Hellenistic Production of Terracotta Roof Tiles Among the Ceramic Industries at Gordion

Recent excavation at the ancient city of Gordion in central western Turkey has recovered part of the collapsed terracotta tile roof of a large Hellenistic building built in the third century BC. The roofing system consisted of large rectangular pan tiles and long half-round cover tiles. The evidence from ethnographic and historical accounts of tile production, forming and finishing methods, and chemical composition determined by neutron activation analysis has yielded insights into the organization of this coarse-ware ceramic industry, its use of local resources, and its relationship to the other ceramic industries serving the city and the local economy.