In Hamshen the natural conditions impassible forests and rough terrain do not give the opportunity for populous centres of habitation. In this area the villages are usually at least 13 km or even further apart and consist of 2030 or at most 50 habitations or separate houses.14 Hemshin villages of today conform totally to this pattern (see Figure 8.3), but this type of habitation is not restricted to this area. For example, Anthony Bryer states that the spread-out village with no real centre is an extension of patterns of habitation found in the Caucasus and says that this has been a general feature of habitation in the eastern Black Sea region since ancient times.15 According to Bryer, in the Hellenistic era no towns were to be found in the mountainous interior of the

Social and economic structures 195 Pontic Alps, and habitation was restricted to groups of villages known as choria.16 During the same period, coastal towns were little more than either administrative or trade centres. Another of Bryers observations is that on market days, which have now been established in many of the towns, the population of towns with a market can double. This may be easily seen in a quiet county such as amlhemvin. Every Friday people flood from the quarters of the town and from the villages into the administrative centre, where a market is held; in contrast, during the rest of the week the centre is rather quiet.

As well as being an inescapable result of the uneven topography, the scattered village type of habitation is also suited to peoples desire to live near the land they have devoted to agriculture. Whether the preference to place ones house in the middle of agricultural land is linked to practical reasons of land maintenance and facility of harvest or whether it is to maintain a distance from forests inhabited by dangerous predators such as bears and boars is not clear, but this is the generally preferred location, even though it is not always possible. Another advantage of the scattered village habitation pattern is that it decreases the number of disputes between inhabitants.17 Disputes over land are very rare in amlhemvin.18

As far as the actual buildings in the villages are concerned, they are very much in keeping with local architectural style and environmental factors and are very functional. Houses are normally made of wood constructed on a stone foundation. They comprise of two or three storeys, with the lower floor being used as a stable and the upper portion for living. The loft (oan) is usually high and spacious and is mostly used to store hay in winter. The roofs are now covered with corrugated iron, which is cheaper and more practical than roof tiles. It is not as good a material as tiles, however: besides rusting, it also makes a lot of noise when it rains. The stable downstairs is only used to give shelter to cattle; sheep and goats are left outside.19 An important annexe of the house is the food store, which is called nayla or nalya in the Hemshin dialect and serender (pronounced serander in the eastern Black Sea region) in Turkish (see Figure 8.4).20 The serender is a square-shaped, roofe