At the end of the first century BCE a substantial investment was made in the regional production centre of Sagalassos. Although regional traditions of tableware production existed in Hellenistic times, this evolved into the production of Sagalassos Red Slip Ware (SRSW) in the eastern suburbia of the site in early Imperial times, where several workshops and 18 kilns have been excavated. Furthermore, magnetometry survey has uncovered some 136 anomalies caused by thermoremnant magnetisation that have all been interpreted as possible kilns (Enden et al. 2014, 93; Willet and Poblome 2015, 142; Claeys 2016, 311). Tableware production continued into the seventh century and recent estimates on the output and local demand seem to suggest that the production was, in all likelihood, aimed at regional markets beyond the direct hinterland. This is confirmed by recent observations at the neighbouring ancient cities of Prostanna, Malos and Seleukia Sidera (B. Hürmüzlü and F. Özcan, pers. comm., Ankara, April 2015). SRSW was intensively traded in Anatolia and could also be identified at a series of sites in the eastern Mediterranean, showing an interesting connection with ancient Egypt.

Production of SRSW lasted into the first half of the seventh century CE, shortly after which the town of Sagalassos was abandoned.