On February 06, 2014, at 7.00 p.m., Nicholas Rauh (NEH Fellow, ASCSA; Professor of Classics, Purdue University) will adress the subject “Landscape Ecology and the End of Antiquity: The Archaeology of Deforestation in South Coastal Turkey”. The lecture will be given at the ASCSA.

Professor Rauh will present the results of his archaeological survey in south coastal Turkey (ancient Rough Cilicia directly north of Cyprus). During antiquity this region was celebrated for the valuable cedar forests that grew along the flanks of the Tauros Mts. Rauh’s talk will focus on the anthropogenic impact of ancient urban development on these forests. After a brief historical overview and summary of the architectural and ceramic results of the survey, Rauh will discuss his team’s efforts to employ paleo-environmental methods to date the timing of the disappearance of the ancient cedar forests and its likely connection to human activity.