Imperial systems and local landscapes of Buldan Yayla in Western Anatolia (Türkiye) during the last 4000 years: an integrated palynological, historical, and archaeological approach
This study investigates long-term impacts of empires on local socio-ecosystems in western Anatolia (modern western Türkiye) over the past four millennia. We focus on Buldan Yayla Lake, located in a small mountain basin north of the Büyük Menderes (Great Meander) River valley. By examining palynological data alongside historical and archaeological records, we show how four major empires?Hittite, Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman?shaped land use, vegetation, and resource management practices in a specific locality within a wider regional and transregional economic network. The ebb and flow of empire resulted in cycles of land use intensification and rewilding, resembling broader patterns of regional integration and fragmentation. The different administrative and economic structures of each empire, however, left distinct ecological imprints, with evidence of shifts from extensive pastoralism to specialised crop cultivation, or from olive-focused agriculture to one dominated by mixed agriculture. These shifts underscore both the variation and the adaptability of local socio-ecological systems within broader imperial networks and highlight the interplay of transregional and local factors in landscape transformation.Introduction Western Anatolia Climate and vegetation Historical setting Hittite period 17th–12th century BCE Roman period 2nd century BCE–7th‐century CE Mid‐Byzantine 9th–12th‐century CE Ottoman 14th–19th‐century CE Lake sediments Site description and methods Pollen recruitment and representation Pollen analysis results (Table 1) BYG‐1 zone (785–683 cm, 4000–3350 cal. BP/2050–1400 BCE) BYG‐2 zone (683–464 cm, 3350–2050 cal., BP/1400–100 BCE) BYG‐3a subzone (464–348 cm, 2050–1600 cal., BP/100 BCE–350 CE) BYG‐3b subzone (348–278 cm, 1600–1350 cal., BP/350–600 CE) BYG‐4a subzone (278–147 cm, 1350–780 cal., BP/600–1170 CE) BYG‐4b subzone (147–0 cm, 780–(−)67 cal., BP/1170–2017 CE Summary Discussion The peripheries of the Hittite imperial system : 17th–12th century BCE Roman imperial system and the intensification of human impact: 2nd‐century BCE–7th‐century CE The medieval Byzantine–Seljuk agricultural regime: 9th–12th‐century CE The early Ottoman agricultural regime The Late Ottoman empire and the transition to modern economy: 19th‐century CE Conclusion
