An archaeological team has unearthed 1,500-year-old dye production facilities during excavations of the ancient city of Myra-Andriake in Turkey’s Mediterranean province of Antalya.
“The dye produced in integrated facilities we have unearthed indicates that the Andriake port was a center of dye industry and not only an international trade center,” Professor Nevzat Cevik, the head of the excavation team, told national media.
Myra was an ancient town in Lycia, where the small town of Kale (Demre) is presently situated in the Antalya Province of Turkey. It was located on the river Myros (Demre Çay), in plain between Alaca Dağ, the Massikytos range and the Aegean Sea.
Andriake was Myra’s harbour in classical times, although it silted up later on. The main structure there surviving to the present day is a granary built during the reign of the Roman emperor Hadrian. Beside this granary is also a large heap of Murex shells, evidence that Andriake had an ongoing operation for the production of purple dye.
Source: Balkan Travellers [August 25, 2010]
