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Long-Term Population Dynamics and Human-Environment Interactions from the Chalcolithic to the Iron Age in Eastern Anatolian Highlands, Türkiye.

ASLAN, Alper

This study will explore the long-term population dynamics and human-environment interactions in the Eastern Anatolian Highlands, from the Chalcolithic Age (c. 5000-3500 BCE) to the Iron Age (c.1200-330 BCE). The mountainous geography and harsh climatic conditions separated Eastern Anatolian Highlands from its neighbours such as Central Anatolia and Northern Mesopotamia in the past. During these periods, the Eastern Anatolian Highlands experienced significant shifts in subsistence strategies. In addition, while the settlement strategies changed from simple villages to fortified highland settlements, the social structure also showed differences between simple and more complex societies. In this study, I will utilise archaeological survey data in the form of the count of sites as a proxy to infer long-term demographic trends. Probabilistic approaches will be applied to mitigate the temporal uncertainties of archaeological data. Paleoenvironmental proxies such as pollen and cave speleothems records will be used to reconstruct changes in land cover and climate. By using a multiproxy approach, I examine the long-term population dynamics and human-environment interactions to better understand the complex interplay between humans and their environment over the longue-durée in a regional scale.

Session 1. Exploring Archaeology as a Global Science [info]