Late Holocene palaeoenvironmental evolution of the northern harbour at the Elaiussa Sebaste archaeological site (south-eastern Turkey): evidence from core ELA6

Abstract

The ancient site of Elaiussa Sebaste (SE coast of Turkey) was one of the main trading harbours of the Mediterranean, growing in the Augustan period and maintaining its prestige until the Byzantine era. The Arabic invasion that occurred in the second half of the 7th century AD marked its definitive abandonment. A very prominent historical topic concerns the palaeoenvironmental evolution of the northern and southern harbours of Elaiussa Sebaste, including their decline and burial. A wide interdisciplinary study plans to analyse 8 cores drilled in the modern plains, which correspond to the setting of the 2 harbours basins. This geoarchaeological investigation aims to provide a first model of the environmental evolution recorded in the northern port basin, obtained by means of litho-and biofacies analyses from one of the 8 cores (ELA6) that best represents a good reference-succession in order to interpret this evolution. It consists of sediments deposited in a timespan from the 2nd century BC to the 6th century AD, corresponding to the developments of the ancient town and its harbours. The geophysics evidences the depth of the bedrock and the overlaying deposits. Sedimentology, macropalaeontology, and micropalaeontology define a sequence of shallow marine palaeoenvironments, with clear influence of fresh water. The palynology focuses the attention on a short core-interval corresponding to the timespan of 150-190 AD approximately, when the human impact might have controlled this evolution by building and cultivating. A hypothetical scenario might link some natural events (i.e. the uplift of the area, the increase of the sedimentation rate) to the human impact. These causes may have resulted in the siltation of the harbour that finally ended all harbour-related activities. During the timespan of the 2nd century BC to the 4th century AD, the northern harbour of Elaiussa-Sebaste may represent a good test to apply the Ancient Harbour Parasequence.

Sedimentology, faunal content and pollen record of Middle Pleistocene palustrine and lagoonal sediments from the Peri-Adriatic basin, Abruzzi, eastern central Italy

“…The continuous and significant frequencies of chenopods suggest saline conditions linked to the proximity of the sea, as also indicated by the presence of foraminiferal linings and dinocysts. Similar conditions were recorded in other pollen diagrams from coastal environments, in connection with inputs of marine water into coastal lakes (Di Rita and Melis, 2013;Melis et al, 2015).…”

Alien and cryptogenic Foraminifera in the Mediterranean Sea: A revision of taxa as part of the EU 2020 Marine Strategy Framework Directive

“…The Red Sea/Indian Ocean type (e.g. Hottinger et al, 1993) was also reported from fossil sediments by Mateu (1972), Avnaim-Katav (2010), Melis et al (2015), Yümün et al (2016) and Hyams-Kaphzan (unpublished) and is native to the Mediterranean Sea. Cushman & Todd, 19441944 Spiroloculina attenuata Cushman & Todd -Cushman & Todd, p. 54, pl.…”

“…Modern Mediterranean records include material from the Adriatic Sea, Greece, Israel and Turkey (Cimerman & Langer, 1991;Hollaus & Hottinger, 1997;Hyams et al, 2002;Langer, 2008;Meriç et al, 2008b;Koukousioura et al, 2010). Fossil material of Coscinospira hemprichii from the Mediterranean was recently reported by Melis et al (2015), Yümün et al (2016) and Hyams-Kaphzan (unpublished) from the Adriatic Sea, Turkey and Israel, respectively. Both the fossil record and the material from Batsch show that Coscinospira hemprichii was present in the Mediterranean prior to the opening of the Suez Canal and the species must therefore be considered to be native.…”

“…Benthic foraminifera obtained from material of other cores in the Mediterranean Sea apart from Israel (e.g. Koukousioura et al, 2012;Milker & Schmiedl, 2012;Melis et al, 2015) were also examined to verify the presence and identity of species pre-dating the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. In the following we discuss the foraminifera species listed in the EASIN database together with new additions recently reported in the literature.…”

Current status (as of end of 2020) of marine alien species in Turkey

“…Three alien foraminiferan species, namely Edentostomina culturata , Spiroloculina antillarum and Elphidium charlottense , were excluded from the previous list, as they were proved to have fossil records in the region [ 41 , 77 , 78 ].…”