The Pre-Hellenistic Period

In the summer of 2009 the IAS found pottery fragments in the area of Phrygian, Lydian, and Ionian origins that attest to the intercultural relations of the region from the 7th and 6th centuries BCE. In particular, at the southwest valley of Kale Tepe fragments of 'streaked ware' and 'banded ware' were found, which both are common wares in South Anatolia. Among the banded ware pottery, examples of an Ionian cup, dated to the first half of the sixth century BCE and East Greek bowls of late sixth century BCE were recovered. How and when Ionian products first entered Pisidia and Konane specifically, still needs to be studied. However, it is likely that the circulation of Ionian material culture in the region started already by the seventh century and continued in the sixth century BCE, fueled as it were by Lydian commerce networks.

The Hellenistic Period

The Hellenistic archaeological material recorded in the summer of 2009 shows a mesh of sites of small size, averaging 50–100 meters in diameter that showcase materials (primarily incurved rim red/brown/black slipped bowls) that can be ascribed to an Early Hellenistic horizon. They are located at a minimum of 250 meters to a maximum of 1500 meters from one another. In several cases, the continuity with preexisting settlements is noticeable. Although this sparse module of settlement may be consonant with the typical design of Seleucid military colonization, a larger sample is needed to draw a more robust conclusion.

In addition, the relationship between these small villages and the fortress perched on top of Kale Tepe needs to be assessed. Whether they represented a corollary of affiliated settlement, or conversely disjointed units, is difficult to determine, but the now–under–way study of the fortress and the areas below will seek to clarify these questions.

What can be said at the moment is that in our initial cursory survey of Kale Tepe, the small amount of materials collected within the fortress is suggestive of middle to late Hellenistic occupation, although it must be cautioned that the IAS recorded no apparent break between the Hellenistic settlement and its Roman successor. Hellenistic sites like Eminegök Çeşmesi situated on the slopes of Kale Tepe may have continued to operate on the same terms, as no apparent fracture in the land tenancy systems can be detected. Vast necropoleis located on the southern reaches of Akyokuş Tepe reaching down to the modern reservoir and east of it suggest that they framed the community of ancient Konane, which in the Roman period occupied the site now under the modern village. The IAS's exploration of the southwestern reaches of the necropolis was unfortunately blocked by modern development at the construction site of state–subsidized housing (TOKİ).

The Roman Period

We are not yet in a position to posit the layout and prestige of Konane at the time of the Romans. The city was cited as the northernmost significant point ca. 13-15 CE in the important decree regulating traffic in the territory of Sagalassos (SEG 26.1392, ll.13 and 33), and during the time of the Flavians the city honored Gaius Iulius Cornutus, the high priest of the Augusti and the agonothetes of the Great Caesarian games at Perge (IKPerge 43). Moreover, an already-published inscription found in a wall in Gönen that refers to the cult of the Divine Augusti (SEG 31.1134) suggests the presence of an altar or a temple for the cult of the emperor in, or in the environs of, Konane. The chronology of the document is a matter of guesswork, yet one should consider the similar establishment of imperial sanctuaries and altars as early as the Julio-Claudians at nearby Apollonia and Agrae (CIL 3.6869). Most of the funerary stelae found this summer date from the second to fourth centuries of our era, suggesting that Konane was most active in this period. In addition, a new dedication to the emperors Flavius Valerius Severus and Galerius Valerius Maximianus and Roman milestones that boast the title of civitas attest to the visibility of Konane in the tetrarchic era.