In the second exhibition hall, the Emecik – Burgaz Hall, the artifacts unearthed during the Datça-Burgaz Excavations and the group of artifacts found in the Apollo Sanctuary near the Emecik Neighborhood of Datça, mostly limestone statuettes and terracotta figurines, are exhibited. These artifacts belonging to the Archaic Period are one of the most important collections of the Museum.
In a study conducted by C.E.Bean and J.M.Cook in 1952, it was stated that Knidos was first established in Burgaz on the Datça Peninsula and moved to Cape Tekir in the 4th century BC. Beginning in the 1980s, Prof. Dr. Numan Tuna started archaeological surveys on the Datça Peninsula. According to Prof. Dr. Numan Tuna, the Burgaz archaeological site is located 2 km north-east of today’s Datça city center, where a small peninsula rising 12 m above sea level cuts the uniform coastline. The length of the peninsula is approximately 400 m and there are harbor remains to the south west and north east. The small peninsula is surrounded by ancient settlements extending over 45 hectares in the north.
Knidos developed and became crowded in the 7th century BC; in the 6th century BC, the treasury office was built as a donation of the highest quality marble of the period to the Apollo cultural center in Delphi. Cereal cultivation, viticulture and olive cultivation were practiced in this place where fertile agricultural lands were located, and wine trade was the most important source of income of the city.
In 546 BC, the Dorians tried to turn the Datça Peninsula into an island by digging in the narrowest part of the Datça Peninsula at the Balıkaşıran location in order to defend Knidos against the Persians, but they gave up due to the hardness of the rocks, the injuries and deaths of the workers and the advice of the oracles they consulted to stop the digging work and they gave in to the Persians. Knidos was the center of 6 cities founded by the Dorians. After moving to Cape Tekir in the 4th century BC, the settlement in Burgaz was not completely abandoned, but continued to exist under the name Stadia and this name was transformed into Datça over time.
Burgaz Archaeological Rescue Excavations were initiated in 1993 by the Middle East Technical University, Center for Research on Historical Environmental Values in order to document, save and protect the Burgaz site and the excavations until 2003 focused primarily on the extent and time sequence of the settlement. Ancient settlement levels dating back to the 8th century BC, residential buildings with courtyards, stone paved roads and a defense system built around 400 BC, which are spread in the Archaic and Classical Age stratification, are revealed by excavations.
The excavations revealed wine factories and storage cellars, numerous female figures in the votive offerings of the temples, and it was determined that production was largely carried out within the dwellings. According to Prof. Dr. Numan Tuna, the ancient settlement was partially abandoned in the 4th century BC.
Since 1998, the excavations of the Burgaz settlement, where Knidos was first founded, have been carried out on behalf of the Turkish Ministry of Culture by the Middle East Technical University in cooperation with the German Scientific Research Council and with the contributions of the Gerda-Henkel Foundation.
According to Prof. Dr. Numan Tuna, this was the place where the 6 Dorian city unions mentioned by Herodotus, the famous historian of Antiquity, gathered and organized competitions in the name of Apollo, and the Temple of Apollo, where the prizes given to the winners of the competition were placed, is located here. According to him, the results of the excavations, especially the finds uncovered during the excavations on the lower terrace, show that Emecik/Sarı Liman Sanctuary had an overseas importance until the late 6th century BC.
The finds are remarkable not only for the wide hinterland defined by imported goods of Egyptian, Phoenician and Etruscan origin, but also for the rich variety of limestone and terracotta figurines and pottery samples, which have been known to be of East Greek production until now, but which have been confirmed to be Cnidian ware.
The epigraphic data and the characteristics of the valuable archaeological artifacts found in the Sanctuary, which are understood to be votive objects, prove that the Archaic Emecik Sanctuary should be associated with Apollo. During the excavations in the Temple of Apollo, motifs, offerings, sculptures, bull, falcon and warrior figures dating back to the 8th-9th century BC were found; excavations in and around the temple revealed that other temples and churches were built in later periods.