Scales of impact: Settlement history and landscape change in the Gordion Region, central Anatolia

Research at Gordion, Turkey, reveals that early agriculture during the Chalcolithic period caused rapid environmental degradation, with erosion rates peaking within a millennium of settlement. Surprisingly, the highest degradation occurred during the Early Bronze Age despite lower settlement density, suggesting complex interactions between land use and sociopolitical changes. By the Iron Age, erosion rates declined to one-third their earlier peak, even as settlement intensity increased, indicating that soil vulnerability decreased over time. The study combines archaeological survey data with sediment core analysis to link settlement patterns to landscape disruption, offering insights into how human activities reshape ecosystems.

Marsh, B., & Kealhofer, L. (2014). Scales of impact: Settlement history and landscape change in the Gordion Region, central Anatolia. The Holocene, 24(6), 689–701. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683614526937