Fabian Becker

• Dr. rer. nat.
• PostDoc at Freie Universität Berlin

A rural site in the Pergamon Micro-Region, located in the western lower Bakırçay plain, has been discovered and investigated over the past two decades by two inter disciplinary research projects, involving archaeology, ancient history, geography and geophysics. Results of recent geophysical prospections and geographical analysis in combination w...

The total organic carbon (TOC) concentration of particulate samples is a key parameter to characterize soils and sediments. To demonstrate the applicability and reliability of a modified sample preparation method for the direct measurement of TOC contents in suspended particulate samples, we analyzed five certified reference materials (CRMs) with v...

A systematic interdisciplinary approach based on the socio-ecological model of the Vienna school has been adopted to achieve a more nuanced and multifaceted understanding of the ancient metropolis of Pergamon (western Anatolia) and its micro-region. The city of Pergamon ranks among the ‘guiding fossils’ of urban culture in antiquity. We describe ho...

This poster was developed at the Annual TransPergMicro Workshop on "Modification and reshaping of the natural environment as a dynamic phenomenon in the transformation of micro-regions" in January 2024 in Berlin. The relations between urban development, the alteration of natural space and changing river dynamics along the Selinos river in Pergamon...

The Pergamon micro-region (western Türkiye) has experienced several phases of increased geomorphodynamics during the Holocene. However, the role of local–regional human activities during a transformation between Hellenism and the Roman Imperial period and supra-regional climate fluctuations is still under discussion. Five sediment profiles from the...

From 300 BC to AD 300, the city of Pergamon underwent a profound transformation that impacted the rural settlement patterns and the concomitant geomorphodynamics. We present a geoarchaeological study in a long-term settled catchment in the Pergamon micro-region to disentangle the Holocene geomorphodynamics and triggering factors, for example, clima...

The data support the interpretation of varying sediment facies and the reconstruction of the Mid-Late Holocene alluvial dynamics on the Tekkedere valley and the alluvial fan in the micro-region of an ancient city Pergamon, west Turkey (Yang et al. 2023; https://doi.org/10.1017/qua.2022.73). This dataset of sediment analyses was collected through th...

The data support the interpretation of varying sediment facies and the reconstruction of the Holocene alluvial fan dynamics on the Deliktaş catchment in the micro-region of an ancient city Pergamon, west Turkey (Yang et al., in press). This dataset of sediment analyses was collected through the field work in the Deliktaş alluvial fan and laboratory...

Die Pergamongrabung konzentrierte sich 2020 auf Arbeiten im Rahmen des neuen Forschungsprogramms »Die Transformation der Mikroregion Pergamon zwischen Hellenismus und römischer Kaiserzeit« (TransPergMikro). Die Ausgrabung eines hellenistischen Grabbezirks am Nordhang des Stadtbergs hat zahlreiche neue Einblicke in die Funeralkultur dieser Zeit erbr...

Current landforms are the basis for understanding past geomorphodynamics and human activities. Based on multiple materials and methods, including geomorphometric analyses of a digital elevation model and visual interpretations of satellite images, different landscape units of the Bakırçay and Madra River catchments in the environs of ancient Pergam...

This contribution explores the challenges, chances, and limitations of the socio-ecological interaction model for different case studies focusing on the introduction or utilization of iron as a new raw material. The Fischer-Kowalski et al.’s social-ecological model supports interdisciplinary discussions and interpretations of archaeological and phy...

This study presents a meta-analysis of radiocarbon ages for the environs of Göbekli Tepe-one of the oldest monumental structures worldwide-using cumulative probability functions to diachronically assess phases of geomorphodynamic activity as controlled by natural or anthropogenic drivers. We employ sediment cascades as a heuristic framework to stud...

Scholars frequently cite fuel scarcity after deforestation as a reason for the abandonment of most of the Roman iron smelting sites on Elba Island (Tuscan Archipelago, Italy) in the 1st century bce. Whereas the archaeological record clearly indicates the decrease in smelting activities, evidence confirming the ‘deforestation narrative’ is ambiguous...

The relation between human activities, climate variability, and geomorphodynamics in the Mediterranean region is widely discussed. For the western lower Bakırçay plain in the ancient Pergamon Micro-Region, geoarchaeological studies have shown changes in geomorphodynamics primarily on a site-basis. We reconstruct past geomorphodynamics in the area b...

A lack of fuel is invoked as a reason for the end of iron smelting activities on Elba Island in the mid-1st century BC, with proponents of this view pointing to site chronologies and Strabo's observation that iron could not be smelted on the island as evidence in its favour. In our paper , we first revise the chronology of iron smelting on Elba. We...

Elba Island was a hotspot of iron mining and smelting in Italy since Etruscan times (6th century BCE). Whereas the environmental burden of modern (base) metal mining in Tuscany is well studied, the impact of both ancient iron mining and smelting on soils in the region is poorly understood. Therefore, we took soil samples from an ancient smelting si...

We reconstruct human–landscape interactions in the context of ancient bloomery smelting on Elba Island, Tyrrhenian Sea, based on sedimentological evidence. Elba was, together with Populonia, the center of iron production in antiquity (mid‐6th century B.C.E. to 1st century C.E.). The sediment sequences obtained by vibracoring in the Campo plain reve...

Based on diatom, aquatic pollen and non-pollen palynomorph (NPP), lake sediment microfacies, and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyses we define three main phases of lake basin development including a marshy phase (ca. 16,600–9400 cal. yr BP), lagoon phase (ca. 9400–5900 cal. yr BP) and freshwater lake phase (since ca. 5900 cal. yr BP). Marine influenc...

In this paper, we present and analyze a novel global database of soil infiltration measurements, the Soil Water Infiltration Global (SWIG) database. In total, 5023 infiltration curves were collected across all continents in the SWIG database. These data were either provided and quality checked by the scientists who performed the experiments or they...

In this paper, we present and analyze a global database of soil infiltration measurements, the Soil Water Infiltration Global (SWIG) database, for the first time. In total, 5023 infiltration curves were collected across all continents in the SWIG database. These data were either provided and quality checked by the scientists who performed the exper...

The Late Bronze to Iron Age transition in West Siberia involved significant cultural and political changes, which were reflected in the emergence of protourban settlements in the forest-steppe zone. The transition is roughly dated to the turn from the 2nd to the 1st mil. BC, mainly based on archaeological artefacts and on the general sociocultural...

Download Abstract In this paper, we present and analyze a global database of soil infiltration measurements, the Soil Water Infiltration Global (SWIG) database, for the first time. In total, 5023 infiltration curves were collected across all continents in the SWIG database. These data were either provided and quality checked by the scientists who...

Zusammenfassung Der Siedlungsplatz Čiča ist ein Schlüsselfundplatz für das Verständnis der westsibirischen Spätbronze- und Früheisenzeit. Von besonderer Bedeutung ist dabei die umfangreiche Serie von Radiokohlenstoffdaten, über deren Interpretation in der Literatur allerdings kein Konsens herrscht. Kontrovers diskutiert wird insbesondere die chrono...