32. Quaternary Volcanic Landscapes and Prehistoric Sites in Southern Cappadocia: Göllüdağ, Acıgöl and Hasandağ

The southern Cappadocia shows a large variety of Quaternary volcanic landscapes, offering the opportunity to observe beautiful and generally fresh morphologies. These landscapes include two rhyolitic complexes (Göllüdağ and Acıgöl), a huge composite volcano (Hasandağ) and numerous monogenic vents, with scoria cones, domes and maars. Natural and anthropogenic sections show a large variety of lava flows and tephra layers. The precise study of this volcanic material allows reconstructing the volcanic and geomorphologic evolution of this area during the Quaternary, including modes of emplacements, chronology of the volcanic successions, morphological impacts on the landscapes. In addition, archaeological excavations in southern Cappadocia testify for the presence of ancient populations since the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic. During the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods, the southern Cappadocia has been intensively occupied with permanent sites (Aşıklı Höyük, Musular, Tepecik Çiftlik, Köşk Höyük, etc.) as well as non-permanent sites devoted to mining and chopping of obsidian associated with some of the volcanoes.