Byzantine Woman’s Remains Found at a Castle in Turkey

AYDIN, TURKEY—Hurriyet Daily News reports that excavators at Kadikalesi Castle in western Turkey have unearthed the remains of a woman thought to have lived in the thirteenth century. The grave was found under stones in an area of the castle that once contained a church and a monastery. Examination of the bones suggests she was between 34 and 38 years old at the time of death and stood about five feet, three inches tall. “It is not very common to put a woman’s burial inside churches,” said excavation team member Umut Kardaşlar. “Probably, this woman must have been a woman who donated a significant amount to the church, or she must have been the wife of a bureaucrat,” he added. To read about recent analysis of Late Antique mosaics from Halicarnassus, Turkey, go to "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle."