Arazi düzeninin Çanak Çömleksiz Neolitik (ÇÇN) Dönemdeki kökeni – Akarçay Tepe Plaka C (Nizip Eski Kenti)

Abstract

As the representation of the initial typo-morphology of a human settlement, the Akarçay Tepe Plaque C (Nizip Plaque) belonging to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) Age is known to be the proof of the presence of a conscious intervention to space and that land arrangement was registered with an artisanal product. In this context, this article aims to determine the Plaque C's location in today's city and settlement characteristic at the time of production by presenting its spatial features through the traces of the Plaque layout remaining in the existing landscape and urban texture. The other aim is to determine land application principles of that settlement period. To present land arrangement having the intention of defining property and recording in the form of a land model as a human behavior and a need for restructuring space since the PPN Age is the objective of the article. The article also targets to develop a rational PPN period settlement model on the basis of settlement design principles and within the context of the theory of urbanization. Based on the spatial analysis of the Plaque C, it is discussed that the traces of the Plaque are a heritage and a possession the preservation of which is a need. In line with this, the role of the disciplines of urban planning and urban archaeology is evaluated with a critical point of view. A multidisciplinary method was used for the research. A database was prepared by digitally processing the Plaque C layout onto the oldest settlement plan of Nizip, forming its digital elevation model, and topographic maps and superimposing the Plaque C layout with the existing land and the cadastral layout. The Plaque layout, design and dimensions were compared to the current urban texture. The Nizip settlement base maps of different periods, aerial photographs, urban implementation plans and cadastral plans are used in the analysis. The study is supported by a literature survey. The spatial traces determined from an archaeological artefact were checked on site by a field study conducted in 2018.

Ancient Anatolian Grids

“…Spatial planning needs to be carried out and land arrangements must be made in order to measure distance and time, apportion of land, prevent social chaos and structure the law (Eren, 2018a). Cartography is the basis of spatial planning.…”

“…The plaques were examined by superimposing the plaque plan on to the modern topography and urban pattern. These plaques were found to be hand-crafted products with the characteristics of a 10,689 year-old cadastral map and spatial plan depicted in the form of a three-dimensional landscape model with a scale of 1:1,000 (Eren, 2018a).…”

“…In the course of this analysis, Eren (2018a) noticed, based on the existence of a fourth Plaque, belonging to the settlement of Kelekli, for the examination of which permission was not granted, that the settlements of Kelekli, Birecik and Yeşilözen are situated along a straight line. Eren (2018a) remarks that this positioning along a line suggests a perception of lines of longitude, but that it is not possible to come to such an evaluation without examining the locations of all the plaques. As these Plaques, numbering 295 in all (Bozbay, 2009), were found at Akarçay Tepe, they may be thought to have originated there.…”

“…As these Plaques, numbering 295 in all (Bozbay, 2009), were found at Akarçay Tepe, they may be thought to have originated there. According to Eren (2018a), this must be the origin as there is a proportional relationship among the distances of the settlements from Akarçay Tepe: 13km for Birecik, 23km for Nizip, and 33km for Yeşilözen as the crow flies. These spatial references prove that basic knowledge and principles of geography, cartography and spatial planning were in use at the time when the plaques were made.…”

“…Moreover, the plaques applied the systematics of triangulation used in mapping with the locations of water wells (Figure 5a). By drawing lines parallel to those that are formed by extending the short straight lines on the plaques, and grid is redrawn parallel to these lines, another system was discovered that rotates the existing grid in a different direction (Eren 2018a) (Figure 5b). The way in which the grid is rotated makes it possible to measure and divide land lying on an isohypse at a given altitude in varying directions correctly.…”