Multidisciplinary Approaches to Study Ancient Cities in a Seismic Region

Abstract

The paper focuses on the strong connections between natural resources, environment, and urban development in the Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine city of Hierapolis of Phrygia (Pamukkale, Turkey). The ancient city was founded on a travertine terrace crossed by an active fault, responsible for impressive geothermal phenomena, i.e.,flowing of thermal water, emission of gases, and frequent earthquakes, while the surrounding territory offered various stone qualities (travertine, alabaster, marbles, etc.). These environmental features affected the cultural identity of Hierapolis and its urban layout, conditioning also the construction techniques and the monumentalization of the city. In recent year, a multidisciplinary research has been performed, which saw the factual integration of archaeological, geo-archaeological, and archaeometric perspectives, in order to reconstruct how the natural resources and environmental phenomena impacted on the urban history of Hierapolis and the conservation of its monuments. The main methods for the reconstruction of the ancient landscape, the tectonic context, and the cityscape are discussed.