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

Year 2018, , 75 - 90, 15.11.2018

Andreas Külzer

https://doi.org/10.37095/gephyra.479912

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

Abstract

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.

Keywords

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

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