Eric Fouache

Possible complexity of the climatic event around 4300—3800 cal. BP in the central and western Mediterranean

This paper presents an event stratigraphy based on data documenting lake-level changes as well as volcanic eruptions over the period 4500—3500 cal. BP from sediment sequences of Lakes Accesa in Tuscany (north-central Italy) and Maliq (Albania) in the central Mediterranean. The available data make it possible to recognise a tripartite climatic oscillation between c. 4300—3800 cal. BP. A phase characterised by drier conditions at c. 4100—3950 cal. BP appears to have been bracketed by two phases marked by wetter conditions and dated to c. 4300—4100 and 3950—3850 cal. BP, respectively. The deposition of the Avellino tephra occurred during the first humid phase, slightly before 4300 cal. BP, and that of an interplinian tephra AP2-AP4 (or Pr1) around 4050 cal. BP during the dry intermediate phase. This dry median episode may be related to the so-called ‘4.2 ka event’ observed in tropical areas as well as in northwestern Italy. A comparison of the Accesa lake-level record with palaeoclimatic terrestrial and marine records suggests that this complex climatic oscillation around 4300—3800 cal. BP affected the central and western Mediterranean area. The key position of the 4300—3800 cal. BP climatic oscillation at a crucial transition from mid to late Holocene in the Mediterranean and tropical areas, deserves major consideration in further investigations.

Piraeus, the ancient island of Athens: Evidence from Holocene sediments and historical archives

The famous Greek geographer Strabo wrote in the fi rst century A.D., that Piraeus was formerly an island and lay ‘over against’ the mainland, from which it got its name. To validate Strabo’s hypothesis, cartographic and historical data were compiled with multiproxy paleoenvironmental analyses and radiocarbon dating from a series of boreholes drilled in the Cephissus coastal plain, southwest of Athens, Greece. The results of this interdisciplinary geoarchaeological research demonstrate the reliability of Strabo’s text by revealing that Piraeus was indeed an island. In early Holocene time, the rocky hill of Piraeus was linked to the mainland of Attica. During the late to fi nal Neolithic Period (4850‐3450 B.C.), Piraeus became an island in a shallow marine bay, due to sea-level rise in the Holocene. Between 2850 and 1550 B.C., in the Early and Middle Bronze Age, Piraeus was separated from the mainland by a wide lagoon. In the fi fth century B.C., Themistocles, Cimon, and then Pericles connected Athens to Piraeus by building two “long walls” partly built on a residual coastal marsh called the Halipedon. This study reveals an impressive example of past landscape evolution.

Evolution of the Croatian shore line between Porec and Split over the past 2000 years

Along the Croatian Coast we have carried out a series of divings, looking for geomophological and archaeological indicators of ancient sea-levels. A submerged notch, corresponding to a sea level lower by about 50 cm that the present one, can be observed in several places along the Croatian Coast between Porec and Zadar. A number of submerged archaeological remains like Roman quarries, fish-ponds, cisterns, give evidence that the notch corresponds to the sea level in Roman antiquity, 2000 years ago. South of this area, from Zadar to Split, Roman submerged archaeological remains are related to a sea level lower by about 1,50 m than the present one. We present our observations along the Croatian coastline, from Porec to Split, and discuss the possibility of a regional neotectonic effect on the last 2000 years.

Sea-level changes and shoreline reconstruction in the ancient city of Delos (Cyclades, Greece)

The coastal areas of the island of Delos, located at the centre of the Cyclades archipelago (Greece), are rich in submerged Hellenistic archaeological vestiges. This submersion can be explained by changes in relative sea-level: the recent 14C datings of submerged beachrock occurrences of Delos and the nearby islands of Mykonos and Rhenia suggest that the sea level was at about -2.5 m (± 0.5 m) around 400 BC [1, 2]. Such result has enabled to confirm and refine Negrisearly-twentieth-century hypothesis that the submersion can be accounted for by the relative sea-level rise. From this result, together with bathymetric maps, archaeological studies and stratigraphic data, the Hellenistic coastal landscapes on the western side of Delos have been reconstructed. The Sacred Harbour (including the Agora of the Competaliasts) and the “Pointe des Pilastres” landscapes (located to the South) resembled those of the current Greek harbours: the paved walkways or esplanades bordering buildings or shops were separated from the sea by a beach onto which boats were drawn. The landscape of the “Maisons au flanc de la Colline” sector (located to the North) seems to have been different. These houses were located on a rocky platform, in a sector exposed to the north swell.

The Interplay between Environment and People from Neolithic to Classical Times in Greece and Albania

The objective of this chapter is to examine environmental and societal changes in the southern part of the Balkan Peninsula. By virtue of its position facing Asia Minor (Anatolia), the southern part of the Balkans, comprised of Greece (here defined to include Attica, Boetia and the Peloponnesus) and Albania, played an important role in the transmission of agriculture practices and civilization to the European continent, a process commonly labelled Neolithization (Van Andel et al. 1980; Perles 2001; Touchais and Renard 2002). The Near East contributions are undeniable, but it also appears that indigenous civilizations began very quickly to differentiate themselves. This led to a dense agricultural development of the region at the start of the Bronze Age, occasionally with an impressive management of hydraulic constraints, culminating notably in the management of ‘poljes’ (areas of coalescent karst sinkhole or dolines) during the Mycenaean period in Boetia, Thessaly, as well as the Peloponnesus (Knauss 1991). The agricultural cultivation and the agro-pastoral activities that followed, combined with the role of climatic fluctuations, resulted in the intense clearing of land that at times led to significant erosion. The agricultural development was eventually accompanied by the development of cities. The Minoan period, limited to Crete, and the following Mycenaean period that extended to the whole of ancient Greece provide the most impressive examples. This substratum largely prepared for the advent of Greek cities, the ‘Athenian miracle’ and the expansion of Hellenism across the whole of the Mediterranean Basin and the Black Sea.

Palaeogeographical reconstruction and management challenges of an archaeological site listed by UNESCO: the case of the Letoon shrine in the Xanthos Plain (Turkey)

Palaeogeographical reconstruction and management challenges of an archaeological site listed by UNESCO: the case of the Letoon shrine in the Xanthos Plain (Turkey) During the Hellenistic period, Xanthos and Letoon were respectively a large city and an important shrine in Lycia. Questions still remain about the geography of the Eşen Çayı delta during the first millennium BC: what were the features of the landscape surrounding the Letoon shrine? Where did the riverbed lie? Our analysis is based on a reconstruction of the geomorphological dynamics at work during the Holocene. These are then compared with historical, archaeological and literary sources. Sedimentary sampling shows that a marine bay was gradually closed during the formation of a coastline spit, which led to the development of a lagoon system. Lagoons and marshes remained predominant characteristics of the plain over a long period. A branch or a former channel of the Eşen Çayı was discovered close to the Letoon shrine. In recent decades, authorities, as well as UNESCO, are now making an effort to manage palaeoenvironmental reconstructions in their promotion of the tourist potential of archaeological sites. We propose a management project for the Letoon site.

Early Holocene environment in a subsiding balkanic graben (Skopje, F.Y.R.O.M.): The Case of Tumba Madzhari (5 800-5 300 BC)

The Skopje basin, located at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula, is a Tertiary graben with main faults still in activity. The subsiding floodplain of the Vardar River is surrounded by two ancient mountain ranges. Soft limestone hills, alluvial glacis and alluvial fans shape the foothill belt. To the north of the graben, Tumba Madzhari is currently the only Neolithic settlement recorded in the very vicinity of the floodplain. The other sites are established on Pleistocene steeped alluvial terraces and pleistocene colluvial deposits. This study aims to reconstruct the Holocene evolution of the Vardar floodplain in order to understand the geographical distribution of the Neolithic settlements in this area. Eight probes were carried out at Tumba Madzhari and down to the left bank of the Vardar River. Granulometric studies of the core sediments show high lateral mobility of the Vardar River during the Holocene period. This mobility has set since the Early Holocene the environmental background of the Neolithic colonization of the valley floor.