Urban landscapes from architectural reuse: spolia and chronology in late antique Ephesus

For 120 years, Austrian fieldwork at Ephesus has given us one of the most-accessible and best-presented urban environments in which to experience Late Antiquity. Current excavations are providing us with stratigraphic dates for building work, in place of earlier chronologies based on architectural style. Despite this, much of the city remains a clearance-dug site, in which far from all masonry structures have been documented. In particular, the streets, in their paving and sidewalks, have not been fully examined, and neither have all their porticoes. This article presents an archaeological case study of the use of spolia, tied to excavation results, seeking to trace the ruin and renewal of one city during Late Antiquity. It offers insights into the macro-phasing of the city centre and the dates of many late building works within it, including its fortification. A series of distinct late landscapes emerge: a first of monumental splendour, a second of unconventional innovation, and a third of nostalgic memory: a ‘last antique’ city, ending with a hurrah, not a whimper. Yet, overall, it is the preservation of buildings, rather than their demolition, which comes out strongest from the study of spolia contexts, a testimony to the enduring value of civic memory in Greek cities of Asia Minor.