The excavations at Urla have identified seven architectural levels running from the Middle Chalcolithic to the late Roman period. Together they make a chronological sequence that matters not only for this settlement but for the Aegean world as a whole. The earliest level is at present dated to the beginning of the fifth millennium BC.
What the finds show is a harbour town from the start. From its oldest cultural levels onward the settlement stood at the centre of overseas trade, and in the Early Bronze Age, as the idea of a planned city took hold, it took on a different character. In the classical period it was called Klazomenai.
The migration of the Sea Peoples that began around 1200 BC turned the city states into centres of civilisation in their own right. By the 8th century BC Klazomenai had completed its political formation, taken its place in the history of civilisation and joined the system of city states.
From the 6th century BC it suffered a series of invasions and uprisings, and because of them the people abandoned the city on the mainland and settled on the island opposite — known today as Karantina Adası. The city on the island appears to have been abandoned in the 5th century AD. Klazomenai, the olive oil workshop excavated there and the vineyards of the peninsula each have their own page below.
