Late Quaternary History of the Coastal Zone near Franchthi Cave, Southern Argolid, Greece

Abstract

AbstractA shallow marine seismic reflection study has clarified the evolution of the landscape around Franchthi Cave in SE Greece during the post-glacial sea-level rise. In late Palaeolithic and Mesolithic times the site, near a sizable river, overlooked a wide coastal plain. Around 9,000 B.P. the shoreline began to approach the present coast forming a possibly enclosed lagoon and later a bay. About 6,000 B.P. flow in the river decreased. An extensive Neolithic settlement may have been located between the river bank or bayshore and the cave. Sea level reached −5 m. ca. 3,000 years ago and remained there until late Roman times, but sedimentation increased greatly during that period, probably as a result of soil erosion.