Mosaic and fresco finds from paphlagonian hadrianoupolis

Hadrianoupolis is located 3 km west of the modern town of Eskipazar, near Karabük. It lies basically in Roman southwestern Paphlagonia and on the borderline of the Galatian, Bithynian and Paphlagonian territories. It was a small but important site, controlling this major route and dominating a rich agricultural, especially vinicultural, hinterland. It has been determined that the nucleus of the ancient city extended along the Eskipazar-Mengen highway for 8 km east-west and 4 km north-south. The chora of Hadrianoupolis is much more extensive in size. At the site it was difficult to locate a classical settlement pattern of a typical Greco-Roman polis, since parts of the city are widely distributed in the area and they are far from each other.In 2005 archaeological field surveys were begun at Hadrianoupolis and its environs by a team from the Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir. As a result of 2005 surveys it has been confirmed that Hadrianoupolis was indeed located at modern Eskipazar, with finds dating from the 1st century B.C. to the 8th century A.D. In 2006 and 2007 excavations were carried out, and 2008 was a restoration season on the site. The field activities between 2003 and 2008 identified the remains of at least 24 buildings. Among them are two bath buildings, two Early Byzantine churches, a Domus (formerly called as ?villa?), a fortified structure of the Middle Byzantine period, a possible theatron, a vaulted building, a domed building and an apsidial building.In general, these four campaigns have established that Hadrianoupolis was a fortified regional centre during the Late Roman and Early Byzantine periods (5th-7th cent. A.D.), when it can easily be defined as a ?polis? with civic buildings. It had a fairly large urban population as well as an extensive agrarian rural population in its chora. In my Ph.D. thesis my focus will be mosaic and fresco finds from the city. Most important finds are from Church A, Church B, Bath A, Bath B, Domus and Apsidial Building.Keywords: Hadrianoupolis, Paphlagonia, Early Byzantium, Mosaic, Fresco.