New relative sea-level (RSL) indications from the Eastern Mediterranean: Middle Bronze Age to the Roman period (~3800-1800 y BP) archaeological constructions at Dor, the Carmel coast, Israel.

Assaf Yasur-Landau,Anthony Tamberino,Thomas E Levy,Giorgio Spada,Dorit Sivan,Daniele Melini,Gilad Shtienberg,Ehud Arkin-Shalev,Jack Reese,Gil Gambash

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0251870

Abstract

This article presents new archaeological observations and multidisciplinary research from Dor, Israel to establish a more reliable relative sea level for the Carmel Coast and Southern Levant between the Middle Bronze Age and the Roman period (ca. 3500-1800 y BP). Our record indicates a period of low relative sea level, around -2.5 m below present, from the Middle Bronze Age to the Hellenistic period (ca. 3500-2200 y BP). This was followed by a rapid rise to present levels, starting in the Hellenistic period and concluding during the Roman period (ca. 2200-1800 y BP). These Roman levels agree with other relative sea-level indications from Israel and other tectonically stable areas in the Mediterranean. Several relative sea-level reconstruction models carried out in the current study provide different predictions due to their parameters and do not model the changes observed from field data which points to a non-isostatic origin for the changes. Long-term low stable Iron Age relative sea level can be seen in Dor, where Iron Age harbor structures remain around the same elevation between ca. 3100-2700 y BP. A similar pattern occurs at Atlit, the Iron Age harbor to the north used continuously from ca. 2900 y BP to the beginning of the Hellenistic period (ca. 2200 y BP). An examination of historical and archaeological sources reveals decline and occasional disappearance of Hellenistic sites along the coast of Israel at ca. 2200 y BP (2nd century BCE), as in the case of Yavneh Yam, Ashdod Yam, Straton's Tower, and tel Taninim. In Akko-Ptolemais, the large harbor installations built in the Hellenistic period were never replaced by a substantial Roman harbor. The conclusions of this research are thus relevant for the sea-level research community and for the historical analyses of the Israeli and South Levantine coastline.

Highlights

In the Mediterranean ancient archaeological constructions built adjacent to the shoreline are essential proxies used for reconstructing the Holocene relative sea level (RSL) as summarized by Sivan et al [1] and Dean et al [2] for the east and by Vacchi et al [3] for the west Mediterranean
All the new indications presented in the current study (9 out of 22 data points; Figs 4 and 5) are from the area of Dor along the Carmel coast (Fig 1). 7 out of the 9 new points are terrestrial limiting RSL points, meaning structures that were originally built on land with no known connection to the sea, but at present are submerged in the bay south of the tel
Most of the structures presented in the overall reconstruction, both the new data from Dor and those from other areas are currently at or below mean sea level (MSL), but since the majority are terrestrial limiting data, the current suggested sea-level position for the period between ~ 3800 y BP and ~2200 y BP was above -3.0 m MSL and probably closer to -2.0 m MSL followed by abrupt sealevel rise to near-present levels in the early Roman period, around 2000–1800 y BP (Fig 5)

Summary

Introduction

In the Mediterranean ancient archaeological constructions built adjacent to the shoreline are essential proxies used for reconstructing the Holocene relative sea level (RSL) as summarized by Sivan et al [1] and Dean et al [2] for the east and by Vacchi et al [3] (and references therein) for the west Mediterranean. Archaeological indicators can be translated into sea-level information through the use of high-resolution elevation measurements and dating, both with the minimum uncertainties that can be achieved and an understanding of the original “functional height” [13], known as indicative meaning [14] which is the original relation of the structure to past mean sea level (MSL). These relationships differ based on the types of archaeological coastal/marine remains. Archaeological remains produce terrestrial or marine limiting points providing only upper or lower constraints on past sea level [3, 15, 16]

Results

Discussion

Conclusion