International congress of byzantine studies belgrade, 22 27 august 2016

STUDYING BYZANTINE SCULPTURE IN THE 21
ST
 CENTURY: 
NEW PERSPECTIVES AND APPROACHES
Conveners: 
Claudia
Barsanti
, 
Alessandra
Guiglia
Asnu
Bilban
Yalçin
, 
New Finds in Istanbul: Archaeological Evidence for Sculptural Production 
and Marble Trade in Early Byzantine Constantinople
Konstantinos
T. Raptis
, 
The Sculptural Decoration of Acheiropoietos Basilica (Thessaloniki) 
Re-Evaluated under the Light of a Recent Architectural Analysis of the Monument
Christina
Tsigonaki
, 
Les sculptures architecturales de la basilique du Léchaion (Corinthe)
Evgenia Chalkia
, 
Transennae from Nikopolis
Silvia
Pedone
, 
New Evidences Regarding the Byzantine Sculptures from the Basilica of St Philip at Hierapolis
Liudmila
Khrushkova
, 
Tauric Chersonesus: Marble Capitals and the Problem of the Dating of the Early Byzantine Churches
Georgios
Pallis
, 
Middle Byzantine Altars with Sculpture Decoration
Philipp
Niewöhner
, 
New Christian Design in Marble Carving. The Curious Case of Anatolian Press Weights
Catherine
Vanderheyde
, 
Early Byzantine Sculpture’s Workshops in Apamea (Syria): 
Between Constantinopolitan Influence and Local Creativity
Andrea
Paribeni
, 
Marble Masons on Stage: Organizational and Work Process Aspects in Byzantine Sculptural Ateliers

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487
Asnu Bilban Yalçin
Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, 
Department for Byzantine Art History, Istanbul, Turkey; 
[e-mail]
New Finds in Istanbul: 
Archaeological Evidence for Sculptural Production 
and Marble Trade in Early Byzantine Constantinople
In the past years intense rescue work has carried out on in Istanbul on account of the city’s 
new underground railway and in the context of the so-called ‘urban renewal’ of its old and damaged 
buildings.
Of at least equal significance are two excavations in the suburbs, one in Kuçukçekmece the 
other in Yoros-Bosporus, which have brought to light a large variety of finds of which those in 
marble occupy a special place. These date mostly from the early Byzantine period and bear witness 
to large-scale production and trade in marble from the island of Proconnesus. The finds reconfirm 
well-known 
in-situ 
pieces and act as valuable cases of comparison with pieces found scattered within 
the city and beyond.
The paper will present and evaluate the new material, paying special attention to the role of 
harbours and workshops in the marble trade.