Geomorphological and Palaeoenvironmental Setting of Asikli Hoyük

Catherine Kuzucuoğlu (1) , Jean-Pascal Dumoulin (2) , Ségolène Saulnier-Copard (1)

1 LGP - Laboratoire de géographie physique : Environnements Quaternaires et Actuels
2 LMC14 - UMS 2572 - Laboratoire de mesure du carbone 14

Geomorphological research at PPN Asikli Hüyük (ascertained 8.5-7.3 ka cal BP occupation time) started in the early 1990's in the framework of the archaeological excavation and associated projects run by Prof. Dr. U. Esin (1996, 1999a). A first geomorphological field work was done by Prof. Dr. O. Erol, whose unpublished report we were unable to access .In 1995, Prof. Esin asked us to undertake geomorphological research in the Melendiz valley, where the Asikli Höyük settlement was founded. Prof. Esin's main question for us was whether the Melendiz river ever flew at the time of the first settlement, along the eastern sicle of the mound (contrary to today, as it flows west of the mound the edges of which floods currently erodes the site. In 1995 and 1996 , field survey and three cores in the valley (Kuzucuoglu, 2013) did not allow us to answer this question. However, the survey did allow us to define a suite of terraces within the valley, to determine the position of the roof of the bedrock below the terraces in the western part of the mound at only -5 m depth, and to develop hypotheses regarding the possible occurrence of a buried river palaeobed east of the mound (Kuzucuoglu, 2013). In 2010, additional questions were proposed to us by the new director of the excavation, Prof. M. Özbasaran. The first question concerned the "paved road" in Level 3 that descends toward the river bed, and its possible role in establishing some kind of continuity with the Late PPN Musular site established on the opposite flank of the valley. Second question concerned the reconstruction of palaeogeographies at time of the mound PPN occupation. Was there a relationship between the road and an erosion phase during the occupation of the mound? or did its riverward slope correspond to the normal mound-morphology accumulation at the time ? What kind of environment was present in the valley when PPN people first settled at the site, and was there a specific reason for the site location choice ? The efforts to answer these questions included mainly fieldwork (including several coring episodes) around the mound, in, accross and along the valley between 2010 and 2015. The present paper provides some answers to the questions posed by U. Esin and Özbasaran.

Domaines: Sciences de l'Homme et Société; Sciences de l'environnement

Catherine Kuzucuoğlu, Jean-Pascal Dumoulin, Ségolène Saulnier-Copard. Geomorphological and Palaeoenvironmental Setting of Asikli Hoyük. Mihriban Özbaşaran; Güneş Duru; Mary Stiner. THE EARLY SETTLEMENT AT AŞIKLI HÖYÜK. Essays in Honor of Ufuk Esin, EGE YAYINLARI, pp.15-42, 2018, 978-605-9680-83-7. ⟨hal-03939316⟩