Growth, Ownership, and Circulation: New Research in the Northern Necropolis of Hierapolis, Phrygia (Turkey).

This paper presents the results of the fieldwork campaigns undertaken between 2017 and 2019 in the Northern Necropolis of Hierapolis, a Roman city in the ancient region of Phrygia (Turkey). The research seeks to reconstruct the evolution of this large burial ground, shedding light on the changes in both ownership and movement over a long period of time between the Hellenistic period and Late Antiquity. The 2017 and 2018 seasons focused on the study of a significant section of the necropolis located between Tombs 163d and 156, crowded with monuments of different periods, sizes, and architectural typologies. This article discusses a case study from Tomb 159c, which is exemplary of both the methods of research undertaken as well as the broader observations which that research produced. The results of this investigation, which pointed to a tight sequence of building activities required by the rapid growth of the necropolis and the unavailability of new building lots, inspired the project’s continuation. In 2019, we addressed the question of urban growth by conducting a survey of all stone seats located in the burial ground. Their relative positions and relationships to the main and secondary roads, as well as to the funerary monuments, indicated radical changes in micro-circulation and the marginalization of previously prominent areas.