Changes in regional settlement patterns in Cappadocia (central Turkey) since the Neolithic: a combined site survey perspective
Authors: Allcock, S.L. and Roberts, N.
Journal: Anatolian Studies
Volume: 64
Pages: 33-57
Abstract:More than 50 years of regional archaeological site survey work carried out in Cappadocia, Turkey has produced a number of important contributions to the understanding of long-term settlement histories. This work synthesises and critically evaluates the results of three field surveys conducted in Cappadocia which recorded material remains dating from the Early Holocene until the establishment of the Republic of Turkey. Results from the combined Cappadocia surveys reveal temporal patterns over the longue durée that include a lack of detectable Pre-Neolithic occupation, and important exploitation of obsidian as a raw material during the Neolithic. There was growth and expansion of settlement during the later Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age, a steady continuation in settlement during the Middle and Late Bronze Ages, followed by rupture in settlement at the end of the Bronze Age. A new phase of settlement expansion began during the Iron Age that continued through Hellenistic and Roman times. This in turn was disrupted during the Byzantine period, associated with increased fortified sites. The final long cycle of settlement began in Selçuk times and continued through to the end of the Ottoman period. Comparison with systematic archaeological site survey in the adjacent regions of Paphlagonia and Konya shows some differences, but overall, broad similarities indicate a coherent trajectory of settlement across central Anatolia over the last ten millennia.
Source: Manual