Göbekli Tepe: A Brief Description of the Environmental Development in the Surroundings of the UNESCO World Heritage Site

Abstract

This contribution provides a first characterization of the environmental development for the surroundings of the UNESCO World Heritage site of Göbekli Tepe. We base our analyses on a literature review that covers the environmental components of prevailing bedrock and soils, model- and proxy-based climatic development, and vegetation. The spatio-temporal scales that are covered are mainly the Eastern Mediterranean region and the Late Quaternary—whereby special attention is given to available data from the close vicinity of Göbekli Tepe. Information on Late Quaternary geomorphodynamics is largely absent for the environs of Göbekli Tepe, we therefore included remote sensing data, different terrain modeling approaches and field-based geomorphological mapping to gain insights into past process dynamics. The findings indicate that the environmental conditions at Göbekli Tepe during its time of occupation differed significantly from today, showing denser vegetation and a wide spread sediment cover. Different hypotheses are developed that aim to guide future research on environmental changes and their variations during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. These activities are crucial for a more profound understanding of the environment of the site, its potential perception by humans and therefore for the development of narratives on their landscape creation motives.

Sediment cascades and the entangled relationship between human impact and natural dynamics at the pre‐pottery Neolithic site of Göbekli Tepe, Anatolia

“…The plains are characterized by Vertisols (Özcan et al ., 2018; Akça et al ., 2018a, 2018b). Recently published results regarding present‐day landform characteristics (Knitter et al ., 2019) and Holocene relief‐forming processes (Nykamp et al ., 2020a) show that the hillslopes of the headwater catchments are characterized by periodic sheet flow and soil creep processes, forming colluvial deposits at the slope toes of the valleys. Episodic torrential rains cause concentrated runoff along the thalwegs of the confined valleys in the headwater catchments, leading to erosion of the colluvial deposits.…”

Untitled

“…Моделирование и визуализация рельефа археологических памятников и прилегающих территорий помогает реконструкции социальных и хозяйственных отношений в древних обществах [Evans, [Knitter et al, 2019]. Частной задачей является анализ влияния рельефа на выбор мест поселения в древности.…”