Prehistoric Sites in the Göksu Valley

Abstract

The valley of the river Göksu (the ancient Calycadnus) is not unique as a road through the Taurus mountains. At least one other route was used in antiquity; this was by the Cilician Gates (now the Gülek boğazı). The valley of the Göksu, however, provides the easiest means of access from the coast to the plateau and, conversely, the easiest descent from the plateau to the coast. At the upper end of the route lies the Konya Plain with the sites of Çatal, Can Hasan, Karahüyük-Konya and numerous mounds of the Hittite period; at the lower end, the Plain of Adana and the sites of Mersin and Tarsus.The excavations at Çatal East and West, Can Hasan and Karahüyük-Konya promise to produce an almost complete pottery sequence for the Konya Plain. At certain points in this sequence influence from the south coast has been suggested. Traces of this contact, if it existed, between the two areas might possibily be found in the valley of the Göksu. With this possibility in mind, a re-examination of the Mut area was carried out and, at the same time, an attempt was made to verify the suggested relationship of the Göksu valley to the two “culture-areas”, the Konya Plain and the Plain of Adana, from the Neolithic period until the Iron Age.