Elmali plain : a review of its environmental setting and archaeological settlements

Abstract

The Elm alı Plain is located in Northern Lycia, in the Teke Peninsula o f Southwest Anatolia. The plain is geographically in a transitional zone between the forest rich Taurus Mountains and the Highlands of the Anatolian Plateau. Being a fertile upland basin, it is the closest large arable land mass to coastal Lycia. This thesis aims to place the Elmalı Plain in an environmental context and to compile the information regarding the history and archaeology o f the region starting with the Prehistoric periods up to the Islamic occupation of the plain. It evaluates the present evidence o f literary sources, epigraphy, numismatic and archaeological remains. The thesis will also trace the history of traveUers accounts and scholarly research done in the region, and will try to understand the gaps that exist in our archaeological knowledge and identify issues that can be pursued further. The Elmalı Plain, with its natural resources, was able to hold substantial populations, which is evident from the archaeological records for periods such as the Chalcolithic, Early Bronze Age, Iron Ages and the Roman period. Existing evidence far from suggests a definite continuity or discontinuity for all the historical periods, on which future investigations, especially the ongoing project o f Hacim usalar excavations and survey, will throw more light. The present archaeological evidence for the Elm alı Plain suggests that the region, rather than being a remote upland region, was a transitional zone, both culturally and geographically between coastal Lycia and the upland regions o f Kibyra, Kabalia and Pisidia.