Revisiting prehistoric sites in the Göksu valley: a GIS and social network approach

Abstract

Using a variety of quantitative approaches, interactions between prehistoric sites in the Göksu valley and south-central Anatolia are modelled within their wider multi-regional and diachronic socio-economic networks to assess the prominence and influence of communities in south-central Anatolia from the Late Chalcolithic to the end of the Early Bronze Age (c. 4200-2000 BC). Since the 1950s, some have understood the valley as significant in terms of movement and communication through the Taurus mountain chain that divides the southern Anatolian plateau from the Mediterranean coast. This view is called in to question through the application of geospatial and computational methods, namely least cost pathway and social network analyses. Archaeologists use least cost pathway analysis to model movement in the past. Similarly, social network analysis is used to model contact and interaction in the past. The approach adopted in this paper seeks to combine the two methods to investigate social structure and the nature of interaction in late prehistoric south-central Anatolia. The results suggest that views of the Göksu valley as the primary or a prominent means of connecting the southern Anatolian plateau and the Mediterranean coast may need to be reassessed.

14. A Tale of Three Landscapes: Okçular, Abdulkadir, and Çamdibi in Long-Term Perspective

“…In more recent decades, a series of long-term, extensive reconnaissance surveys conducted over one or more modern administrative provinces have dramatically increased the number of known mound settlements, especially around the central Anatolian plateau Omura 2005;. Shorter-term extensive surveys, some of which also include intensive sampling components, geoarchaeological and environmental research were also conducted in recent years and have added considerably to our understanding of the occupation history of Anatolia and how this interplays with environmental factors Baird 2001;Doonan 2004: 35-9;Bikoulis 2012).…”

The structure, centrality, and scale of urban street networks: Cases from Pre-Industrial Afro-Eurasia

“…In archaeology, formal studies investigating centrality for street networks are relatively rare, particularly because in many periods sites are not adequately preserved to allow clear reconstruction of ancient streets. Many approaches, such as work by Bikoulis [ 24 ] and Brughmans [ 25 ], have utilized network centrality methods on regional site interactions rather than on site-specific transport contexts. However, a few studies at the site level exist.…”