Raoul Ottenburgs

Man and environment in the territory of Sagalassos, a classical city in SW Turkey

Abstract Since 1990 archaeological research by the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium) has been carried out at the ancient site of Sagalassos (Aǧlasun, Burdur province, Southwestern Turkey). At first, research focused on the excavation of the city and the study of the immediate vicinity which provided it with raw materials. The main objective was to obtain a clear picture of the history and development of the city. Since 1993 research has also incorporated a study of the territory of the Roman city, from prehistoric to modern times, in order to understand why the site was selected for settlement, why it developed into a middle-sized town, its economy and subsistence, how it affected and exploited the environment, its decline, and what changes have taken place in the district subsequently. The focus has now shifted towards obtaining a better understanding of the linkages between human and environment systems so that inter-relations between the two can be more readily understood. As a result, a number of environmental topics concerning the territory of the Roman city are presently being studied. This territory extended from Lake Burdur in the West to the Aksu canyon in the East, from the Aǧlasun Daǧlari in the North to Mt. Kestel in the South. Interdisciplinary research revealed that for the early Neolithic and the Roman period there was a slightly warmer climate, a richer vegetation and more fertile soils for agricultural practice.

Geochemical soil prospecting in Northwest Kalimantan, Indonesia

Abstract A target area in northwestern Kalimantan, Indonesia, already defined by a geochemical stream-sediment survey, has been further investigated by geochemical analysis of soils and samples of test pits. Overlapping geochemical anomalies in the soils were found for Cu, Mo, Au and Bi. Anomalies and high values of the other elements, Pb, Zn, Fe, Mn and As, can be explained by lithology and by scavenging and coprecipitation phenomena at the break of slopes. With the aid of detailed geochemical mapping and mineralogical and petrographic analysis the Cu-Mo-Au-Bi anomaly was explained by a porphyry-type mineralization consisting mainly of chalcopyrite and molybdenite within a quartz-enriched granodiorite. Hydrothermal alteration consists of a potassic zone, including the anomaly, and a broad propylitic zone. This type of mineralization is related to the plate-tectonic evolution of Sundaland. The possibility of a belt of porphyry-type mineralization in western Kalimantan is proposed.