The Archaeology of Midas and the Phrygians: Recent Work At Gordion

11 Settlement and Land Use: The Gordion Regional Survey

The nature of the relationship between political and economic change has been the subject of long and extensive debate (e.g., Hirth 1996; Marx [1887] 1992). The long-term history of the Gordion region includes the expansion and contraction of several states and empires (Hittites, Phrygians, Romans), and it provides an excellent opportunity to study how economic strategies changed with political transformations (see Table 3-1). This chapter presents the preliminary results of the Gordion Regional Survey (GRS)(1996–2002)1 , which collected information on both settlement patterns (settlement distribution over time) and ancient environments (soils, hydrology, erosion). Environmental data include a palimpsest of land use and climate change that are often difficult to untangle. Evidence from settlements provides one means to interpret environmental palimpsests. The goal of the survey was to understand how social and political changes related to major changes in land use, as a proxy for economic change. Pre-industrial societies were dominantly agricultural economies, so major shifts in agricultural strategies can be used as a measure of overall economic transformation. PREVIOUS SURVEYS AT GORDION The best known and most visible archaeological sites in the Middle East are large mounds (tepes or höyüks). These sites represent long-term accumulation of architectural and domestic debris often over thousands of years. Less visible in the landscape are surface scatters of artifacts representing short occupations, from decades to a few centuries. In regions where systematic surface surveys have been completed, however, surface sites are often more abundant than mounded sites. Systematic and intensive survey is therefore necessary to gain a more representative understanding of regional population dynamics. The first settlement survey at Gordion began with the most recent phase of archaeological research in 1987. In 1987–1988 Sumner identified settlement sites in a broad region surrounding Gordion (a 40 km x 40 km square area). Sumner worked by himself, locating mounds and sites with architecture within the region. In 1987, he surveyed the immediate area around Gordion (8 km radius) on foot, and in 1988 he visited sites in the larger region by motorbike. While identifying mounded sites was relatively easy, he estimated that his discovery rate for unmounded surface sites was about 20%. Sumner’s (1992) survey identified 39 11 THE GORDION REGIONAL SURVEY Settlement and Land Use LISA KEALHOFER THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF MIDAS AND THE PHRYGIANS 138 sites (including the excavated sites of Gordion and Polatı). Periods of occupation (components) were preliminarily defined from grab samples of diagnostic ceramics at each site. Sumner’s settlement data also reveal some of the geomorphological issues that affectsiterecoveryduringsurvey.Forexample,nosurfacesitesdatetotheEarlyBronze Age (EBA), only two to the Middle Bronze Age (MBA), with a steady increase over time. After the MBA the number of mounded sites decreases. It is most likely that early surface sites are either buried or eroded, while later sites have had less time to accrete multiple phases of debris—factors that have little to do with settlement pattern. In the early 1990s, focus shifted to the immediate area surrounding Gordion. Wilkinson (1992) provided a preliminary assessment of site survey potential. Dickey and Goldman then intensively surveyed the immediate environs north and west of Gordion—an area identified as the Outer Town. In 1995, Goldman revisited sites discovered by Sumner within a 5 km radius of Gordion in order to distinguish the distribution of Roman occupation (Goldman 2000). Goldman joined the GRS crew for the 1996 pilot season, providing useful local knowledge. The surveys of 1987– 1995 contributed important context for interpreting Gordion and demonstrated the presence of long-term settlement in the region, beginning by the EBA (Fig. 11-1). GRS began systematic regional and environmental survey in 1996. Figure 11-1 Sites in the Gordion Regional Survey area identified by Sumner, Goldman, and GRS surveys. 139 GORDION REGIONAL SURVEY METHODOLOGIES The specific goal of the GRS was to investigate how land use changed during periods of political transformation. To achieve this goal two types of data were collected: archaeological data (ceramic and lithic concentrations) to determine the location of human activities over time, and environmental (land use) data to address how agricultural patterns changed over time relative to settlement organization. Archaeological Methods Archaeological data were collected from a 20 km x 18 km region centered near Yassıhöyük. Within this region five geographical subregions were defined based on topography and streams (hydrology): the Porsuk...