The history of the city can be traced back to the early bronze age and there is even clear evidence of a chalcolithic culture prior to the 3rd millennium B.C. The use of the name Aphrodisias began after the 3rd century B.C., in the Hellenistic period.The spread of Christianity under the Byzantine Empire and the gradual adoption of Christianity as the state religion resulted in a marked change in the status of the city. The cult centre of Aphrodite declined in importance, to such an extent that the names Aphrodite and Aphrodisias were finally erased from all the inscriptions. Efforts were made to change the name of the city to Stavrapolis, the City of the Cross, but the local inhabitants preferred to use Caria, the name of the province. Geyre, the name of the modern village occupying the same site, is probably a corruption of the ancient Caria, which occurred after the Turkish occupation of the area. It seems very likely that in Turkish, Caria was first pronounced Kayra, and that the "k" then changed to "g" and the "a" to "e'. Like several other Roman and Byzantine cities, Aphrodisias was very largely self sufficient.