The excavation in the ancient city of Sebastopolis, located in the Sulusaray district of Tokat, which lasted 21 days this year, was completed.

Excavations in the ancient city of Sebastopolis were carried out by a team of 20 students and workers under the coordination of Ondokuz Mayıs University (OMU) Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Department of Archeology academic member Assoc. Prof. Dr.  Akın Temür Under the chairmanship of the Tokat Museum Directorate.

New finds found in Byzantine church

Giving information about their research, Excavation Coordinator Assoc. Prof. Dr. Akın Temür stated, “Excavations in 2022 were carried out in 2 phases: cleaning the areas where excavations were carried out in previous years and preparing the infrastructure of the excavation and excavation house. While this year’s excavations continue in the Byzantine Church, which began to be excavated in 2021, the eastern section of this structure was excavated last year. This year, works were carried out in trenches of 10x10 meters opened parallel to the south and north aisles. During the works, a marble tiled floor in the north nave and a space that seems to have been used as a kitchen due to the hearth, tandoor, and pithos in the south nave were unearthed in addition to many architectural elements and ceramic finds.

Coordinator Assoc. Prof.Dr. Temür, “Our biggest goal is to bring the ancient city of Sebastopolis to the surface faster.”

Emphasizing that they need support to reach the entire archaeological asset in the ancient city of Sebastopolis, Coordinator Assoc. Prof. Dr. Temür continued, “The result of the work done evinces that the church, with its current plan, is a basilica planned structure with three naves and three apses, extending in the east-west direction, seen in early Byzantine churches. It is not possible to work in this area, as there are modern structures on the narthex and atrium part of the church that need to be demolished. Expropriation problems and economic reasons cause the excavation process to progress very slowly. Our biggest goal is to solve the expropriation problems and bring the ancient city of Sebastopolis to light faster with the necessary financial support.”