Landscape Evolution and Occupation History in the Vicinity of Amasya

Abstract

The modern city of Amasya (NE Central Turkey), hometown of the great geographer Strabo, is a former fortified city of antiquity built in a unique geological and geomorphological setting of a narrow gorge. The gorge is carved into the mountains of the Pontide Range, which connects a major river, Yeşilırmak of the Central Anatolian drainage network, to the Black Sea. Although the kings of Pontus founded the city during the Hellenistic Period, the remains of human occupation of the surroundings can be traced back to the Middle Paleolithic. Continuous settlement during the historical times makes possible to see monuments from different cultures, from Hellenistic to Roman and Seljuk to Ottoman Periods. The city, from foundation to modern times, has direct interaction with the landforms and also with the evolution of the landscape under control of different geomorphological processes. This paper is an attempt to relate this interaction within the cultural geology perspective.