Simon Six

Identification of ore extraction and metal working in ancient times: a case study of Sagalassos (SW Turkey)

The extensive territory of the ancient (Hellenistic to Byzantine) city of Sagalassos (SW Turkey) offered a rich variety in natural mineral resources. The frequent occurrence of iron slag in the excavations at the site proved the local working of metal. A geochemical prospection campaign was done in the territory of the ancient city in order to identify or discard the city and its territory as a self-sustaining metallurgical centre. Secondly, the geochemical impact of ancient metallurgy was investigated. Geochemical anomalies identified in stream sediments are explained by the presence of mineralised deposits and ancient metal working. Mg, Cr, Co and Ni anomalies point to chromite and chrysotile-magnetite deposits related to the basic rocks of the Lycian nappes in the area. Fe, V and Ti anomalies indicate the presence of iron mineralisations, which have been worked for iron production in ancient times. Finally, the association of P, Cu, Pb, Mn, As and Ag anomalies are an indicator of human activity at archaeological sites. Within the framework of this geochemical prospection, a metal working site apart from the city of Sagalassos was identified. Here, ore was both extracted and processed to workable iron. D 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Late Holocene local vegetation dynamics in the marsh of Gravgaz (southwest Turkey)

Late Holocene local vegetation succession is reconstructed in twodifferent sites in a small-scale open marsh ecosystem in southwest Turkey.This is done by comparison of the fossil local pollen assemblage zones in twocores with the local pollen data of 40 surface samples from the marsh. Thepollen data are supplemented with sedimentological and archaeological data. Theinsertion of the mean pollen data of the local pollen zones as passive samplesinto the canonical correspondence analysis triplot of the modern samples allowsus to detect modern analogues for the fossil pollen zones. From this numericalcomparative approach it is concluded that the marsh area was relatively dryuntil ca 2500 BP. After 2500 BP the area shifts towards a wet area dominated bySparganium and/or Typha angustifolia. A diversification of the marsh vegetationstarts at ca 2400/2300 BP. The area around one core site seems to have beensituated in an area with slowly flowing source water, whereas the other coresite is likely to have been characterised by damp conditions. The steadilyincreasing dryness of the marsh area starts after ca 680 BP. The drying upappears to be associated with recent agricultural and grazing pressure.