A Safe Hotspot. Plant Biodiversity and the Natural and Cultural Heritage at Tilmen Höyük

Alongside the archaeological researches, the environmental heritage of the Tilmen Hoyuk has been investigated through a multidisciplinary approach. Plant biodiversity (plant species and plant communities) is shown by six different types of plant communities and 221 different plant taxa (species, subspecies, varieties), including rare taxa, endemic to the nearby Amanus Mountains. Plant biodiversity at Tilmen has a particular value from the genetic, historical and human point of view. The presence of species, which are the wild relatives of important Mediterranean crops (barley, fig, olive, grapevine), reflects the long history of man-environment interaction in this area.