The projects of the Research Group »Central Places and Their Environment«
involved investigations of individual sites having the character of central
places or of limited regions within which networks of settlements were
present. Cities, seats of power, and sacred sites are investigated in terms of
their significance for and shaping influence on surrounding regions. These
themes are explored through direct collaborations between scientists from the
archaeological and earth sciences respectively. The focus of our
investigations is the network of relations between central sites or
settlements in spaces of limited extension and their surroundings. This
involves reconstructing the development of the respective central site and of
the historical landscape, as well as of various site factors, and analyzing
the structure of relationships with the surrounding territory and the
connecting region. The types of influence exerted by such central places on
the surrounding space are compared in terms of various cultures, regions, and
societal systems. The focal areas of investigation are the Mediterranean
region, the Black Sea area, Central Asia, and the Middle East. Studies include
central places for which adequate historical sources are available, but also
sites from preliterate epochs
