Gaza : évolution des environnements et occupation de l’espace depuis l’âge du Bronze

Abstract

Gaza has been characterized by important coastal changes since the Bronze Age. Around 6000 years ago, the coast comprised small estuaries at the outlets of the main wadis. During the Bronze Age, this indented coast spawned important maritime settlements such as Tell es-Sakan and Tell al-’Ajjul at the outlet of Wadi Ghazzeh, which probably served as a natural harbour. During the same period, the rate of sea level rise slowed, leading to the formation of the Nile delta and small local deltas along the coasts of the Sinai and Palestine. From the first millennium BC, the coast was regularised by infilling of the estuaries and settlements. The harbour sites became landlocked. In response, new cities, such as Anthedon, were founded on a Quaternary ridge along the present coastline. Our research project is to test and date this «model of sedimentological evolution» –abandonment of estuarine sites and re-settlement on the coastal ridge– and to compare the fluvial and coastal environmental histories to the long-term dynamics of human settlement.