2019/04/24 by Daniel Knitter, Ricarda Braun, Lee Clare +2 · 1 citation
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Social Sciences · Environmental Science · #Geology and Paleoclimatology Research #Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology #Landslides and related hazards #Quaternary #Bedrock #Terrain #Geography #Vegetation (pathology) #Mediterranean climate #Pleistocene #Physical geography #Archaeology #Geology #Cartography #Geomorphology #Paleontology
paper · pdf · doi:10.3390/land8040072
openalex publication_date 2019/04/24 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
This contribution provides a first characterization of the environmental development for the surroundings of the UNESCO World Heritage site of Göbekli Tepe. We base our analyses on a literature review that covers the environmental components of prevailing bedrock and soils, model- and proxy-based climatic development, and vegetation. The spatio-temporal scales that are covered are mainly the Eastern Mediterranean region and the Late Quaternary—whereby special attention is given to available data from the close vicinity of Göbekli Tepe. Information on Late Quaternary geomorphodynamics is largely absent for the environs of Göbekli Tepe, we therefore included remote sensing data, different terrain modeling approaches and field-based geomorphological mapping to gain insights into past process dynamics. The findings indicate that the environmental conditions at Göbekli Tepe during its time of occupation differed significantly from today, showing denser vegetation and a wide spread sediment cover. Different hypotheses are developed that aim to guide future research on environmental changes and their variations during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. These activities are crucial for a more profound understanding of the environment of the site, its potential perception by humans and therefore for the development of narratives on their landscape creation motives.