A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Environmental Characteristics of Tavşanlı Höyük and Its Surroundings: Geoarchaeological, Chronological, and Paleoenvironmental Assessments

Tavşanlı Höyük, a significant Bronze Age settlement in Western Anatolia, is located approximately 1 km south of the Tavşanlı district in Kütahya Province, at the centre of a wide tectonic depression known as the Tavşanlı Plain. The eastern and northern boundaries of the mound are naturally bounded by the Orhaneli Stream, which flows through the region.The primary aim of these studies was to reconstruct the palaeogeographic conditions during the initial phases of settlement and to evaluate, within a chronostratigraphic framework, how subsequent environmental changes affected the accumulation and characteristics of archaeological deposits. In line with this objective, eight boreholes were drilled in the study area, and sediment samples obtained from these cores were subjected to radiometric analyses. Radiocarbon (¹⁴C) dating results were used to construct a detailed chronostratigraphic framework.The findings indicate that Tavşanlı Höyük was founded at the beginning of the Bronze Age on a ridge located along the edge of a shallow lake in a wetland environment. The presence of water appears to have played a decisive role in the selection of the settlement site. This wetland environment largely persisted throughout the Bronze Age. However, over time, the Orhaneli Stream altered its course, leading to the transformation of the area into a floodplain dominated by fluvial processes. Geoarchaeological coring revealed anthropogenic cultural deposits ranging from 8 to 10 metres in thickness, containing traces of burning and architectural layers. Sediment characteristics and radiocarbon dating results show that beneath these cultural layers lie earlier occupation traces dating to the Neolithic period. These findings that settlement at Tavşanlı Höyük began approximately 8,000 years ago, during the Neolithic period, making it one of the earliest known settlement sites in Western Anatolia and within the boundaries of Kütahya Province.