An agro-pastoral palimpsest: new insights into the historical rural economy of the Milesian peninsula from aerial and remote-sensing imagery
Open Access
- 17 February 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in Anatolian Studies
- Vol. 70, 181-206
- https://doi.org/10.1017/s0066154619000164
Abstract
Examination of a number of satellite and aerial images of the Milesian peninsula has allowed the mapping of a large number of apparently ancient linear features across the landscape. These are here interpreted, for the most part, as relicts of agro-economic field systems of unknown date, but most plausibly established during the Archaic, Hellenistic or late antique periods and perhaps used for centuries after, before the economic decline of the region in the second millennium AD. While earlier survey work has noted the existence of terracing and rural divisions at certain points in the landscape, the new remote-sensing data have provided an unprecedented large-scale insight into the extent and variety of forms of division, as well as documenting the stripping of macquis overgrowth by modern farming practices, which has, on the one hand, exposed these ancient landscapes but also, on the other, poses a threat to their preservation. The extent of the linear features suggests a high degree of land use on the peninsula at certain points in the past. Further investigation of these important features has the potential to provide critical insights into the economic history of rural and urban Miletos over the last 2,000 to 5,000 years. ÖzetMilet yarimadasina ait bir dizi uydu görüntüsünün ve hava fotoğrafinin incelenmesi ile arazi boyunca uzanan çok sayidaki antik lineer özellik haritalanabilmiştir. Bunlar, çoğu zaman, tarihi belli olmayan tarimsal-ekonomik alan sistemlerinin kalintilari olarak yorumlanmiştir, ancak en makul açiklama çoğunun Arkaik, Hellenistik veya geç antik dönemlerde kurulmuş olduğu ve belki de M.S. ikinci binyildaki ekonomik çöküşe kadar yüzyillar boyunca kullanilmiş olduklaridir. Daha önceki yüzey araştirmalari, arazinin belirli noktalarda teraslama ve kirsal bölünmelerin varliğina dikkat çekmiş olsa da, uzaktan algilama sistemlerinin kullanimi ile ortaya çikan yeni veriler, bizlere bir yandan bölünme biçimlerinin kapsami ve çeşitliliği hakkinda geniş çapta bilgiler sunmus, diğer taraftan da, her ne kadar ortaya çikmiş olan kalintilarin korunmasi açisindan büyük tehdit teşkil etse de, modern tarimsal faaliyetler sonucu ortaya çikmiş alanlarin belgelenmesi imkanini sağlamiştir. Lineer özelliklerin kapsadiklari alan, geçmişte yarimadanin belirli noktalarinda büyük ölçüde arazi kullanimi olduğunu göstermektedir. Bu önemli özelliklerin daha fazla araştirilmasi, son 2.000 ila 5.000 yil boyunca, kirsal ve kentsel Milet'in ekonomik tarihine ilişkin çok önemli görüşler sağlama potansiyeline sahiptir.Keywords
This publication has 7 references indexed in Scilit:
- From the Gulf of Latmos to Lake Bafa: On the History, Geoarchaeology, and Palynology of the Lower Maeander Valley at the Foot of the Latmos MountainsHesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 2019
- Toward a Definition of Minoan Agro-Pastoral Landscapes: Results of the Survey at Palaikastro (Crete)American Journal of Archaeology, 2018
- Processions, Propaganda, and Pixels: Reconstructing the Sacred Way Between Miletos and DidymaAmerican Journal of Archaeology, 2018
- Overseas Trade in the Black Sea Region from the Archaic to the Hellenistic PeriodPublished by Cambridge University Press (CUP) ,2017
- Optically-stimulated luminescence profiling and dating of historic agricultural terraces in Catalonia (Spain)Journal of Archaeological Science, 2017
- Pre-Classical Activity in the Basalt Landscape of the Homs Region, Syria: Implications for the Development of 'Sub-Optimal' Zones in the Levant During the Chalcolithic-Early Bronze AgeLevant, 2010
- Human induced landscape changes around Bafa Gölü (western Turkey)Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 2007