Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T04:19:08.500Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A History of Deforestation as Indicated by Charcoal Analysis of Four Sites in Eastern Anatolia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 December 2013

G. H. Willcox
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

During the 1972 season of the Aşvan excavations (see French, 1973, p. 77) it was decided that, given the huge quantity of charcoal recovered (292 samples) from the four sites by water-sieving and trench sampling from strata which cover a period of c. 4,500–5,000 years, an analysis of the charcoals would prove revealing. Part of the aim of the research is to evaluate what information is available from charcoals recovered by modern methods, and to determine if it is possible to draw sound conclusions about vegetational changes which have not been fully recorded for the late Holocene in Eastern Anatolia. Although some data has been made available through pollen analysis (see van Zeist, 1968, pp. 19–39) the distribution, duration and composition of the forest which existed before deforestation is not entirely understood.

A dearth of necessary data on which to base this work made contemporary studies a prerequisite. Firstly an adequate comparative collection of identified modern woods had to be built up to aid identification of ancient charcoals. Secondly, a reliable method of sub-sampling had to be devised in order to deal with the copious material.

Type
Research Article
Information
Anatolian Studies , Volume 24 , December 1974 , pp. 117 - 133
Copyright
Copyright © The British Institute at Ankara 1974

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Aksoy, B., Diamant, S., 1973. “Çayboyu 1970–71”, Aşvan Interim Report, Anatolian Studies, XXIII, 97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bailey, L. H., 1949. Manual of Cultivated Plants, New York.Google Scholar
Cuinet, V., 1892. La Turquie d'Asie: Géographic administrative, statistique, descriptive et raisonnée de chaque province de L'Asie-mineure, Vol. II, Paris.Google Scholar
Davis, P. H., 1965, Flora of Turkey I; 1967, Flora of Turkey II; 1969, Flora of Turkey III; 1972, Flora of Turkey IV, Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Davis, P. H. et al. ,1971. Plant Life of South-West Asia, Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Dimbleby, G. W., 1967. Plants and Archaeology, London.Google Scholar
French, D. H., 1973. “Aşvan 1968–72: The Excavations”, Anatolian Studies, XXIII, 73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Godwin, H., Tansley, A. G., 1941. “Prehistoric Charcoals as Evidence of Former Vegetation, Soil and Climate”, Journal of Ecology, XXIX, 117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greguss, P., 1955. Identification of Living Gymnosperms on the Basis of Xylotomy, Budapest.Google Scholar
Greguss, P., 1959. Holzanatomie der Europäischen Laubhölzer und Straücher, Budapest.Google Scholar
Guest, E., (ed.), 1966. Flora of Iraq, Vols. I and II, Baghdad.Google Scholar
Helms, S., “Taıkun Mevkii, 1970–71”, Aşvan Interim Report, Anatolian Studies, XXIII, 109.Google Scholar
Lona, F., 1949. Rivista di Scienze Preistoriche, IV, 187.Google Scholar
McNicoll, A., 1973. “Taşkun Kale”, Aşvan Interim Report, Anatolian Studies, XXIII, 159.Google Scholar
Mitchell, S., 1973. “Aşvan Kale”, Aşvan Interim Report, Anatolian Studies, XXIII, 121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rowton, M. B., 1967. “The Woodlands of Ancient Western Asia”, Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 26, 261.Google Scholar
Wagstaff, M., 1973. “Physical Geography and Settlements”, Aşvan Interim Report, Anatolian Studies, XXIII, 197.Google Scholar
Western, C. A., 1971. “The Ecological Interpretation of Ancient Charcoals from Jericho”, Levant, III, 31.Google Scholar
Williams, D., 1973. “Flotation at Siraf”, Antiquity, XLVII, 288.Google Scholar
Van Zeist, W., 1968. “Studies of Modern and Holocene Pollen Precipitation in South-East Turkey”, Palaeohistoria, XIV, 19.Google Scholar
Zohary, M., 1973. Geobotanical Foundations of the Middle East, Vols. I and II, Amsterdam.Google Scholar