Around 2,000 fragments of bronze statues, broken down for melting, were discovered inside a structure in the ancient city of Metropolis, located in Torbalı, İzmir.

Prof. Dr. Serdar Aybek, a faculty member at Dokuz Eylül University Faculty of Letter's Archaeology Department and head of the excavation, stated that the finds include statue fragments from the Hellenistic period and figures from the Roman period. Aybek noted, "These are extraordinary finds, even for our field of study. We uncovered approximately 2,000 fragments of bronze statues. The fact that the bronzes, primarily statues, were broken into pieces holds particular significance. This provides concrete evidence of the collection and recycling of statues during Late Antiquity in Metropolis. Among the finds are fragments such as heads, eyes, fingers, and sandals. With the abandonment of mythological beliefs and the transition to monotheistic religions during Late Antiquity, along with the dominance of Christianity in the region, bronze statues from mythological and earlier periods were broken apart. Although there is no archaeological data to definitively prove this claim yet, we can say that a large portion of them were likely used for coin minting. Instead of initiating new production during that period, bronze items—including many statues that had lost their significance, were damaged for various reasons, and were rendered obsolete—were prepared for melting by the 'scrap dealers' of the ancient world," he explained.