Coastal margin evolution and postulated “basin‐shipyard” area at ancient Locri‐Epizephiri, Calabria, Italy

Abstract

Environmental settings on the Ionian coastal plain and inner shelf seaward of Locri-Epizephiri in Calabria, Italy, differed markedly before, during, and following settlement by the Greeks. Sediment core analyses and geophysical surveys in this study support recent archaeological findings and the hypothesis that the margin may once have served as a harbor and/or shipyard. The subsurface Holocene stratigraphy records that (1) the shoreline advanced to a maximum landward position before Greek settlement, then regressed offshore to what is now the inner shelf before once again migrating landward. These marked coastal shifts were triggered primarily by land uplift and probable subsidence offshore along this structurally active Calabrian Arc segment. Associated with this are: (2) a sediment fining-upward sequence in Greek-Roman time that indicates only partial protection of the coastal area, and (3) possible presence of subsurface structures seaward of the city wall in a sector now positioned ϳ200 m offshore.

Late Pleistocene and Holocene Sea Level Changes in the Hisarönü Gulf, Southeast Aegean Sea

“…Relative sea level change is viewed as the result of several interacting factors of which the most important are eustatic sea level fluctuations, crustal movements, and sediment accumulation (Allison & Niemi, 2010;Bernasconi & Stanley, 2011;Soter & Katsonopoulou, 2011). It is important to know the global sea level rise and sediment thickness from the last glacial period to estimate the amount of local tectonic subsidence.…”

Buried and Submerged Greek Archaeological Coastal Structures and Artifacts as Gauges to Measure Late Holocene Seafloor Subsidence off Calabria, Italy

“…Regionally important acoustic reflector J ‐horizon ( JH ) of H olocene age; water‐bottom multiple ( M ). Modified from Bernasconi and Stanley ().…”

“…Archaeological vestiges on land at Kaulonia have been studied by Iannelli (, , ) and Barello (), while abundant anthropogenic remains on the seafloor have been detailed by divers (Lena, ; Lena & Medaglia, ; Lena & Iannelli, ; S. Mariottini, personal communication, 2003). Geoarchaeological analysis of the studied coastal sectors has been made by means of high‐resolution subbottom seismic profiles obtained seaward of the two sites, and by cores (Figure a) recovered just landward of the coast (Stanley et al, ; Bernasconi & Stanley, ).…”

“…This feature is positioned ˜200 to 250 m off the present Locri shoreline and seaward of the Greek stoà and coastal marine basin now on land (Figure a). On seismic profiles, it appears as a near‐transparent, poorly stratified lens with a thickness of at least 2 m (low‐amplitude lens, in Figure b, c) and is interpreted as a breakwater (Tennent et al, ; Bernasconi & Stanley, ). This feature lies buried by >1.5 m of stratified sediment, mostly sand, that forms the core of what in plan‐view appears as a large, angular, hook‐shaped mass of sediment ˜450 m long with an average width of ˜200 m. The sediment mass forms a low rise on the seafloor surface and extends seaward, toward the NE, from the present coastline (Figure a).…”

“…Seafloor lowering is likely associated with faulting and deformation of the substrate (Tennent et al, ). Geoarchaeological study indicates that, as a result of these controlling parameters that affected land and offshore terrains, both settlements experienced significant back‐and‐forth shifts of coastline and changes of sea‐level positions during the mid‐ and late Holocene to the present (Stanley, ; Stanley et al, ; Bernasconi & Stanley, ).…”