An archaeological survey performed along the Göksu River Valley in Turkey as a part of a doctoral research

Tevfik Emre Şerifoğlu (University of Cambridge)

            As a part of my doctoral research, in the summer of 2006 I managed to perform a small survey along the Göksu River Valley in Southern Turkey as this area was not researched in full detail previously and the available data was limited.  My PhD research focuses on socio-cultural and economical relations between a number of cultural areas in northern Syria and southern Turkey in the light of archaeological and textual evidence and as a part of this study I have been trying to map the ancient sites in these areas in order to observe their interaction through a visual perspective.  Although the other areas in Turkey and Syria, which I have been working on, were well studied previously and earlier research provided extensive data, this was not the case for the Göksu Valley.

            The Göksu River Valley (ancient Calycadnus), which is located in the modern Turkish province of İçel, links the Mediterranean coast to central Anatolia.  It is believed that during the second millennium BC the area was very active in terms of trade as especially during the Late Bronze Age, Hittites who controlled most of Anatolia, Syria and Cyprus, had their major sea port located somewhere very close to this valley, in the same region.

            The first survey along the valley was performed by James Mellaart in early 1950s but this was very brief as it formed only a small part of a much greater southern Anatolia survey project (Mellaart 1954).  The second archaeological survey was much more extensive and was performed by David French about ten years after Mellaart (French 1965).  He recorded eight Protohistoric and Prehistoric sites along the valley including Kilise Tepe, which is the only excavated site in this area, and published some examples of the pottery.  Although the second millennium and early first millennium pottery examples were included in this study, the survey was mainly focused on Prehistoric remains and the finds were not studied or published in further detail in later years.  Finally a new survey was started by Hugh Elton in this area few years ago but this research is limited to the area north of the city of Mut and focuses on the Hellenistic, Roman and Late-Roman Periods.

            The site of Kilisetepe, which is the largest recored mound in the valley and located in a flat alluvial plain, was excavated by Nicholas Postgate in between 1994 and 1998 (Baker, H.D. et al 1995, Postgate 1998).  This site provided much detailed information about the material culture for the concerned periods not only for the Göksu Valley but for the whole area around it, which is called Rough Cilicia, and allowed us to have an idea about the general chronology and stratigraphy.

            In order to fill the gaps in our knowledge we found it necessary to perform a new survey along the valley which would not only try to locate new sites but also re-analyse some of the sites which have already been recorded.  For this reason we first applied to OASIS, a European Union agency, which provides free SPOT satellite images for research purposes. They accepted our application and sent us some detailed images of the valley. These were used to mark some probable ancient sites, like small hills or areas with suspicious geographical features.  This was mostly done manually although certain analyses like hill shade, contours drawn based on the satellite images etc., which certain GIS software allowed us to do, were also used.  These same satellite images later served as maps when we were on the field as no detailed and up-to-date topographical maps of the area was available.

            The second step was to get a permit to perform an archaeological survey.  Unfortunately after my application we were informed that graduate students can not perform archaeological surveys or excavations in Turkey as one has to hold a PhD. degree for a survey permit and at least an associate professor title was necessary for an excavation permit.  However after some negotiations we were allowed to perform something more limited, which would allow us to visit the sites, take gps readings, take photos and make drawings of the finds as long as we do not remove them from the sites.  The final permition was given on the 10^th of May, 2006 by the Department of Antiquities, with the authorisation of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and it was called a “Student Research Permit”. The survey was performed in between 20 June 2006 and 30 June 2006 under the supervision of the local museum. 

In the first day of our field research, we did a quick tour of the whole valley to make a general plan and to get used to the landscape.  Starting from the city of Silifke at the southern edge of the valley on the 21^th of June and finally stopping at the city of Mut on the 30^th of June, we visited the locations which we marked earlier as probable settlements one by one.  We used a car to travel to the actual locations and if the landscape made it impossible to continue with a vehicle we walked or climbed to reach the target locations. We were only two people, me and my wife, who were doing the actual survey.

Visited Locations

Unfortunately, of these forty locations, only three had actual archaeological remains (Değirmendere Su Kanalı, Selamlı Mezarlık Tepe, Mut Şehitlik Ormanı) which has clearly shown that our methods for marking probable ancient settlements on satellite images were not efficient, especially when such mountainous and highly vegetated areas were concerned.  However while trying to reach these loacalities we encountered some mounds along the way which we could not spot on the images earlier and these simple but yet efficient observations allowed us to discover five new sites (Haydarlı I, Haydarlı II, Zeyne I, Palantepe, Örentepe II).  Finally, we were also informed by locals about the existence of certain ancient settlements while we were travelling and some of the locals even helped us finding these personally.  This last step allowed us to find and record another six sites (Eski Keben, Ortaören I, Ortaören II, Kepez bölgesi buluntu noktaları, Köselerli I, Selamlı Hamamları). Besides these, we also visited the already known sites (Çingen Tepe, Mal Tepe [Mal Belen], Malburun, Ören Tepe ve At Tepe) and at every one of these we took GPS readings, took general photographs of the sites, walked over the settlements and randomly photographed and drew diagnostic sherds.

            Although the acquired data is still under evaluation, in general it can be said that even a short survey of this nature was good enough to answer certain questions and fill the gaps formed by the missing data.  It is possible that the satellite images could have been used more efficiently but on the other hand the results we reached, either positive or negative, should be helpful for developing better methods for studying similar images in the future for our purposes as archaeologists.

            The official process of application for a permit was a good experience as for archaeologists these sorts of bureaucratic formalities are an inevitable part of any research and unfortunately graduate students can sometimes come across certain restrictions.  We also voluntarily provided a report about the situation of known and discovered sites to the local museum, as looting, rapidly growing towns and modern agricultural methods are all threatening the ancient settlements.  Sadly, as it is the case in many countries, most of the Turkish museums don't have the funds to protect these or even to locate such vulnerable places and any sort of input coming from the researchers are welcome.  Looking to the survey project through all its different aspects, it can be seen that besides being a part of a doctoral research which aims to answer certain  questions, it has also yielded important results which in the future can be used by many scholars, student or not.

Bibliography:

- Baker, H.D., Collon, D., Hawkins, J.D., Pollard, T., Postgate, J.N., Symington, D., Thomas, D.C. 1995: 'Kilise Tepe 1994' Anatolian Studies 45: 139-191.

- French, D.H. 1965: 'Prehistoric Sites in the Göksu Valley' Anatolian Studies 15: 177-201

- Mellart, J. 1954: 'Preclassical Remains in Southern Turkey' Anatolian Studies 4: 175-240

- Postgate, J.N. 1998: 'Between the Plateau and the Sea: Kilise Tepe 1994-1997' in R. Matthews (ed), Ancient Anatolia: Fifty Years' Work by the British -Institute of Archaeology at Ankara. London: 127-141.