Valley spider
A valley spider is a pictorial term for a place in a valley that reaches two or more side valleys at the same time from both sides of the valley.
The slopes of valley spiders are often more flatly eroded than in other sections of the valley due to the flattening of the tapering spurs, so the valleys here are mostly widened. Often the bottom is raised in parts by cones of estuaries from tapering valleys, which protects these locations from flooding of the main body of water. Both circumstances favored human settlement.
The formation can be shaped geologically by fault lines that cross a valley or by layer hollows in the rock.