[H-QR05] Quaternary, Diachronic dynamics of human-environment interactions

[HQR05-04] Local paleoenvironmental reconstruction during the Early Bronze Age to Iron Age using paleo-swamp sediments near the Kaman-Kalehöyük, Central Anatolia

*Kenta Suzuki¹, Ryuji Tada¹, Toshihiro Tada¹, Katsura Yamada², Kota Katsuki³, Shuangning Tang ², Satake Wataru¹, Nurcan Küçükarslan¹, Kimiyoshi Matsumura⁴, Sachihiro Omura^4,1, Takafumi Matsui¹ (1.Chiba Institute of Technology , 2.Shinshu University, 3.Shimane University, 4.Japanese Institute of Anatolian Archaeology)

Keywords:Kaman-Kalehöyük, ITRAX, human activity, Central Anatolia, Late Holocene

Kaman-Kalehöyük is a hill-shaped site located in Central Anatolia, where four cultural layers (Ottoman Period, Iron Age, Late to Middle Bronze Age, and Early Bronze Age) have been identified through excavations. Four layers subjected to large fires (the large fire layer) were found at sites corresponding to the Early Bronze Age to the Iron Age. The change in architectural styles and pottery production techniques to those of different ethnic groups before and after the large fire layer suggests that the large fire may have been caused by the invasion of different ethnic groups. To clarify the relationship between human activities and environmental changes, such as the impact of environmental degradations caused by cooling and aridification on the movement of people at that time, it is necessary to conduct local paleoenvironmental reconstructions near the archaeological sites. Kashima (2008) reported that paleo-swamp sediments were deposited around Kaman-Kalehöyük during the Early Bronze Age to the Roman period, corresponding to 4600 to 1800 years ago. Reconstruction of the local paleoenvironment near the Kaman-Kalehöyük using these paleo-swamp sediments will allow us to discuss the relationship between changes in human activities and environmental changes at the site.
Drilling using a portable percussion piston corer was conducted about 30 m north of the northern margin of Kaman-Kalehöyük in 2023, and a sediment core (KL23-01) covering a continuous period of at least 4800 years ago at a depth of ~5 m was recovered. XRF core scanner (ITRAX), XRD, and WD-WRF analyses of samples from the KL23-01 core were performed at the General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration of Turkey (MTA).
Four layers, with high values of Ca and Sr, coarse-grained, and containing several charcoals and several centimeters wide pottery fragments, were identified at depths corresponding to the Early Bronze Age to Iron Age in KL23-01. ITRAX analysis of the samples from the Kaman-Kalehöyük showed high values of Ca and Sr in the ash as well. In this study, we define the ash layer as the layer with high Ca and Sr values in KL23-01. The expected depositional ages of the ash layer agreed within a range of errors with the ages of the site's four large fire layers. These results suggest that the layer with high Ca and Sr values in KL23-01 may be an ash layer that was deposited by artificially dumping ash and debris, including pottery fragments, into a swamp after a large fire. If the ash layer was deposited by a large fire, it would be possible to accurately compare the ages of paleo-swamp sediments and the Kaman-Kalehöyük and to clarify the relationship between environmental changes and the timing of the fire. We will proceed with radiocarbon dating of the charcoals and reconstruction of the paleoenvironment around the site by analyzing microfossils, pollen, and organic matter in the KL23-01 core.