2,000 bronze statue fragments found in ancient Metropolis scrap yard

An excavation in the ancient city of Metropolis in the western Turkish province of Izmir, has uncovered approximately 2,000 fragments of bronze statues in the equivalent of a scrap yard from late antiquity. The pieces came from statues ranging in date from the Hellenistic period through the Roman imperial period (3rd century B.C. – 4th century A.D.) and include identifiable parts — fingers, toes, eyes, shoes — as well as piles of unknown fragments, that were destined to be melted down and recycled.

Evidence of settlement at the Metropolis site goes back to the Neolithic, with Bronze Age material remains indicating a Hittite presence at the site in the 14th century B.C. and a Mycenaean one from the 14th to the 12th century B.C. The planned city dates to the Hellenistic era (3rd century B.C.). It prospered from its location along trade routes connecting the Aegean coast to central Anatolia and from its fertile agricultural land (the geographer Strabo writing in the 1st century B.C. praises its wine) and continued to flourish under the Roman Republic and Empire.

Archaeologists believe the bronze scraps were collected in the late imperial period as Christianity became the dominant faith and the emblems and temples of the polytheistic religions were targeted for destruction. Bronze was expensive and statue fragments could be transformed into literal cash just by melting them down and using the metal to make coins, not to mention statuary without pagan associations.

[Excavation director Prof. Dr.] Aybek stated that the square and rectangular bronze plates indicate the manufacture or repair of statues in Metropolis, and noted the following:

“The square and rectangular bronze plates we found next to the statue pieces are very important because they indicate production. There are square gaps in some statue bodies. These gaps are used to close the holes created by the iron pins holding the inner core during the mold stage, which is one of the production stages of the statue. The plates show that there was an activity aimed at the production or repair of bronze statues in Metropolis.”

* This article was originally published here