Experts from the Asia Minor Research Center uncover city archives

Scientists also recover more than 2,000 seal impressions in the ancient city of Doliche. Two impressions of official seals of the city of Doliche © Forschungsstelle Asia Minor Archaeologists from the Asia Minor Research Center have uncovered the city archives in the ancient city of Doliche in south-eastern Turkey and recovered more than 2,000 seal impressions used to seal documents. The team led by Michael Blömer and Engelbert Winter from the University of Münster thus made a significant discovery: although there were archives for storing contracts in every city, for example, only a handful of archive buildings from the Roman Empire have been identified to date. The well-preserved seal impressions and their motifs also provide information about ancient administrative practice. The impressions consist of stamped lumps of clay ranging in size from around five millimetres to two centimetres. They were used to seal documents made of papyrus and parchment. "The images on the official city seals are directly related to the city.