The outlaw trail: evidence for Cilician pirates along the Turkish coast

Professor Rhys Townsend's research

Professor Rhys Townsend and undergraduate Ed Connor '01 are on the outlaw trail. More specifically, as participants in the ongoing Rough Cilicia Regional Archaeological Survey Project begun in 1996, they're looking for evidence of Cilician pirates active in the 2nd century B.C. in the area of Pamphylia on the southern Turkish coast. Ancient documents named cities around the Bay of Pamphylia as being associated with pirates from the region of Cilicia (east of the bay) who raided the shipping lanes of the Mediterranean. Townsend and Connor are looking for confirming physical evidence in an area where archaeological exploration is still in its infancy.

Types of evidence

Townsend and his colleagues are collecting data to investigate three theories that might lend support to the stories of pirate activity in this region on the periphery of the Roman Empire.

French archaeologist André Tchernia proposed that, at a market on the island of Delos, the pirates might have traded slaves for amphoras of wine and oil from Italy. Presumably they would have brought the amphoras back to their bases around Pamphylia where remnants would be available for discovery.
Perhaps pirate architecture might still remain which could be distinguished by reason of its more primitive, locally-styled nature from that of the Greco-Roman colonists. Also, the Roman-era writer Plutarch spoke of "castles and fortifications in the Tauros Mountains" constructed by pirates.
Perhaps the pirate community exploited local forests to supply timber for the shipbuilding industry. If so, over time the edge of the forest would have gradually receded to the interior and been replaced by agriculture and small villages. Evidence of settlement ages becoming progressively younger the farther from the coast would support this theory.

The survey process

A 120 square kilometer region just north of the ancient town of Antiochia ad Cragum on the southeast coast of the Bay of Pamphylia was selected for the survey. The process of surveying a tract of land to look for remains of an ancient society is painstaking and arduous, particularly in areas of mountainous terrain such as that around the Bay of Pamphylia. In order to maximize efficiency, the exploration must be carefully planned in advance.

The survey team has focused so far only on surface artifacts--no actual digging has taken place. Different survey strategies were used. In some smaller areas where the presence of a settlement was obvious, each object and structure was included in the database. In larger areas that indicated a sparser settlement pattern, sampling techniques were used to give an overview of a broad region in a relatively short period of time. Team members would walk along predetermined routes, photographing, collecting and mapping the location of objects, often with the use of global positioning units. Later in the lab, materials were evaluated, dated and cataloged. Objects were evaluated not just in isolation, but also in the context of where they were found and in relation to other objects in the vicinity.

Preliminary conclusions

Townsend and his colleagues emphasize that their research is not yet complete. Little survey work had been done previously in this part of Turkey, and while some information from earlier archaeologists was available, a picture of the region's settlement over time is still being constructed. However, a few conclusions regarding the pirate community have been suggested:

No material evidence was found to support Tchernia's wine for slaves theory. No remnants of amphoras were found dating to Italy for that time period. In fact, the discovery of what appears to be ancient kilns, coupled with knowledge of agriculture at the time suggests that the inhabitants of the region were able to produce locally what was needed in the way of oil, wine and amphoras.
While evidence for settlement during and prior to the pirate era was found, some structures in the survey area have proven difficult to date with confidence or to categorize according to style. So far it has not been possible to identify any architecture as being "pirate" as distinct from that of other inhabitants. However, an area along the southwest portion of the bay provides evidence of hill forts, which perhaps correspond with those mentioned by Plutarch.

Data collection related to the deforestation theory has still to be completed.

Townsend notes that pirate remains may be rarer and more difficult to identify than those of legitimate inhabitants. Because of its outlaw status, a pirate society would naturally strive to remain hidden from those in authority or others who might be in a position to betray their whereabouts. The mountainous and forested terrain would allow the pirates opportunities for concealment, and the need to move periodically their bases of operation might preclude the establishment of permanent or sophisticated structures. Townsend emphasizes that no evidence was found that would cast doubt on the existence of the Cilician pirates, but the trail of outlaws is clearly a challenging one to follow, especially after a lapse of two millennia.