THE CHORA AND THE CORE: A GENERAL LOOK AT THE RURAL SETTLEMENT PATTERN OF (PRE)HELLENISTIC BOZBURUN PENINSULA, TURKEY

This paper aims at explaining the manner of organization of the demes (δήμοι) of the bozburun peninsula (originally identified with the carian culture) in southwest anatolia, with a view to consider them with their chora which look quite interwoven with an acropolis being the core settlement, and elaborate the rural pattern thereof, within the spatial context. the scope of the formal study area encompasses the region beginning from the southern borders of the deme of hydas (modern turgut) and extending to the isthmus lying in the south (east of the deme of casarae) of the mainland. extensive surveys and aerial applications fused by gis technique have shown that the orientation of deme centers, which are located at 5 km intervals with 30 km2 territoriums on average, are compatible with topography and their dispersed patterns but non-random spatial structure was economy driven during the rhodian “colonization” which reached the peak during the 3rd-2nd centuries b.c.