Geoarchaeological Case Studies in the Bakırçay Valley (Topoi A-I-8)

The Lower Kaikos Valley, situated in Western Turkey, is an interesting landscape in which to investigate the development and transformation of central places. In prehistoric times, the region had a decentralized settlement structure. By Hellenistic times, an advanced net of central places had developed around the central places of Atarneus and Pergamon. One of the main topics of research was the connection between the system of the Kaikos river as an important communication line and the rise and fall of Atarneus and Pergamon as important Hellenistic central places.