First a stone quarry

This rock face probably began as a stone quarry, and later became the northern necropolis. The beige-coloured local limestone was quarried along the northern slopes of Sagalassos throughout the Julio-Claudian to Severan periods (1st century BC – 3rd century AD). Building stone was also brought to the site from other quarries, located anywhere from a few to hundreds of kilometres away. White, dark-blue, and especially purple-veined white marble from Dokimeion (Afyon); another type of white marble from Afrodisias (Geyre), and even a green marble, cipollino, from Euboia in Greece were brought to Sagalassos.