Cultural Ecology of Thrace

A Cultural and Ecological Survey of Thrace


Introduction:

Although the land called Thrace includes a large part of Bulgaria, Greece and the European side of Turkey, the focus on this paper will be on the Turkish side only. Thrace is an interesting region to study, as it offers a range of different cultures that existed altogether. The geography of the region is simple, where a row of mountains border a large flood plain, that is watered by a number of rivers. One would expect a lot of settlements in such an area, and from the Neolithic on, the region was inhabited densely, and the main Classical cities survived at the same sites until modern times. The paper aims to give a humble depiction of the ecological features of the region in a brief way, and to discuss the settlement patterns and subsistence strategies of the people who inhabited Thrace, in Prehistoric times and in Classical times. A concise study of all features of those sites would be impossible, since the field studies and excavations aimed only at identifying the sites and unearthing them. Many of field surveys give statistical numbers about the amount of pottery collected, but no such studies exist for floral and faunal analysis of the region.
However, it is still possible to reconstruct the past life features, although very partially, from the geological and climatological information. The region is quite close to sea level and because it is a low flood plain, floodings would be probable and do still destroy habitation areas today. However, most of the sites had to be close to rivers, by necessity of acquiring water for use. Another feature of the region is that it is torn by many active fault lines, which caused very serious earthquakes. This also might have influenced the aspects of past life. The region was well irrigated by rivers which took their water from sources sited up in the mountain massifs. However, the weather is generally very harsh in winter and summer brings in very low rainfall and water scarcity. The areas close to the rivers are generally wet and marshy, the areas that are far away are very dry. So the people who inhabited the sites in Thrace might have to tackle with such paradoxal situations and develop strategies for subsistence.
In order to draw a general picture of the region, first a brief outline of “written” history will be given. Then the geology, seismology, floral and faunal characteristics, mineral sources and discussions about their use will be presented. The sites and hypotheses about the settlement and subsistence strategies of the people will be discussed in the third part, in light of the ecological knowledge gathered.
The bibliography relevant to this topic is extremely limited. Some early excavations were done in 20th century (Mansel 1938; 1943) but these are restricted to classical settlements. Some new surveys have been done by Özdoğan and Erdoğu, but there are no geoarchaeological surveys at all. most of the information is gathered from geology and ecology sources which makes it harder to see how was the picture back in prehistoric times.

The History and Archaeology of Thrace Outlined:

The information obtained through archaeology is quite few in Thrace with respect to other parts of Turkey, namely Anatolia. One reason is that the finds were mainly prehistorical and suracing remains were very few comparing to those of Anatolia. The prehistoric remains of Thrace attracted the archaeologists to the area rather lately, and so far surveys identifying sites have been done. On the other hand, the known Classical sites are under modern cities, and it is hard to know since when they existed there and in which prehistorical/historical periods they were inhabited.
Remains dating to the Paleolithic Age were found in a cave called Yarımburgaz, near Küçükçekmece lake at Istanbul during the season of 1964-1965. The cave has two compartments and the higher compartment is 19 meters above sea level and several finds dating to Late Paleolithic, Neolithic and Chalcolithic Age were discovered. The lower compartment is nerly 1 km long and only remains from the Lower Paleolithic were found there (Kansu, Ş.A. 1965: 22-32; Arsebük, G. et al. 1990, 1991). In Tekirdağ excavations on a prehistoric site continue and an industry of stone toold has been foud so far (Özdoğan, A. 1998).
Another feature of Thrace are Prehistoric dolmens. These are unique to this region and are generally known as European elements. However, due to agricultural activities and tomb robberies these dolmens are being razed one by one (Özdoğan, M.&Akman, M. 1991)
Other field survey in Prehistoric sites of Thrace are being done, especially in the riversides of Edirne and Tekirdağ (Erdoğu, B. 1996, 1998; Özdoğan, A.& Işın, M.A. 1998).
When the litteracy flowered in Anatolia, there was still no writing, no urbanism and no centralized state. The only information about the Thracian language is a ring inscribed with greek letters, but in Thracian(Erzen, A 1994: 87). The mass migration of the Thracian tribes (that Herodotus calls as “Bryges”) is assumed to have caused the foundation of the Phrygian rule in inner Anatolia, but even at that date, there is no historical evidence of a state founded in Thrace itself (Herodotus, Book VII, 73). About 750 BC some Greek colonial cities were founded in Thrace, namely Elaious, Sestos, Selymbra, Byzantion and Ainos. After this era, Thrace saw the invasion of Persians under Darius I and then of Greeks and Macedonians. Finally Thrace was taken under Roman rule in 47, by Claudius (Umar, B. 2003).

The Geology of Thrace:

The region is bordered at the North by the Istranca massifs, which belongs to the Alpine mountain chain. The massif contains several metamorphic zones and stone groups like granite, diorite, sienite; it emerged during the Hersinian period and contains some tertiary rock covers. The other main geological formation of the region is the Meriç(Maritza) delta and flood plain. The lower Meriç plateau is sited on a low area that emerged by the contraction of Oligocene sediments between the Rhodop mountains at northwest and the Gölcük massif at southeast. The Meriç plateau is channel-shaped and ensured the communication of the sea at south and the Ergene riverbed at north from the Oligocene till the Quaternary. During the Miocene a transgression advanced inside the Ergene basin. During this Miocene transgression volcanic activities took place and the volcanoes spread tufa around this region. The tectonic movements continued during the Quaternary as well and while the neighbouring plateaux continued to be raised by this movement, the river basin sagged further (Atalay 1982: 240).
Several terraces at the coastline and through the plateau witness changes in the sea level . At least five level changes are observable, and this observation has been verified in sea level changes in Southern Aegean . At least five superimposed deltaic sequences are observed in the gulf of Gökova, and the postglacial Holocene sea level rise resulted in a distinct seismic uncomformity throughout the region (Uluğ, A. et al. 2005). In the narrows near the delta, an old delta that developed during the post-Tirenian regression, whenthe sea level diminished by –110m . the Flandrian transgression inundated the plateaux of Meriç and Ergene rivers in estuaries and its effects are still observable as a thick layer of silt with fossilized seashells. The development of the flood plain and the current delta occured after this transgression when the sea level fell a little and came to today’s level (Atalay 1982: 241). The delta is advancing rapidly, and alluvial erosdional and sedimentary deposits that are found here are very rich in variety. The most conspicious among them is the backswamp deposits. On the other hand, the flood plain also filled due to two reasons: lateral erosion and constant changes in the river bed (Göçmen, K 1999).
In the northern part of the Thrace region, the Paleozoic formations are metamorphic and show inaccuracies with the Eocene limestones. The Eocene and the Lower-Middle Oligocene period however, presents a very soft limestone bed with fossiles of nummulitidae inside (Sirel, E. &Gündüz, H. 1976). In Çanakkale, those fossiles belonging to Sarmatiene and Pliocene were found: mastodon longirostris, Tapes gregarina, Ervilia podolica, Mactra podolica (in limestones), Cerithium priscum, Phoca pontica (in clays and sandstones), Sus erymanthius, Tragocerus amaltheus (in heavy sand and gravel) (Ternek 1987).
The Plio Quaternary is observed north of Kocaeli, in Ergene basin and in Gelibolu. In these areas a large amount of clay, silt and gravel is found, as sedimented by lakes and rivers. Around Gelibolu, conglomeric formations and terraces present the Pliocene. Pleistocene alluvion forms a large terrace in Ergene basin, and can be observed around 50m above the present river beds. The Holocene alluvion is more widespread and is formed of clay, sand and soil. Around the major lakes and rivers of the region, these large deposits can be found (Ternek 1987: 32). Volcanic activities took place in North Thrace and many examples of tufa, andesite and diabase can be found on the Istrance massif. These features cover a large area till North of İstanbul.
The Thrace region enters into the Pontid tectonic unit. This area is very rich in terms of faults, and generally the distribution of volcanic stones and hotwater sources reveal the fault lines. the Harala fault line passes through Harala Meriç, Ergene and Karaağaç; the İpsala Muratlı fault passes through Kurucuköy Hesaskalesi, Paşayiğit; Enez Çorlu fault passes through Keşan to Beşiktepe (a set of small volcanoes). The earthquakes in the region are very common and their epicenter is mainly in the Marmara Sea. Very strong earthquakes are a feature of the region and the South coast of Marmara is included to this range of earthquakes (Ternek 1987: 41-42).

Important Mines:

Although Thrace features a large number of mineral ores and important raw materials for many modern industries, I will only count those which might be exploited and used in the antiquity. Among them are lead, copper, zinc, gold and silver, iron, clay, marble, and construction stones like andesite and limestone.
At the south and east side of Marmara Sea, and north of Istranca mountains are feasible sources of copper and zinc. Lead can be found at the other side of the Marmara Sea, namely at Bursa and Çanakkale, but we have no information whether it was discovered in the antiquity. Gold and silver are generally found at the both sides of İstanbul and in Kocaeli in small amounts. Iron is quite common in the region, and is found in important amounts in Kıklareli and Istranca massif. Around Edirne, a thick layer of clay bed is sited and the clay is rich in illite. On the other hand, kaolin rich clays were found at Kırklareli. Both of those materials can have been used in the antiquity for pottery. The marble sources of Marmara region were famous in the antiquity, and these could be brought to very far sites, including the neighbouring cities of Thrace. In Çanakkale Biga, a soft green marble is quarried. The marbles of Marmara island are known as Procannesian marbles, and smaller sources were found at Erdek and Sarayköy, towns that are very close to Marmara island. Apart from marble, andesite is found abundantly as a volcanic stone around Thrace and there are some limestone sources, although we have no information whether the quality of the stone is good for construction purposes. Traces of basalt stones were found around Enez, Hisarlıdağ (Ternek 1987: 45-48).


Climate and Hydrology:

The climate of Thrace is quite cold and continental. Occasionally a rainy and mild winter is observed, similar to the Black Sea climate. The annual average temperature is 13.5 degrees and the annual average rainfall is between 600-800 mm. The average evaporation is 910 mm and precipitation is high.
A few lakes still exist in the flood plain. One of them is Gala lake, which is a salty lake. Dalyan lake is a soda lake, on the other hand, and its vicinities are very arid. The Taşaltı lake is a sall and very shallow lake, and its coasts are used as rice fields today. A few other lakes are small and salty, however, they are used in fish production today( Gürpınar 1994).
The most important rivers of the region are Arda, Tunca, Meriç and Ergene rivers, which are flowing on a very flat plain, which causes the plain to flood. The waters of the basin are flowing into the Aegean via Meriç river, however there are important problems of flooding and bad drainage. Because of modern deforestation and practices of agriculture cause the plant cover to disappear more and more and this results in floodings in heavy rains. Ergene river, on the other hand, flows into a small lake and floods its basin annually, which result in big marshy lands and reduce the agricultural quality of the soil.

Soils:

The conditions of precipitation and drainage play an important role on the qualities of the soil. The main kinds of soils found in the region are alluvial, hydromorphic alluvial, noncalcarious brown forest soils, noncalcarious brown soils and vertisols. On the mounatineous areas that encircle the basin, the rainfall şncreases and washes the soils. It resulted in the development of brown forest soils. The brown soils are found at lower altitudes and are mixed with vertisols. Most of the vertisol areas are found around the Ergene peneplaine, and these soils are produced under the hot climate of the basin, where annual rainfall is around 600-800 mm. Vertisols are heavy soils that contain a lot of clay and they dont allow most of the rain and snow to precipitate into the soil. In hot and dry summer days, big and deep cracks develop on the surface of vertisols. These soils are not suitable for agricultural purposes. ( Gürpınar 1994: 14-15).

Flora:

The hydromorphic alluvial soils are naturally near vrivers and lakes, but since their drainage is not always good, generally plants like reeds, carex, Typhae are the natural flora of those areas. Rice is being cultivated on those areas. The north part of the region is included in the North Anatolian phytogeographical area. Here the flora is made of large leaf trees at lower altitudes and pine trees at higher altitudes. Some widespread trees are varieties of Abies, Acer, Carpinus, Corylus, Fagus orientalis, Pinus sylvestris, Quercus, Tilia( fir, maple, hornbeam, pine, oak, linden). The centre of the region and the Ergene basin are now nothing but anthropogenic steppes, due to extensive agriculture and deforestation. machis, pseudo machis and dry forests cover the Meriç valley and the Aegean coast.
Among the grass and plants are many cereal types and small seeded legumes, that cover the pasturelands today. Among them are couch grass, plantago, Festuca glauca, Lotus edulis, Lupinus angostofolius, Dactylis hispanica, Stipa orientale. (Atalay 1983: 81-96).
The agricultural production is being done in a very extensive way today, and the most popular plants are wheat and sunflower. Then comes barley, rye, vegetables, legumes and fruits (Gürpınar 1994: 27).
However, the plant cover of the region is receding because of agriculture and increase of population. This causes further erosion and draught.

Fauna:

The fauna of Thrace consists of a homogenous distributrion of animals, mainly of European origin. The evidence shows that a few millenium ago this region was entirely covered by large leaved trees. Although the faune still preserves its characteristics, due to land use it is being reduced to a dangerous amount. The key site for the fauna of the region is the İğne ada region to the north of Istranca massif, where a large proportion of the natural fauna is still preserved (Demirsoy 1999).
From the recent sources it seems that the most popular domestic animal in the region is cattle. Following this are sheep and goat (Gürpınar 1994: 32). It is a natural result since the area is very flat and suitable for the breeding of cattle and sheep.

Archaeological Sites in Thrace:
There are many archaeological sites in Thrace, however most of them are still unexcavated. Together with a number of Greco-Roman towns that are sited where their modern counterparts are now, a large amount of smaller Prehistoric villages were situated near the water sources of edirne and Kırklareli. the field surveys aimed at three points:
1. to find new settlement areas , to assess the cultural transformation and try to explain the relationship between Anatolian and Balkan cultures.
2. to find Late Chalcolitic remains on the area.
3.To find Early Neolithic settlements North of Ergene Basin.
11 settlement areas were found during the surveys along Tunca river (Erdoğdu 1995). Only pottery samples were gathered in order to date the sites. From those sites, Kumocağı/Avarız revealed remains that show parallelism with the Late KaranovoIV-Kalojanovec culture. A lot of white painted black pottery were found, together with a number of flint tools, axes, and bone utensils. This kind of material culture is found in many othr sites of the region, but the earlier cultures found are Karanovo III-Veselinovo cultures (late Neolithic). Around the Northwest of Edirne a number of sites which reveal material that is contemporaneous with Pre-Cucuteni culture found in the area between Roumania and West Ukraine. However, these pieces show rather local characteristics.
A second survery has been done between Meriç and İpsala (Erdoğdu 1998). We know that during the Prehistoric age the Aegean sea was approaching the region as a big eastuary. Short after that, the aluvion and silt brought by Meriç River started to fill the area and create a flat area with small lakes and marshes.
In this region a number of sites were surveyed for dating and identifying purposes. Pottery belonging to Karanovo III- Veselinovo culture, as well as Karanovo II red pottery were discovered in the sites. A large number of stone and bone utensils were found together with pottery. In many of those sites, pottery examples from other periods exist which show that they were still inhabited even in Iron Age, and Classical Age. A flint tool group found in Bozdere (Erdoğdu 1998: 348) is the earliest assemblage found and can be dated to Epipaleolithic, Mesolithic.
A number of studies were conducted by Mehmet Özdoğan in this region in order to shed light on the Thracian culture and especially about the dolmens that are found in this region. Dolmens are megalithic monuments set upon a tomb and are mostly fund and best researched in North and West Europe, although their distribution comprises a very large area, from Europe till Japan at east, ans India at South. With the last studies the amount of dolmens studied in Thrace reach 74. A few of similar monuments were found in East anatolia as well. In 1983 the Edirne museum moved a dolmen and reconstructed it in the museum garden. The excavations under the dolmen revealed LBA-EIA pottery pieces similar to the culture found in Troy VIIb (Özdoğan 1991: 408). The general opinion about the dating of dolmens is that these were used during LBA and EIA, but their use continues till 7th-8th century BC. Özdoğan mentions that many of those dolmens were hiding in the forest but when they were cut for agricultural purposes the dolmens were also eradicated, and few remain to our days.

A Discussion about the Settlement Patterns in Thrace:

Thrace was well fed by several rivers in the antiquity and it seems that until recently, it was mostly covered by large leaved forests, marshlands and grass. A lot of prehistoric and Neolithic sites are discovered along the smaller riversides, but due to heavy silting and marshing, the evidence about any sites along the banks of Meriç and Ergene rivers could not be found.
Although the Prehistoric sites were very small, the occupation is very dense and one would expect the agricultural purposes to open up the forest land a little. With the abundance of wood the inhabitants of this area must have used wood in their architecture and as fuel. Several sorts of grass and early cereals are still found all around Thrace, and with a milder climate and more rain it is probable that they entirely covered the areas devoid of forests. This must have enabled the people to cultivate grains, and to breed large animals like cattle, sheep and pig.
The Ergene Basin as well as the Meriç basin are very flat areas and if there were any habitations in those areas, they would be affected from flooding. The plains covering this area are made from constant flooding of the river, and in the antiquity it is of great chance that these were marshlands. The marshlands have two advantages that they provide much fish, fowl and reed for construction and basket-making purposes. Their disadvantage is that they also provide a lot of mosquitoes, and we know that mosquitoes and malaria were great problems at any site affected from silting.
The wild animal reserve of the Thracian region is more or less the same as that of Europe. In the antiquity one could probably find a lot of wild boars, bears, wolfs and stags, as well as other smaller animals. however, today the fauna is much disturbed due to heavy agriculture and the scenery of the region does not give a hint about how it was in the antiquity.
The resources are many and there were a few mineral sources that the Prehistoric people could have used. The volcanic activities in the region provided a lot of flint, as well as hard stones like diorite, and andesite. Clay was abundantly found everywhere, especially in old river beds. Copper was also available in the region, together with zinc. During the Iron Age we know that the Phrygians used a lot of zinc in the copper and obtained almost brazz-looking bronze utensils, and one could expect the same technology applying here, although there are no much evidence about the Bronze and Iron Age settlements of the region.


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