Meta-Analysis of Geomorphodynamics in the Western Lower Bakırçay Plain (Aegean Region, Turkey)

Abstract

The relation between human activities, climate variability, and geomorphodynamics in the Mediterranean region is widely discussed. For the western lower Bakırçay plain in the ancient Pergamon Micro-Region, geoarchaeological studies have shown changes in geomorphodynamics primarily on a site-basis. We reconstruct past geomorphodynamics in the area based on a meta-analysis of 108 14C-ages obtained from 25 sediment sequences mainly from colluvial and alluvial deposits by analyzing cumulative probability functions of the 14C-ages. Accounting for biases in the database, we applied different approaches and compared the empirical probability functions with simulated functions. Reconstructed geomorphodynamics in the western lower Bakırçay plain during the Holocene principally coincide with a trend of climate-driven sensitivity to erosion and population dynamics in the eastern Mediterranean, but are also related to the local settlement history. Our data analysis shows that transformations of the Pergamon Micro-Region between the Hellenistic and Roman Imperial times is contemporary to increasing geomorphodynamics that peak in Roman Imperial times. However, a cause–effect relationship between geomorphodynamics and settlement dynamics should be further evaluated. A comparison with data from other settlement centers in Anatolia shows that a coincidence between the peak in geomorphodynamics and a peak in settlement activity are not obvious and may be influenced by soil conservation measures, preferred settlement location, and inherited soil exhaustion.

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

“…To consider these biases, we tested our observed CPF against simulated CPFs (cf. also Becker et al ., 2020).…”

How Much Is Enough? First Steps to a Social Ecology of the Pergamon Microregion

“…The natural environment of the research area is highly dynamic and underwent profound changes in the last millennia [28][29][30][31]. The same holds true for the socio-economic characteristics [8], settlement distributions [2], and interaction patterns [7].…”

“…A recent study by Becker et al [28] investigated the Holocene geomorphodynamics of the micro-region. Their results show that geomorphodynamics follow the general trend of sediment dynamics in the eastern Mediterranean: Climatic triggers of geomorphodynamics were strongest in the Early Holocene.…”

“…Low geomorphodynamics at the end of the middle Holocene were related to the 4.2-ka-BP-drought-event [34,35]. Between the Hellenistic and Roman Imperial Period, geomorphodynamics peaked in the research area, most likely triggered by urbanisation and demographic growth [28].…”

Of Animal Husbandry and Food Production—A First Step towards a Modular Agent-Based Modelling Platform for Socio-Ecological Dynamics

“…The study area is located in western Turkey, c. 100 km north of ˙Izmir (Figure 1; for a detailed environmental description of the study area and its development, see, e.g., [36,37]).…”