New Publication: The Kahramanmaraş Valley Survey by Elizabeth Carter

The Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press is proud to announce the publication of The Kahramanmaraş Valley Survey: A Crossroads Along the Syro-Anatolian Frontier by Elizabeth Carter, Professor Emerita in the department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at UCLA.

As the fifty-first publication in our Monumenta Archaeologica series, this volume presents a study of local landscape histories in the Kahramanmaraş valley—a previously understudied, but pivotal, crossroads along the Syro-Anatolian frontier. In The Kahramanmaraş Valley Survey, Carter explores the Holocene vegetation history in relation to climatic changes and human impact through the pollen analytical results of a deep core obtained from a former Sağlık (Gavur) lakebed. Extensive surface surveys carried out in the region between 1993 and 2000 form the basis of the settlement pattern studies beginning with the first permanent settlement of the valley in the Neolithic and ending with the Islamic era. 

Each of the seven data chapters presents a study of settlement patterns, followed by the ceramic indicators used to date the sites. This data contributes to the study of Near Eastern palynology and provides an overview of the environmental factors affecting local settlements over time. Of note is the change from a lacustrine to marshy conditions in the central lake that denote increased drying from 1250 BCE. Including results of a series of intensive full coverage and transect surveys around Domuztepe, the presented analysis of a long historical record, diverse physical environment, and a significant number of archaeological sites are used to outline the myriad ways the ancient residents of this region between Syria and Anatolia made it their home for over seven thousand years. 

Elizabeth Carter
Series: Monumenta Archaeologica 51
Price: Hardback $125, eBook $100
Print and eBook: Order directly from our distributor

The table of contents can be found on the Cotsen Institute Press website.