From July 11th to August 8th, 2026, I was part of an archaeological research team working on Antiochia ad Cragum in Gazipaşa, Türkiye. For the past two weeks, I have been working at the Acropolis in unit ANS8. Our team consisted of four undergraduate interns and a graduate student supervisor, with students split into two groups, each excavating a specific locus. ANS8 was divided into northern and southern loci, separated by a central feature (Locus 5). We initially interpreted this feature as a wall, but the absence of mortar, overall poor craftsmanship, and the lack of a second course of stones beneath the original led us to question this. We determined that even if this feature was a wall, it should be taken down as it was a later addition to the unit. After thoroughly documenting and photographing, we took down the courses of rock we had unearthed. We then continued excavating in two distinct areas, which were initially recorded as loci 6 and 7 before being updated to loci 9 and 10. Within each locus, we consistently found animal bones and teeth (swine, bovine, fish, sheep/goat), glass shards, pottery sherds, and glass/metal slag. These items were incredibly prevalent in ancient times and were frequently used as a “fill” to level flooring. The recovered pottery was primarily discard fragments. We found everything from the toes of amphora vessels to sherds of fineware and cookware. There was also a mix of imported and local pottery, with more local pottery being found. Additionally, there was a significant amount of metal slag found in the northern locus of the unit. The slag pieces typically measured somewhere from 1cm to nearly 10cm in diameter. I believe that most of this slag was industrial waste deposited intentionally and all at once, again, as a fill for the floor, as it was in a very localized location of the unit.
The ANS8 unit also yielded significant bronze artifacts, including a ring, wick holder, hair clip, and figurehead, among other things. These items were concentrated primarily in the southeast corner of the southern locus. Houses of wealthier individuals tended to be situated higher up on the hill, so the presence of these artifacts in our unit is curious. I believe that for the most part these items fell down the slope at some point in time. Six coins of various sizes and time periods were also found in the unit, all of which were located in the southern locus. I have limited access to information about these coins at this time, so I cannot draw any conclusions about the time frame in which they were deposited.
As we continued excavating deeper into the unit, the team working on the southern locus uncovered a thin and very disturbed plaster surface. After proper examination and documentation, they removed the plaster and continued downward. At the same time, in the northern locus, we came across a plaster surface with a different composition. The northern plaster surface was also disturbed, likely due to the seismic activity in the area, but was significantly thicker and more expansive. Due to time constraints, we were unable to discover the full extent of the plaster surface or remove it to excavate further. We were able to observe that it spans into both open loci of ANS8 and into the neighboring unit that had been excavated in previous years, ACNS6B. Additionally, we uncovered a new central feature that we can place as a wall that had been directly plastered over. This feature lies directly under the central feature we removed earlier on into the dig. The floor and this wall lead me to believe that ANS8 was used for generations and may have been both in and outdoors at some point in its “lifespan”.
I would suggest that future ACARP teams consider excavating between ANS8 and the other open unit this season, ANS9, as the plaster surface just uncovered in ANS8 appears to extend east in that direction. I would also be interested in removing the plaster surface in ANS8 and continuing to excavate deeper to investigate the new central wall feature discovered on the last day of digging this season and to potentially uncover much older artifacts.