Paleoenvironmental changes since 3000 BC in the coastal marsh of Vravron (Attica, SE Greece)

Abstract

The coastal area of the Vravron Bay, in the vicinity of the homonym archaeological site, is a marshy plain located on the eastern part of the Attica Peninsula (eastern Greece). In order to provide evidence for palaeoenvironmental changes and landscape evolution of the area, detailed micropaleontological, palynological and sedimentological analyses have been conducted at the underlying Late Holocene coastal deposits. The recovered sediments (lithostratigraphic Units A–D) represent a continuous record of the environmental history of the area since the Early Bronze Age, covering all subsequent historical periods. The base of the recovered deposits is older than the 3rd millennium BC. Until late medieval times, the studied sequence contains plenty evidence for the existence of the natural port reported from the Mycenaean (lithostratigraphic Unit A), that infilled after repeated flooding events during the Classic period (lithostratigraphic Unit B) and gradually developed into a shallower marine environment (lithostratigraphic Unit C). In the uppermost part of the sequence (lithostratigraphic unit D), a transition towards brackish environment with intense fresh water input is featured around 1540 AD. Signs of human agricultural activities in Vravron appear since 3000 BC (Early Bronze Age) and are linked to the history of inhabitation in the area.