The materiality of Lycia: wood and stone in art and architecture

Interest in issues related to materiality of both visual art and architecture has grown in recent years. 1 Investigating the sources, properties, domains of use, roles, and meanings of materials sheds light on issues like how local resources were exploited; what resources were imported and from where; how the opportunities and constraints of certain materials impacted artistic works; and how the use of specific materials was periodized. Such aspects relate not only to art but also to historical and social issues like taste, mobility, and trade, all of which help us better understand the context in which artifacts and buildings were created. Lycia is no exception. Visual art production from the sixth to the fourth centuries BC – mainly stone reliefs belonging to tombs attributed to local “dynasts” – was greater here than in other Western Anatolian regions. 2 Since literary evidence related to this region is scanty and visual documents are the main sources for reconstructing historical and cultural dynamics, investigating the materials used in this area can help us understand it better. A discussion of materials must also include a reflection on natural resources. To exploit local resources or import external ones one needed to know what specific raw materials were present and what skills were required to make monuments and artifacts with them. This greatly influenced political, social, and economic issues like mobility, and the circulation of people and ideas. In this paper, I shall address the use of wood and stone materials in Lycian art and architecture, especially at a crucial turning point in the first half of the fifth century BC.