Analyzing Urban and Industrial Threats to Heritage in Turkey Using Remote Sensing and GIS

Summary

In Akçalar, Turkey, the location of the Neolithic-Chalcolithic Aktopraklık site, urban and industrial development present shocking social, cultural, and economic changes to the community. The local landscape is transforming as towering apartment complexes are quickly expanding into areas previously occupied by sprawling fields of crops. As documented ethnographically, these processes have heightened local awareness of the decline of community heritage values, like neighborliness, agricultural livelihoods, and green space. Furthermore, a diachronic ground survey has confirmed these dramatic changes in the previously small village over the last 5 years. Ahead of recent urbanization, industrialization of the area has expanded greatly in the last 20 years, especially in the designated industrial zone that surrounds the archaeological site. Indeed, ethnographic data indicates that factory construction in this zone has previously destroyed archaeological finds in its path. This study triangulates on-the-ground research with GIS and remote sensing analysis of satellite imagery and land use/land cover data to track the rapid development of this previously rural area. In particular, this analysis aids in planning future measures aimed at protecting valued archaeological and community heritage.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21698