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Project

Late Prehistoric (8000-2000 BC) communities in marginal landscapes. Investigating human-environment interactions in the Western Taurus Mountains, SW Turkey

Our current knowledge of Late Prehistoric (8000-2000 BC) communities in Anatolia is primarily based on evidence from a number of well-known settlements in areas suitable for agriculture. Next to nothing is known about sites in other landscape units such as marginal mountainous areas. The proposed research aims to fill this gap in knowledge by shedding light on how different landscape units were incorporated into the cultural landscape, throughout the Late Prehistory. By investigating the Dereköy highlands, located in close distance to the well-studied Burdur Plain (SW Anatolia), the research will yield novel complementary insights on Late Prehistoric communities. It will examine how and when past communities used marginal landscapes, and will provide a window on periods which are currently poorly known in plain areas, such as the Middle Chalcolithic (5500-4200 BC). The unique archaeological datasets of both low-and highlands will paint one of the most comprehensive pictures of Prehistoric cultural landscape in Anatolia. By incorporating the ecological data of the area, diachronic developments will be evaluated within the framework of socio-ecological systems in order to understand wave patterns of complexity and decline throughout the Late Prehistory. Although the proposed research deals with human-environment dynamics from the past, it is relevant to contemporary societies as well, as it places current human-environment developments into context. 

Date:1 Oct 2016 →  30 Sep 2020
Keywords:Late Prehistoric communities, 8000-2000 BC, marginal landscapes, environment, Western Taurus Mountains, human, Turkey
Disciplines:Archaeology, Theory and methodology of archaeology, Other history and archaeology