The Vegetaton History of East-Central Anatolia in Relation to Archaeology: the Eski Acigol Pollen Evidence Compared with the Near Eas Tern Environment*
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THE VEGETATON HISTORY OF EAST-CENTRAL ANATOLIA IN RELATION TO ARCHAEOLOGY: THE ESKI ACIGOL POLLEN EVIDENCE COMPARED WITH THE NEAR EAS TERN ENVIRONMENT* H. WOLDRING & S. BOTTEMA Grol/il/gel/ ll/s/i/ufe of Archaeology, Grol/il/gel/, Ne/herlal/ds ABSTRACT: As a contribution to the vegetation history of northwestern Cappadocia, the authors studied a core from a crater lake in that area, covering the Late Glacial and the Holocene. The lower sediment sequence shows characteristic, probably annual lamination. In the middle zone, solid stretches and banded silts are fo und, while in the upper part laminated sections alternate with silts and carbonaceous matter. IncOl-poration of old carbon in the sediments means that radiocarbon samples are dated too old; the age/depth regression line sug gests a correction of 3100 years. An explanatory comment on the dating evidence is given. Steppe plant communities predominate during the Late Glacial. Substantial values of Gramineae reveal relatively humid conditions for the em·hest part, fo llowed by an increase of Chenopodiaceae during the next period, which suggests increased SUllliner drought. In the last phase of dominating steppe vegetation, Artell1isia poBen values suggest low winter temperatures. Patches of oak scrubland or woodland are present throughout the Late Glacial. A change from cold and drought-tolerant semi-desert vegetation to grass steppe and oak terebinth woodland il11plies a shift towards a more humid and warmer climate. In the fo Bowing miBennia annual precipitation probably increased to c. 500 mm. Archaeological evidence demonstrates the emergence ofNeolithic fa rming communities in Cappadocia. At about 8000 BP, a great diversity in woodland species developed. In the south, conifers expanded with cedars probably advancing into the Golliidag Mountains. The next period presents firm evidence of crop cultivation (barley and wheat) in Cappadocia. A decline in rotifer percentages (Rotatoria) and a vigorous rise of green algae (Pediastrum) attest to an anthropogenic increase of nutrients in the lake. Human pressure se ems to have been variable through time. PoBen values suggest a substantial expan sion of deciduous oaks and declining agricultural activity towards the end of the 5th miBennium BP. Soon afterwards a serious reduction of oak woodland and a rise of anthropogenic vegetation reveal fillther exploi tation of the environment by man. A series of high-resolution pollen samples was processed from part of the lal11inated section. The results, which represent about 50 years, are quite consistent and show only minor fluc tuations. KEYWORDS: Cappadocia, Central Anatolia, Late Glacial, Holocene, vegetation history, palynology. l. INTRODUCTION Wick et al., in press) and Sogi.itlii (Bottema, 1995): in southwestern Turkey; Bey�ehir and Sogiit Goli.i Palynological investigations of lacustrine sediments (Van Zeist et al., 1975; Bottema & Woldring, 1986: have substantiaBy increased the knowledge of the in northern Turkey; Abant, Yeni9aga and Ladik Go Late Pleistocene vegetation history of the Near East. li.i (Bottema et al., 1995) and Yeni�ehir in the Mar In the last twenty years, especiaBy the number of mara district, northwestern Turkey (Bottema et al., poBen diagrams covering about the last 12,000 years 2001). has greatly increased. These diagrams present ample The palynological evidence fi·om Cenh·al Anatolia evidence on the vegetation and climate developments is sparse. Akgol Adabag in the Konya Pia in repre during the final stage of the last Glacial and the more sents the only core of Central Anatolia that covers humid and warm Holocene. An overview of long the Late Glacial and part of the Holocene vegetation poBen sequences (fig. 1) includes Zeribar and Mira period (Bottel11a & Woldring, 1986). bad (Van Zeist & Bottema, 1977) and Lake Urmia For various reasons the central part of Turkey is (Bottema, 1986) in Iran, the Ghab (Van Zeist & Wol of interest. !ts geographical situation and accessibil dring, 1980) in Syria and Lake Hula (Baruch & Bot itY made this region crossroads of cultures in the tema, 1999) in Israel. Studies appeared about eastern history of man and a main route in the spread of Turkey; Lake Van (Van Zeist & Woldring, 1978; domestic crops and livestock towards Europe. The * Figures 7-9 of thi s article are to be fo und in a packet in the rem·-cover af this journal. 2 H. WOLDRING & S. BOTTEMA o 200km � Fig. I. Map of the Neal' East with the core locations mentioned in the tex!. lnset area: see fig. 2. fmming potential of the fertile lava soils and steppe Inner Anatolia: the high plateau bounded by the areas has attracted people since the Early Holocene. Pontic Mountains in the nOlth and the Taurus Moun Archaeological evidence indicates man's settling tains in the south. in this region only slightly after the start of seden tary Iife in the Fertile Crescent. Regional surveys in 2. CLIMATE Central Anatolia reveal a relative ly dense pattern of Neolithic settlements (Todd, 1980). Since 1989, ex Todd (1980) defines the current climate of Central cavations have been carried out at the early Neolithic Anatolia as cold steppic. It is more continental than site of A�lklt Hoyiik in Cappadocia, which covers c. 500 years of habitation (8958-8400 BP: Esin, 1996). the Mediterranean climate, with colder winters and drier summers. The climate ofthe Tuz Golii area and In the past decade, various new sites dating from the the Konya Basin, south-Central Anatolia, has Neolithic to the Chalcolithic have been detected in been termed xerothermo-Mediterranean because of Cappadocia. (Giilyur, 1995; Ozbasaran, 1999). its more moderate winters. Average temperatures A�lkh Hoyi.ik, <;::atal Hoyi.ik in the Konya Plain range from + I °c to -2°C for January and from 22 and sites such as Can Hasan, Hacilar and Erbaba to 23°C fo r July in the towns of Ankara, Nigde, document the early practice of agriculture and ani Kir�ehir and Kayseri. The average a 11l1Ua I tempera mal husbandry. ture in Nev�ehir is 11°e. Annual rainfall indicates Another intriguing aspect is the impact of man arid «400 mm) to semi-arid (400-600 mm) c1itnatic and his animais on the vegetation during nine mil conditions, e.g. Ankara 367 mm, Aksaray 384 mm, lennia of sedentary life. Was the environment of the Kayseri 366 mm, Nev�ehir 386 mm, Ol1akoy 615 mm early fa rming communities comparable to the appar (Todd, 1980). ently steppic conditions of today? Botanists have diffe rent opinions as to the proportions of steppe and woodland or fores t in Central Anatolia (Louis, 1939; 3. GEOGRAPHY Walter, 1956; Zohaty, 1973). The geographical limits of the areas under dis Eski AClgol (38° 33'01" N, 34° 32'41" E) is a crater cussion are defined as fo llows: lake c. 200 m in diameter (altitude 1270 m above sea East-Central Anatolia/Cappadocia: the region level), c. 20 km southwest of Nev!}ehir (fig. 2). The bounded by the line that COlmects the towns of Ak crater was fo rmed during mid-Pleistocene volcanic saray, Nev�ehir, Kayseri and Nigde. activity. A rhyolithic intrusion in the southern pal1, Central Anatolia: the region bounded by the line the Giineydag dome, reduced the crater lake to its that connects the towns of Ankara, Konya, Nigde and present size (figs 3 and 4). Eski AClgol was a rain Kayseri (fig. 2). fe d lake. The water depth prior to its drait1age in 1972 Th e vegetation histOl)l af east-Cent/'al Anatolia 3 ( Fig. 2. Map of Central Anatolia, indicating the location of crater lake Eski AClgol. Inset area: see fig. 5. A B GuneyT. D' o� 500m Fig. 3. Overview (A) and cross-section D-D' (B) of Eski AClgol (after Kazancl et al., 1995). was genera Ily l m, but varied occasionally from a 4. TRE MODERN VEGETATION maximum of 4 m to zero. The lake water was brack ish to slightly saline (Kazancl et al., 1995). 4. 1. The 111l1er Anatolian plateau: general phyto geographical fe atures The Anatolian plateau is surrounded by three flOl'is tic regions: the Mediterranean, the northern Euxinian 4 H. WOLDRING & S. BOTTEMA Fig. 4. Overview of Eski AClgol lake remnant, viewed towards the north. (= Pontic Mountains) and the eastern Irano-Turanian vegetation on rocky outcrops. Most com mon are: province. The tree vegetation of lImer Anatolia led Celtis tournefo rtii, Pynts elaeagrifolia, Prunus ur Zohary (1973) to consider most of the interior pla sina, P. sp in osa, Ulmus campestris, Rosa sp. and teau as a particular sector of the Euxinian district, Berberis crataegina. the Xero-Euxinian, although the ground flora is do Conifers at present play a modest role as land minated by Irano-Turanian elements. scape elements. Pinus !tigra dominates in the Bey nam nature reserve (1230 m) near BaHi, south of Ankara. Juniperus exceIsa is widespread on lava soils 4.2. Vegetation of Central Anatolia in the G611lidag, a northernextension ofthe Melendiz Mountains. Juniperus oxycedrus is a rather indiffe r In Central Anatolia the present lower tree line is ent species fo und occasionally in various fo rest habi fo und between 1000 and 1400 m (mostly 1200-1300 tats and degraded scrub vegetation. According to m), the upper tree line between 2300-2400 m (Erci Mayer & Aksoy (1986) Pinus nigra forest by nature yas Dag up to 2500 m). As noted by Louis (1939) dominates most of lnner Anatolia. They give the the lower tre e line rises in altitude from north (An fo lIowing regressive forest phases: kara, 1100 m) to south (Nigde 1400 m). Oak species Pillus nigra forest are the major components of the remains of wood Quercus pubescens fo rest land and steppe fo rest on the Central Anatolian pla Pynts elaeagrifolia-Prunus insififia parkland teau (fig.