Reconstructing the Past in a changing Landscape. Reflections on the Area of Ephesus and other Sites in Western Asia Minor

Abstract

Landscapes are in perpetual transformation. This happens partly due to natural causes, like climatic changes or changes of soil quality, for example by salinization, partly due to human beings and their interventions, just to recall deforestation, or the regulation of rivers. Among others, the establishment of settlements and the construction of roads are common efforts to transform a natural space into a cultural landscape. – Historical geography tries to reconstruct the former state of a landscape, focusing on a special period, for example Late Antiquity or the Middle Byzantine Period. The reconstruction focus on different aspects, by using various methods, scientific approaches like geodesy and geophysics as well as historical or philological approaches like the analysis of written sources or archaeological data. Different time levels may appear in the picture presented as research result; some places are connected with diverse ideas and traditions during their history. Both the author and the reader of an academic study must be aware of the fact that subjective interpretation is always an important factor of each historical and historic-geographical work. Among other places in Western Anatolia, the area of Ephesus is a good example to illustrate this: a changing landscape and divergent interpretations of literary sources and the local archaeological material offer different pictures of the settlement conditions in that area during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages.

Keywords

• Ephesus,Late Antiquity,middle Ages,research methods,space

Değişen Bir Bölgede Geçmişin Rekonstrüksiyonu. Efes Bölgesi ve Küçük Asya’nın Batısındaki Başka Bölgeler Hakkında Düşünceler

Öz

Peyzajlar daimi bir değişim içindedirler. Bu kısmen iklimsel değişimlerden veya tuzlanma örneğinde olduğu gibi toprak kalitesinin değişimleri gibi doğal nedenlerden dolayı olmakta, kısmen de ormanların yok edilmesi veya nehirlerin düzenlenmesi gibi insanlardan ve onların müdahalelerinden dolayı meydana gelmektedir. Diğerleri arasında, yerleşimlerin kuruluşu ve yolların yapılışı doğal bir yeri kültürel bir manzaraya dönüştürmek için olağan girişimlerdir. Tarihi coğrafya belli bir döneme, örnek olarak Geç Antik Dönem’e veya Orta Bizans Çağı’na, odaklanarak bir peyzajın önceki halinin rekonstrüksiyonunu yapmaya çabalamaktadır. Rekonstrüksiyon çeşitli metotlar kullanarak – yani jeodezi ve jeofizik gibi bilimsel yaklaşımlarla birlikte yazılı kaynakların analizi veya arkeolojik bilgiler gibi tarihi veya filolojik yaklaşımlar – farklı bakış açılarına odaklanmaktadır. Farklı zaman kademeleri araştırma sonucu olarak sunulan resimde kendini gösterebilir; bazı yerlerin tarihleri süresince çeşitli fikirler ve gelenekler ile bağlantılıdır. Bir akademik çalışmanın hem yazarı hem de okuyucusu sübjektif yorumlamanın her tarihi ve tarihi coğrafik çalışmanın daima önemli bir etkeni olduğu gerçeğinin farkında olmalıdır. Batı Anadolu’daki başka yerlerin arasında Efes bölgesi şunu göstermek için iyi bir örnektir: değişen bir peyzaj ve edebi kaynakların farklı yorumları ve yerel arkeolojik materyal bu bölgedeki Geç Antik Dönem ve Orta Çağ süresindeki yerleşim koşullarının farklı bir resmini sunmaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Ephesos,Araştırma Metotları,Uzay,Orta çağ,Geç Antik Çağ

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