Dilek Peninsula-Büyük Menderes Delta National Park Aegean Region in general. The peninsula was shaped into its current form over several geological eras with the tectonic merging of Paleozoic schist formations, Mesozoic limestone and marble deposits, and finally the accretion of large clays and other sediments during the Neogene period. This is partly because of Turkey's unstable fault block terrain, and because of the close proximity of the Anatolian-Aegean plate boundary, which generates massifs of mountains all across western Turkey. This includes the peninsula and the mountains surrounding the Büyük Menderes River, known collectively as the Menderes Massif. The peninsula is highly mountainous, with most of its
Anatolian rug in Anatolia itself. The most important cultural influences came from the Chinese culture, and from Islam. Carpets from the Bergama and Konya areas are considered as most closely related to earlier Anatolian rugs, and their significance in the history of the art is now better understood. The early history of the Turkic peoples in Central Asia is closely related to China. Contacts between Turks and China are documented since the early Han dynasty. In his essay on centralized designs, Thompson relates the central medallion pattern, frequently found in Anatolian rugs to the "lotus pedestal" and "cloud collar (yun chien)" motifs,