Holocene environment and settlement on the Carsamba alluvial fan, south-central Turkey: Integrating geoarchaeology and archaeological field survey

The four-dimensional geomorphological history of the Carsamba fan in the Konya Basin, Turkey, has been reconstructed as part of integrated field research into the relations between Holocene environments and settlement history within a spatially well defined alluvial landscape, similar to 500 km(2) in extent. This has involved on- and offsite study of alluvial sequences linked to a systematic archaeological site survey of multiperiod settlement mounds and to excavations at the Neolithic-Chalcolithic site of Catalhoyuk. Two principal alluvial units lie above Late Pleistocene lake marls and have been characterized using particle size, magnetic susceptibility, organic and carbonate content, and color. Based on a combination of C-14, optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), and archaeological evidence, the lower unit dates primarily to the Neolithic-Chalcolithic, while the upper unit dates from Bronze Age to post-Byzantine times. Counterintuitively, alluvial landscape changes have not necessarily led to the systematic burial-and, therefore, loss-of those archaeological sites that are smaller or shallower, earlier (i.e., prehistoric), and located closer to the fan apex. As well as being important in interpreting settlement distributions, this geomorphological history of alluviation, pedogenesis, and erosion also provides data on changing flood regimes and soil and water availability that have affected the suitability of individual areas for human occupation. (c) 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.