1st Istanbul International Geography Congress Proceedings Book
Paleogeographical and geoarchaeological surveys by core drilling method around Ekşi Mound (Çal-Denizli)
Ertuğ Öner, Serdar Vardar, Aylin Karadaş, Rifat İlhanEkşi mound, which was settled continuously from Neolithic to Chalcolithic, is located to the south of Çivril plain and to the east of Çal district (Denizli). In this study, 16 alluvial drillings were drilled on the low plain of which 10 were on the mound and 6 on the west. Based on the sedimentological and paleontological analyzes of the drilling samples, paleogeography-geoarchaeological chararcteristics of Ekşi mound and its vicinity were interpreted. At the center of the mound is a cultural layer with a thickness of up to 200 cm. The first settlement in the Neolithic began directly on the surface of the Neogene (Pliocene) bedrock. The bedrock was reached at a depth of 5.2-10.5 m on the low plain to the west of the mound. Above this, sedimentary sediments, upper streams and freshwater sediments were reached. In the Ekşi-13 and 16 core drillings, ceramic and chert artifact fragments were found in the lower parts of the coarse river sediments. When the first settlement started in the Neolithic Age, a meander bend of Büyük Menderes River was found on the western part of the Ekşi mound. In the later process, this separated part of the river bed remained as a wetland for a long time in the form of oxbow. As the deep erosion of the river continues, the oxbow remained suspended.
