A 110 meter long and 10 meter high dam, built during the time of the Roman Empire 2,000 years ago, has been found in the Bozdağ National Park, located in the Karatay district of Konya province, Central Anatolia. /P> 
Since 2017, surface surveys have been carried out in the area to determine the settlements around the Bozdağ National Park, according to İlker Işık, head of the Department of Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage at Selçuk University.
Two years ago, archaeologists discovered remains of what may be more than 100 Roman-era observation towers or watchtowers in the same national park, which would also have been used during the Byzantine era, and progressively changed their function to that of granaries.
The archaeological work, which is carried out with a team of 10 people in an area of approximately 60,000 square meters, also recently found part of the Roman road known as Vía Sebaste , whose works Augustus began in the year 6 B.C.
The now discovered dam could have been raised precisely to provide water to the legionnaires who built the road, and later it was integrated into the commercial route that continued to be active until the time of the Ottoman Empire.
According to Işık, the team carried out laser scanning on the dam, took aerial photos and detailed measurements, and will now try to find possible settlements that should exist around the structure. We believe that such a large dam was used not only to meet water needs during troop deployment, but also for the people living in the region.
Emphasizing that the dam has a very large watershed and is an important structure that can meet the region's water needs, Işık said, during the passage of large armies, it had enough volume to meet its water needs. Water. When we look at its basin, it is still swampy. We see that it continues to retain water in the spring. We can see that a water outlet was built right next to it and the excess water is still flowing through it.
The dam has been preserved practically intact, mainly thanks to being in an area with no population, dedicated mainly to raising cattle.