With the permission of the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums of the Republic of Türkiye, the archaeological survey project entitled “Colossae Ancient City and Its Territory” has been conducted by Pamukkale University since 2021 under the direction of Dr. Barış Yener. This scientific process, which began with systematic surface investigations, entered a new phase in 2025 with the initiation of excavations at Colossae, again under Dr. Yener’s direction. Accordingly, the project has evolved from a research program limited to the documentation of surface data into a comprehensive archaeological initiative encompassing stratigraphic excavation, architectural exposure, artifact analysis, and conservation-oriented methodologies.
As the history of research demonstrates, Colossae and its environs had never previously been the subject of a detailed and systematic archaeological project. From the nineteenth century onward—when systematic studies of Anatolian antiquity began—European scholars who visited the site, guided by a monumentalist perspective, expressed disappointment at the absence of imposing architectural remains. This perception led to a prolonged underestimation of Colossae. It was argued that, at least from the mid-Hellenistic period onward, the city had been of marginal importance. The French scholar Ernest Renan characterized the remains of Colossae as belonging to a “second-rate town,” while the English scholar Joseph Barber Lightfoot referred to the “comparative insignificance” of the city.
For these reasons, the detailed investigation of this important settlement—capable of shedding light on the chronological problems of Western Anatolia—is of considerable significance. Within the scope of the present research and excavation project, settlement models identified through ceramic analyses in limited areas—dating to the Late Chalcolithic (4000–3000 BCE), Early Bronze Age (3000–2000 BCE), Middle Bronze Age (2000–1600 BCE), and Late Bronze Age (1600–1200 BCE)—are being reassessed. Questions that have previously remained unresolved, such as the possible Hittite presence in the city (formerly discussed only through written sources and phonetic similarities), the strategic importance of Colossae within the Achaemenid Persian Empire after 546 BCE, the nature of Archaic and Classical urbanism insufficiently documented in neighboring regional excavations, the validity of the thesis that the city declined in importance during the Hellenistic period, and the socio-economic impact of the major earthquake of 60 CE during the Roman Imperial period, are now being examined through a holistic material analysis encompassing architecture, ceramics, coins, and other artifact groups in an interdisciplinary framework. Furthermore, the settlement on the slopes of Mount Honaz—later referred to as “Kale” and containing the II. Murat Mosque associated with Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent—is being investigated with regard to its boundaries, settlement model, socio-economic structure, and chronology.
The principal aim of the project is to establish a secure chronological framework for cultural stratification within the micro-region encompassing Colossae and its territory, to situate this framework within a broader regional and historical context, and to identify patterns of development and transformation in settlement over time. The surface surveys conducted since 2021 have provided the foundational data for this objective; the excavations initiated in 2025 now enable these data to be tested within stratigraphic contexts, settlement phases to be defined more precisely, and the historical development of the city to be evaluated directly through archaeological layers.
In recent years, the physical landscape of Colossae and its surroundings has undergone irreversible transformation due to bridges, quarries, new road routes, construction sites, concrete aggregate extraction areas, the expansion of the organized industrial zone toward the boundaries of the protected site, and intensive agricultural activities. This topographical change not only damages cultural layers preserved for millennia, but also profoundly alters traditional rural pathways and ancient communication networks. Consequently, the scientific investigations conducted in the region represent not merely an academic endeavor but an urgent responsibility of documentation and preservation. Through systematic recording of surface materials, remote sensing applications, geophysical surveys, excavations, and artifact analyses, the project aims to reconstruct the settlement history of the region—from the Late Chalcolithic period to the Ottoman era—in a comprehensive manner.
Within this framework, the Colossae Ancient City and Territory Research and Excavation Project seeks to map and document visible remains, employ remote sensing techniques, evaluate geophysical data, collect and analyze surface finds, conduct stratigraphic excavation analyses, and ultimately develop a long-term conservation and site management plan for the area.