The Pontic Mountains curve around the southeast coast of the Black Sea in Turkey and the country of Georgia. For millennia they provide food and refuge for nomadic people, farmers and tribal societies such as the notorious Bronze Age Kashka.
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Also called the Pontic Alps they're Kuzey Anadolu Dağları in Turkish, or "North Anatolian Mountains". Pontic Alps translates as "alpine mountains of the Black Sea". Alps are created by the upward thrust of tectonic plates, compared to volcanic mountains. Turkey has both.
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Around Lake Van, where tectonic plates clash, volcanic eruptions last occur in 1855 CE. Turkey is one of the most tectonically active regions in the world, with a long history of major earthquakes. The Pontic region is once underwater.
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Alp in German is an archaic term for Elf, and also refers to high craggy mountains with fertile pasture land. The term alpine comes from the German Alp and pl Alpen. Alps are the youngest type of mountains.
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The Pontic Alps are called Parhar in local Turkish. Creation of the Caucasus, Taurus and Pontic Alps dates to the Cretaceous period, 100 million to 66 million years ago. Below, the Sea of Marmara is named Propontis by the Greeks, meaning "before the Pontus".
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Formed by collision of tectonic plates such as Eurasian, African, Arabian and Indian the Pontic alpine range extends northeast into today's Georgia, and west to the Sea of Marmara. The highest peak in the range is Kaçkar Dağı, at 3,937 m (12,917 ft).
The North Anatolian Fault and the Northeast Anatolian Fault are strike-slip faults or vertical fractures caused by tectonic pressure along the length of the range. Earthquakes and seismic activity are frequent as the Anatolian block is pushed westward.
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In 2022, the Turkish Disaster & Emergency Management Authority documents over 20,000 earth tremors through the country. In the late Bronze Age (c. 1300 BCE) earthquakes and seismic events are considered among the catalysts of the Bronze Age Collapse.
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The Pontic range has dense coniferous forests especially on south slopes. Species include black pine (Pinus negra), Calabrian pine (P. brutia), Scotch pine (P. sylvestris) and Oriental spruce (Picea orientalis). The rare Turkish fir (Abies bornmuelleriana) grows in the north.
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Deciduous forests also cover most of the range, with trees such as oak (Quercus cerris) and massive oriental beech (Fagus orientalis). Mixed forests extend over the east end of the range.
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Pontus, a narrow strip of coastline between the mountains and the Black Sea, is home to Euxine-Colchic deciduous forests and rare temperate rainforests. Other trees include Greek juniper and cedar of Lebanon. Pontus is also a legendary home of the Amazon warriors.
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Wildlife of the forests and mountains include chamois, gray wolf, golden jackal, red deer, and brown bears. Lofty peaks attract the cinereous vulture. Other bird species include Eurasian sparrowhawk, golden eagle, eastern imperial eagle and Caucasian black grouse.
In the Bronze Age, the Pontic Mountains are home to mountain warriors such as the Kashka and Tumanna tribes. They dominate the Black Sea Coasts, serve as mercenaries and habitually terrorize attempts at northern settlement by the fierce Hittites.
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Several freshwater mountain streams feed into the Black Sea. Beginning from the alpine heights they pool in the highlands or can be channeled to irrigate crops or adapted as animal drinking or crossing sites.
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The Bosporus, extending from the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara, is named for legendary Io, who is turned into a cow by Goddess Hera. Bosporus comes from the Greek meaning cattle crossing or ox-ford.
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In the Pontic Mountains live farmers and raiders, not aways the same people. The Kashka weave, hunt chamois and breed pigs when mercenary business is slow. Livestock animals on the rugged slopes and gentle valleys also include cows, goats and sheep.
Crops can be cultivated in the lowlands and highland meadows. Even the mountain warrior tribes are known to grow wheat and potatoes. Emmer wheat is one of the ancient grains and among the few crops to be grown successfully in alpine conditions.
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Some farmers come from the region of Colchis and other Bronze Age settlements on the Black Sea. Colchian merchants and landowners prosper. By the time the early Greeks arrive through the Bosporus, Colchis is already wealthy through trade and ambition.
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Colchis has an advanced metalworking culture and copper resources. Merchants trade with the coastal groups and later the Greeks, who immediately colonize the shores.
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In Greek mythology, the first King of Colchis has the Golden Fleece apprehended by Jason and the Argonauts. Written in the first millennium BCE, Jason's adventures are thought to take place c. 1300 BCE.
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Kaƈkar Daǧ (Kackar Dag) is the highest peak of the Pontic Mountains. Rivers descend the north slopes of the mountain into the Büyükdere watershed, then into the Black Sea. The Büyükdere is important to the spawning of sea trout and sturgeon.
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Volcanism appears primarily in Lake Van province of the Armenian Highlands. Here the Pontic Range meets the Caucasus Mountains.
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