In Beyşehir plateaus, transhumance and transhumance culture

Although plateau and transhumance, as direct or indirect concern for the people who live in Beyşehir and strive with husbandary, are both socio-cultural and economic activities, it has been concluded that there has been no scientific study about plateau and transhumance. In the previous studies, this study was conducted on local bases rather than extensive. In order to complete this deficiency, it is required that there should be a study on 'In Beysehir plateaus, transhumance and transhumance culture'. During the research, the excursion and the observation were made, visiting the plateaus which are located in Doğanbey, Başgöze, Yeşildağ, Dumanlı, Akçabelen, Damlapınar and Üzümlü neighborhoods of Beyşehir. A semi-structured questionnaire study with 57 questions has been applied and by interviewing one-to-one with residents of the plateaus, it was tried to have information about plateaus. In addition, former studies on the subject which are conducted on transhumance, were studied in detail. Archiving has been done by taking photo of plateaus. In this study, the temperature and raining features of the region are mentioned and compared. Also, physical, topographical, soil, climatic, geologic and geomorphological features which are related to the study area are explained. Morever, a map, showing the location of the site and the plateaus were made. The altitude of them are showen on it. As a conclusion of the study, of all the plateaus of Beysehir, 9 are located in Doganbey, 5 are on the borders of Başgöze, 3 are on the borders of Dumanlı, 1 is in Akçabelen, 2 of them are in the borders of Damlapınar neighborhood, 1 of them is in the districts of Yesildağ neighborhood and 4 of them are in the districts of Üzümlü neighborhood. Furthermore, it was found out that totally in 25 plateaus, do people perform plateuas and transhumance activities. It was concluded that in geographical conditions of the research field, plateau and transhumance activities are available. Transhumance is performed in a traditional way. In plateaus, basic economic activity is based on husbandry and ın the region, a vertical transhumance is performed. It was observed that husbandary is the most important factor to determine a plateau settlement. The altitude of the plateaus settlements is between 1090 m. and 1713 m. It was concluded that the durance of transhumance is 5-6 months. It was revealed that ın majority of the plateaus of the study sites, there are many problems such as especially infrastructure. Also, It has been found that the determination of plateau migration time is based on livestock in non-stationary settlements. Additionals and residences which are used in plateaus are differ according to plateaus. This is because economic and socio-cultural features of transhumants are influential. Plateau and transhumance activities which are the most important economic activities of the people in study field are performed randomly. And this negatively affects the usage of the plateau and transhumance economy proper. Plateaus which are the subject of the study have infrastructure problems such as sewage, transportation and fresh water to drink besides communication, health etc. The residents of plateaus expect solutions for the mentioned problems as soon as possible. In addition, tourism activities such as nature walk can be started in the research area. Key words: Beysehir, Plateau, Transhumance and Transhumance Culture.