Mining heritage and relevant geosites as possible instruments for sustainable development of miner towns in Turkey

*Gürbüz, Esra ( Aksaray, Yazar )History of mining in Anatolia goes back to the pre-pottery Neolithic in parallel to history of ancient civilizations in the region. Based on archaeological findings, native copper was the first metal used by humans, and right after, it was mined in central Anatolia. The mining of copper seemed to cause both the birth of metallurgy and powerful civilizations (e.g. Hittites, Assyrians, Lydians, Phrygians). Long-time mining of copper, lead, tin, gold and silver formed and left rich and valuable scientific and cultural heritages in Anatolia. They have been used efficiently in archaeological studies; however, miners’ towns need sustainable development now and the mining heritage could be a potential on it. In this study, potential of the mining geoheritages and some relevant geosites have been presented...

Valorisation of the Geological Values (Future Geosite Candidates) Around the UNESCO World Heritage Asset of Hittite Capital Ḫattuša, Türkiye

The ancient city of Ḫattuša, which is already in the UNESCO World Heritage List, is one of the most attractive cultural tourism spots in the central Anatolian landmass. The city is located in the Boğazkale district of the Çorum province and is one of the most important settlements in the Hittite history. The city had served as the capital of the Hittites approximately for 500&nbsp;years. The oldest archaeological findings in this ancient city start from the Chalcolithic Age and extend to the Byzantine period; however, the city reached its golden ages during the reign of the Hittite Empire. Especially the construction of the monumental structures has been considered to be initiated during the old Hittite Kingdom, in the mid-sixteenth century B.C. Besides the famous cultural tourism attractions, the city and its surroundings host important geological structures. In this aspect, we propose twelve potential geosite candidates, which are quantitatively evaluated. These potential geosites are evaluated in basis of their stratigraphic, volcanic, sedimentological, structural geological value and historical significance. Especially, six of these geosite candidates are already located within the archaeological protection area and have an important potential to be registered as future geosites. A quantitative assessment of these geosites and the region for its scientific value (SV), potential educational use (PEU), potential touristic use (PTU) and degradation risk (DR) has shown that the study area has moderate high regional SV, PEU and PTU scores (288, 279 and 278, respectively) and low moderate (213) DR score. The results of the quantitative assessment show that the region has an important potential for geology education and geotourism activities.</p