doi: 10.2143/ANES.48.0.2119587 ANES 48 (2011) 1-87 Preliminary Report on the Survey Project of Çivril, Baklan and Çal Plains in the Upper Meander Basin, Southwest Anatolia E≥ref ABAY Arkeoloji Bölümü Edebiyat Fakültesi Ege Üniversitesi Bornova Izmir TURKEY E-mail: [email protected] Abstract This article discusses the results of the archaeological surveys conducted between 2003 and 2009 in the Upper Meander Basin in southwest Anatolia. The main aim of the research is to investigate the prehistoric settlement types and patterns in this culture-historically significant region. Our extensive surveys were able to locate more than a hundred sites. The analyses indicate that Neolithic settlements were located far from each other, but a new pattern appeared in the Late Chalcolithic period during which some settlements gained importance and became central places. It is also observed that the number of settlements increased and a hierarchi- cal structure between them becomes more evident during the Early Bronze Age. In this period, apart from the sites on low plains, fortresses situated at strategically important locations, such as on natural passes or trade routes, appear for the first time. In the following periods, namely Middle and Late Bronze Ages, the hierar- chical structure among the sites becomes more apparent and complex; planned cities are constructed with upper and lower towns, which indicate that highly organized political entities (states), were emerging in the region. Introduction The project primarily aims to examine the Upper Meander Basin (Map 1), one of the important cultural regions in Anatolia, on the basis of 94395_Anes_48_01_Abay.indd 1 30/06/11 12:49 2 E. ABAY Map 1: Location of Survey Area. 94395_Anes_48_01_Abay.indd 2 30/06/11 12:49 PRELIMINARY REPORT ON THE SURVEY PROJECT OF ÇIVRIL 3 regional settlement system analyses and to propose possible settlement types and settlement models throughout prehistoric periods.1 The geographical location and the record of intensive settlement in the region show that it is favorable for carrying out such a study. As the project went on, it was observed that the region was at present exposed to agricultural activities and that especially irrigated agriculture was increasingly spreading over the whole area. Accordingly, many mound-type settlements had been com- pletely leveled and turned into fields. Preparation of a cultural inventory of the region was also included in the aims of the project in order at least to document well these settlements, many of which had not been registered yet, and transfer them into the archeological literature. Another aim of the project was to reincorporate the region, which had been deprived of arche- ological investigations since the Beycesultan excavations, into future inves- tigations and scientific studies. Although they continued only for a short time, the results obtained by the excavations in Beycesultan showed that the Upper Meander Basin promised significant data on the prehistoric peri- ods of Western Anatolia. As mentioned above, the project was conducted within the borders of three towns: Çivril, Baklan and Çal. Although this division seems at first sight to relate to modern borders, there is also some partition in a geo- graphical sense. For instance, the Çivril Plain has vast agricultural fields, through the centre of which passes the Greater Meander River, whereas the Baklan Plain is far from the irrigation area of the river and has lower pro- ductivity based on soil quality. The Çal Plateau is a region where the Meander River enters a deep valley. Around it are very few agricultural fields, and those are mostly jammed into narrow lands on small hills or at the riverside. Our survey showed that the geographical differences among 1 The project discussed in this paper was conducted within the borders of Çivril, Baklan and Çal, affiliated to the province of Denizli, under my direction between 2003 and 2009, with a survey permit obtained from the Directorate General of Monuments and Museums of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey in 2003. Initially the Çivril Plain was surveyed between 2003 and 2006; the limits of the project were extended to include the towns of Baklan and Çal as of 2007. The project was conducted mainly with the students of Ege University and the research assistant, Fulya Dedeoglu, worked actively at every stage of the survey. In addition, in 2003 and 2005, Prof. Dr Hartmut Kühne and Associate Professor Reinhard Zickhon, faculty members at Freie University in Berlin, along with students from the same university, joined the project and made significant contributions. The paleogeo- graphic surveys, carried out in order to construct the natural environment of the survey area during prehistoric periods, were directed by Prof. Dr Emel Oybak Donmez from Hacettepe University. M. Krami Olgen, a faculty member at the Department of Geography at Ege University, worked on the evaluation of data with GIS. The project was sponsored mainly by Tübitak and, to an extent, as of 2007, by Dösim. In the early years of the project (2003– 2005), the sources of Ege University were also utilised to a small degree. 94395_Anes_48_01_Abay.indd 3 30/06/11 12:49 4 E. ABAY the areas concerned played an important role in settlement density and set- tlement models. Our surveys in the Çivril and Baklan regions were conducted in two dif- ferent geographical spaces; namely, plain and mountainous areas. During our study on the plains, as much as the land allowed, intensive land scan- ning methods were used. On the other hand, during our surveys in the mountains, the valley regions and natural passes, which mostly included stream sources, were surveyed. Our survey in the Çal region was confined mainly to the plain (adjacent to Çivril and Baklan Plains but today located within the borders of Çal), as well as to the plateau area, where the Mean- der River left the plain and entered a narrow valley. This method was employed because the vast majority of the Çal region showed a different geographical structure than Çivril and Baklan regions and, accordingly, it might have had a different settlement system during prehistoric periods. Although carried out over a relatively small area, our studies in the region confirmed this proposition. In total, 107 archeological sites, comprising 102 settlements, three ceme- tery areas and two tumuli were located within the survey area of the pro- ject, and they were subjected to detailed examination (Map 2). While a small number of the settlements concerned were known from previous studies,2 the overwhelming majority of them have not appeared in any pub- lication as yet, and this was the first time they were subjected to examina- tion in an archeological study. In accordance with a protocol concluded with the directorate of the museum in Denizli, the finds we collected from the settlements are now located in the laboratories of the Department of Archeology in the Faculty of Letters at Ege University in order to be examined. Our assessment of the material and preparations for the project to be comprehensively published are currently underway.3 Consequently, the scope of this paper will be con- fined to the predominant pottery groups and settlement density and settle- ment types in the survey area during prehistoric periods, rather than to a final evaluation of all the data obtained. Detailed discussions regarding the 2 Mellaart 1954, pp. 175–239. 3 In order to conduct my library studies at the stage of preparation of the project for publication and to exchange ideas as regards the interpretation of survey data, I conducted my studies at The University of Melbourne for six months between 4 February and 30 July 2010 with an Endeavour scholarship from the Australian government. I would like to extend my thanks to Endeavour as a scholarship provider that has contributed to the writing of this paper. In particular, I would like to thank the discipline chair of the programme and my award supervisor, Prof. Antonio Sagona, for his advice and support in all phases of my stay at the University of Melbourne. 94395_Anes_48_01_Abay.indd 4 30/06/11 12:49 PRELIMINARY REPORT ON THE SURVEY PROJECT OF ÇIVRIL 5 Map 2. 94395_Anes_48_01_Abay.indd 5 30/06/11 12:49 6 E. ABAY political and economic structuring of the region during prehistoric periods will not take place in this study.4 Furthermore, it will exclude the lithic finds, for no detailed studies have yet been made of them by an expert on the subject. Environment of the Survey Area The survey area, covering the Upper Meander Basin within the present borders of Çivril, Baklan and Çal, 100 km north of Denizli, is geographi- cally located in the southwestern Anatolia region (Map 1). Comprising one of the important cultural regions of Anatolia in an archeological sense, this area is almost an endorheic basin, surrounded by mountain ranges: Akdag (2444 m) in the northeast, Bulgaz Mountain (1990 m) in the northwest, Bozdag (1350 m) and Delikta≥ Hill in the east, Yala Mountain (1300 m) and the 900–1000 m-high plateau including Banaz Canyon in the west, the Denizli Depression in the south, and the Be≥parmak Mountains (1307 m) in the southeast. In contrast to the high rugged mountains and plateaus in its vicinity, the majority of the region consists of the Çivril, Baklan and Çal Plains, which have a combined area of 920 km2. The region, home to important agricultural fields and settlements both in antiquity and today, is irrigated by the Meander River and its tributaries. The length of the river is followed by the modern road, taking the line of a very ancient trade route, which at the southwest end of the valley in Çal Province leaves the upland country and drops down suddenly into the great rift of the lower Meander.