RURAL ECONOMY IN THE ANCIENT WORLD: NEW EVIDENCE FROM THE KARIAN KHERSONESOS

The Bozburun Peninsula, which lies within the borders of Marmaris, was one of the sub-regions that had the status of relatively a “centre of little attraction” in Karia during the Classical era whereas it became, with her adjacent position at the opposite shore of Rhodes, one of the drivers of the economy of the island in the periphery, as of the early Hellenistic period. In this paper, the rock-cut press stones which have been documented at various localities of the peninsula recently, and their place and role on the mode of economy are questioned. It has been inferred that those bearing similar features and often lying individually must have preferentially been carved-out for selfsufficient economies during the periods mentioned. Those having larger dimensions are now conceived that they could have served collective usage at the rural character settlement clusters beginning from the late Classical period whereas the end product, which was prepared for delivery to the foreign market under the control of Rhodes, was presumably stockpiled in the main depots following its processing within these rock-cut installations.