Early Byzantine pithos found by Turkish farmer

A farmer who was picking watermelons in the northwestern province of Düzce’s Çilimli district found an ancient pot thought to date back to the early Byzantine period. 

The early Byzantine pithos was unearthed by a farmer while picking melons [Credit: Hurriyet/AA]

Farmer Servet Akyüz, who lives in the village of Topçular, noted when picking melons that the soil was soft and, after digging further, he uncovered the large pot.

The local gendarmerie took security measures around the pithos to prevent any damage, before teams from the Konuralp Museum Directorate excavated the area to remove the pot, which is now at the museum for display. The museum’s director, Yunus Reyhan Taşçıoğlu, said that the pot was 1.4 meters long and 1.2 meters wide, and that it would have been used to keep agricultural products during the early Byzantine period. 

Source: Hurriyet Daily News [October 03, 2012]