Life of Sagalassos people discussed at conference

The Suna & İnan Kıraç Research Institute on Mediterranean Civilizations launches its new season with an event on the ancient city of Sagalassos, accompanied by a related photography exhibition The Suna & İnan Kıraç Research Institute on Mediterranean Civilizations launched the new season of its traditional cultural and artistic activities on Nov. 8, with an event titled “Sagalassos Comes to Antalya!”
As part of the event, a conference titled “Finding the Ordinary People of Ancient Sagalassos: How Did They Live, Work and Die?” was held, with attendees including Leuven University Professor Jeroen Poblome, who is the head of the Sagalassos excavations, Burdur Governor Hasan Kürklü, Burdur Museum Director Hacı Ali Ekinci, Belgian Ambassador to Ankara Marj Trentese, and many invited art lovers.

Speaking about the excavations, Poblome denied claims that the people of Sagalassos, an ancient city in the southern province of Burdur’s Ağlasun district, had genetic ties with the people of today’s Ağlasun. He said Sagalassos locals ate wheat paste and food of animal origin rather than bread, adding that they had found the remains of food consisting of animal feet in pots in a building constructed in 200 A.D. for collective eating.

Poblome said work in Sagalassos in 2013 and 2014 had unearthed the remains of ceramic ateliers.

“Recent works showed that the ceramic ateliers were divided into two sections. We found tools for ceramic productions. Thanks to these tools, we can learn how they organized the business of ceramic production. The 3D photos also showed us the fingerprints of people who worked here. We received help from the Belgian police and found out that five to seven people...