The Kahramanmaraş Valley Survey: A Crossroads Along the Syro-Anatolian Frontier

The volume presents a study of local landscape histories in the Kahramanmaraş valley--a previously understudied, but pivotal, crossroads along the Syro-Anatolian frontier. The Holocene vegetation history is presented in relation to climatic changes and human impact through the pollen analytical results of a deep core obtained from a former Sağlık (Gavur) lakebed. Extensive surface surveys carried out in the region between 1993 and 2000 form the basis of the settlement pattern studies beginning with the first permanent settlement of the valley in the Neolithic and ending with the Islamic era. The results of an intensive full coverage and transect surveys around Domuztepe are found in Chapter 10. The analysis of a long historical record, diverse physical environment, and a significant number of archaeological sites are used to outline the myriad ways the ancient residents of this region between Syria and Anatolia made it their home for over seven thousand years.