Planning for Heritage Preservation in Western Turkey: A GIS Approach to Archaeotourism and Agricultural Policy

In the Marmara Lake basin, western Turkey, the burial mounds of Bin Tepe are constantly threatened by looting, development, and agricultural expansion. This study outlines a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) methodology used to plan for a solution to preservation through archaeotourism development and agricultural policy compromise in the region. The components of this study include determining how to best take advantage of the scenic view of the mounds for tourism, projecting the potential future visual impact of growing olive trees, and developing a plan to mitigate this impact with unplanted zones. Fieldwork in 2011 both confirmed and furthered GIS analyses.