Moritz Nykamp

Freie Universität Berlin | FUB · Institute of Geographical Sciences

The starting point of our project is the interactions between a profound urban change in the ancient city of Pergamon in western Anatolia and changes in the cities micro-region. The project builds on the observation of a notable increase of the urban area of Pergamon since the end of the royal era in 133 BCE and simultaneous changes in the settlement pattern and characteristics in the western lower Bakırçay plain and the surrounding mountain ranges and coastal zones. The area was initially characterised by settlement concentration and demilitarisation; later, in the imperial period, otium elements such as thermal baths were established, and the relations between cities, rural settlements and the landscape changed. We analyse this transformation systematically and diachronically throughout the entire micro-region for the first time. This takes place at various levels such as resource use, production and consumption, lifestyle and health of residents, architecture and construction as well as the design and perception of living spaces. In terms of the diversity of natural resources, the project focuses on soil, water, wood, stone, and clay, whose importance for the economic and living space can only be understood through the direct cooperation of archaeology, building research and physical geography. We will answer the following overarching questions: (1) Reconstruction of interdependencies in the diachronic development of settlement structure and use of natural space between urban and rural areas; (2) analysis of the organization and function of complex processes, e.g. building programmes or ceramic production and distribution with special consideration of economic and ecological factors on different spatial levels (local, regional, supra-regional); (3) evaluation of transformations of urban physiognomies in the context of dynamic ecological, economic and demographic developments within the micro-region and in the context of supra-regional networks; and (4) the development of a complex social-ecological model of the transformation of the Pergamon micro-region as a contribution to a better understanding of the dynamic human-environment relationship and its reception in landscape design, urban development and architecture. In the course of the project, focus and objectives shift from a small-scale exemplary view to the micro-region and adjacent areas as a whole.

Interdisciplinary (Physical Geography and Archaeology) investigations at the Late Bronze Age "Royal Tomb" ("Königsgrab") of Seddin (Prignitz region; northeastern Brandenburg; northeastern Germany) and in its surroundings.

The site of Göbekli Tepe is located in southeastern Anatolia, c. 10 km northeast of the modern city of Şanlıurfa. The monumental complex is constructed from monolithic T-shaped pillars dating to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPNA and PPNB), between c. 9.500 and 8.200 cal. BCE. Göbekli Tepe is interpreted as a ritual center and communication platform for a regionally interconnected hunter-gatherer society. The environs of Göbekli Tepe are studied in order to understand the Late Quaternary landscape development; with a temporal focus on the transition from the Late Pleistocene to the Early Holocene. This is achieved by a combination of local geomorphological investigations and sediment analyses. Alluvial and colluvial sediments, obtained from outcrops in small-scale catchments in the vicinity of Göbekli Tepe, are analyzed regarding their geochemical and -physical characteristics and the depositional phases are estimated applying radiocarbon dating. Alongside, geomorphological mapping is carried out to provide detailed descriptions of the geomorphological context for the profile locations. The results will provide first insights into the varying Late Quaternary morphodynamics in the environs of Göbekli Tepe and will allow - in combination with local palaeobiological data and regional climate and vegetation data - to draw a first picture of the development of the natural environment. The integration of results from local geomorphological and sediment analyses and the archaeological data from Göbekli Tepe will lead to an enhanced understanding of the Late Pleistocene to Early Holocene landscape in Upper Mesopotamia at the transition from hunter-gatherer societies to an agricultural lifestyle.