We present here the results of the third and final field season of the Elazığ Prehistoric Archaeological Survey Project (EPAS) conducted in 2022. EPAS aims at the documentation of settlements dating from the Neolithic period to the end of the Bronze Ages within the borders of the central district of modern Elazığ Province. In the third season, investigations were carried out in the vicinity of Harput Plateau and Elazığ Plain. In 2022, six prehistoric sites were examined and documented within the research area, including registered and non-registered sites. The focus of the project is the documentation of settlements dating to the prehistoric periods (from the Neolithic to the end of the Bronze Ages) and the season’s preliminary results are presented here. EPAS is significant for having identified previously unrecognised prehistoric sites in the Elazığ region, where field research was dormant for a long period before the initiation of EPAS.

Afyonkarahisar is located at the crossroads of almost all main roads in the north-south and east-west directions in the west of Anatolia. This important area has never been subject to Palaeolithic research. In 2022, two separate teams started Palaeolithic surveys in this province. The survey in the western districts was carried out at observation points located every 10 km in the field, thus aiming to identify Palaeolithic sites in Afyonkarahisar in an unbiased manner. In 2022, 28 of the 31 observation points in the western districts were visited and four major Palaeolithic sites dating to the Middle Palaeolithic period were uncovered.

This paper re-examines the inscribed funerary monuments of Edessa and its surrounding area, both sculptures and mosaics, and offers a systematic approach to their typology, chronology, and iconography. This study of the eleven sculptures and twenty-seven mosaics highlights changes, especially in the depiction of the banqueting motif and the shift from the usual single-figure representations in sculptural format to the multifigural ones in mosaics, in addition to the best-documented change, from tombs where the figural commemoration was carved on the rock-cut walls to the depiction on mosaics. The comparison with the funerary monuments of neighbouring regions, especially Palmyra, to which the ones from Edessa have often been compared, shows that the Edessene artists and patrons were aware of iconographic and funerary trends, but chose to highlight their own local identity and practices in their own monuments, especially in the mosaics.

The rural town of Tavşanlı in north-western Phrygia does not appear to have ancient roots, the area may once have belonged to the Roman city of Aezani, and finds from Tavşanlı have long been discredited as originally belonging to Aezani. However, this article presents new finds from Tavşanlı and its vicinity that are undoubtedly of local origin and attest to considerable ancient settlement activity. The finds include a dozen Roman votives and gravestones as well as two dozen early Byzantine stone carvings, most or all of which belonged to churches. Overall, the find spectrum is similar to other parts of rural Phrygia, Tavşanlı appears to have produced its fair share of antiquities, and the area should not be considered an anomaly anymore.

The ancient site of Phoenix in the southwest of the Bozburun peninsula (Marmaris) and the adjacent areas were the subject of a second multidisciplinary archaeological campaign in the summer of 2022. After an initial survey campaign in 2021, which focused on the Phoenix settlement and its hinterland, a first excavation campaign was carried out at the Apollo sanctuary / Kızlan church in 2022. In parallel with the excavations, another team conducted a field survey in the southern hinterland of Phoenix. The main focus was on identifying and mapping various archaeological sites, especially agricultural workshops and farmsteads and their associated spaces.