مرکز منطقه ای اطلاع رساني علوم و فناوري - Paleogeographic and Geoarchaeological Researches in Yeşilova Mound, the Oldest Known Settlement of İzmir

Abstract :

With its 8500 years of settlement history, Yeşilova Mound is known to be the oldest settlement site in İzmir according to the recent archaeological studies. Thus, this finding has a great importance for prehistoric research in the Western Anatolian region. The mound is located on the eastern part of Bay of İzmir in Bornova Plain where city of İzmir is settled. The mound covers a broad area (70.000 m²).The base level of the mound is 14 meter above the recent sea level and the cultural layers, starting under 3-4 m recent surface of Bornova Plain, are found in alluvial depositions. Yeşilova Mound, 4 km far away from the present coastline, is located inner part of the plain between the Manda River and its tributary. Since 2005 geoarchaeological research based on core drillings have been conducting in the excavation area and surroundings in order to reveal the past geographical conditions that affected the residents in Yesilova Mound. In this paper the results of these studies comprising stratigraphic characteristics of alluvial sediments and paleogeographical changes are presented.