of that the roof tiles were not only used for covering roofs but also in graves. In addition roof tiles were used on the roofs of galley ships especially in the kitchen area and for covering the floors of buildings. Tiles have been used widely and were an important trade product, they were shipped to various areas from the production sides. The main reasons for preffering the sea route were the material is heavy and fragile, also the cost of shipment is low. So at the coast at the Caria Region many roof tiles have been found. Thoses ship wrecks generaly belong to the Late Roman and Late Antique Age. This tesis is an enterance for studying this subject and it is tought that it may lead to smilar works. Keywords: Roof Tiles, Caria, Marine Trade, Wreck, Harbour, Imbrex, Tegula, Stroter, Kalypter.