Neue Forschungen an der Stadtmauer von Priene : Erste Ergebnisse

The investigations carried out in the campaigns of 2002, 2003 and 2006 have uncovered a host of newfound structures and a wealth of detail that have enabled us to complete an overall picture of the layout. It has become clear, moreover, that the defense walls of urban Priene display planning and construction techniques by no means as consistent and contemporaneous as had been assumed following the Wiegand-Excavations at the end of the 19 th century. Considerations to this effect can be seen not only in details of architectural technique, but also in the analysis of strategic concept as seen against the backdrop of poliorketics, that is to say what steps the city was forced to take to best defend itself against changing historical factors. Results from the new investigations show that the walls of the lower city - the system of which is now for the most part clear - were erected in various spurts during one and the same general period. The fortification of the acropolis (Teloneia) seems to have been erected little by little at a somewhat later date. This step-by-step construction of the defenses opened the way for the introduction of subsequent innovations in martial architecture. After completion, then, came a series of repairs, additions, and enlargements that fall into four major groups on the basis of the masonry; a more accurate chronology of these remains the subject of future investigation. It is clear, however, that a final repair and enlargement of the entire ring-wall occurred in late Byzantine times - a measure that was most probably undertaken during the short rule of Sabbas Asidenos at the beginning of the 13 th century A. D.