Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
74. Geological Congress of Turkey with international participation, Ankara, Türkiye, 11 - 15 Nisan 2022, ss.311
Rock Tombs are ancient structures that are quite common especially
in the Mediterranean basin. Most of the rock tombs around the Aegean
Sea and Mediterranean coasts are built on eroded fault scarps, or
morphologically steep cliffs of the Mesozoic olistostromal
carbonate/marble blocks, or on the cliffs near the coast as vertical
architectural carvings on the bedrock. Akpınar Fault Tomb is
architecturally unique in that it is directly constructed using the fault
plane of the Manisa Fault.
Reaching up to 50 km in length from Emlakdere in the west to Turgutlu
to the east, the Manisa Fault is located to the southern border of the
westernmost of Gediz-Alaşehir Graben system and present a high
angle dip-slip normal fault character. This monumental geological
asset reflecting the characteristics of the western Anatolian expansion
tectonics, features geological heritage value with its open and traceable
clear fault planes reaching up to width of 350 meters and length of 40
meters. Akpınar Fault Tomb, also known as Aziz Kharalambos (St.
Charalambos) or Çakırcalı’s Tomb by the locals and in the literature,
has been subject to studies starting from the middle of the 19th century
and is located on an openly visible fault plane segment of the Manisa
Fault at the 8. km of the Manisa-Turgutlu D250 highway, 150 meters
south of the road. The entrance to the tomb, which is 12 meters in
height and 8 meters in depth, is reached by a seven-tread staircase, the
lower five of which reach the side-walls and the upper two gradually
rise from the main gate. The structure has two parallel (north and
south) tomb chambers, the southern chamber being more circular
whilst the northern one presenting a more angular and ellipsoidal
geometry. The crown section of the tomb presents a notable 2.5 meter
deep frame decorated by the chisel marks inside. The entrance section
of the tomb is highly analogous to the dromos of a tumulus. The roof
of the tomb is constructed directly on the cataclastic fault zone rocks
of the N65-69W/39-41NE oriented fault plane without modifying the
geological structure. Due to this unique feature and its noncompliance
with the “rock tomb” terminology and morphology, this ancient
structure has been described as a “fault tomb” in this study for the first
time. The main aim of this presentation is to introduce the
geoarchaeological characteristics of this ancient structure that directly
utilize architectural usage of a fault plane, and to bring up a discussion
on this newly suggested term.