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Chora of Pergamon

Rural Cities, Villages, and Farmsteads in the Chora of Hellenistic Pergamon

Directed by Prof. Dr. Martin Zimmermann

The project's goal was to assess the rural settlement structure in the area in surrounding Pergamon in the Hellenistic period. Representative areas to the North and West of the city were selected and surveyed to determine the distribution patterns of local centres, villages, and farmsteads. Besides assessing settlement patterns and the relations between the settlements, the aim was also to study their historical development. Particular attention was paid to the question regarding the relationship between the metropolis and the rural area. Besides its importance in supplying the city, we further investigated the impact the rise of Pergamon and its development into a large and imposing city had on the settlement landscape around it, especially on the other local centres that had existed since the archaic period but gradually dwindled in importance in 3rd and 2nd century BCE. The case studies conducted in two select sites, Atarneus in the Kaikos plain and Perperene in the Kozak mountains, aim to illuminate the notably different dynamics exhibited by these sites. Whereas the site in the river plain was gradually abandoned over the course of the 4th to the 1st century BCE and the settlement structures in its surrounding area changed substantially to accommodate this change, the mountain city prospered. The project has thus provided new insights into the complex interconnections and causal relations between a Hellenistic metropolis and its neighbours.

The project concluded with the completion of the DFG-SPP1209 "The Hellenistic Polis as a Living Space".