Ancient River Beds Research Articles

Ancient River Beds and Dead Cities

Close acquaintance with the geographical situation of the ancient sites of Iraq, and also of the Indus Valley, inevitably leaves two questions to haunt the mind. C Why did early man choose such inconvenient and inaccessible places, as many of them now are, for his settlements when he gave up nomad life ? And why after a site had been deliberately chosen for a city was it so frequently abandoned, though its occupation might already have extended through several centuries ?These questions were first brought home to the writer in vivid fashion by a visit twenty years ago to the lonely and insignificant little mounds of Jemdet Nasr, some twenty-five miles from the ruins of Babylon and about halfway across the wide unin- habited desert between the lower Euphrates and Tigris rivers.

On the Raised Beaches on the North East Coast of Yorkshire

At the estuary of the Tees, and on the adjoining coast, there are several indications that alterations in the sea level have taken place, embracing a period ranging from pre-glacial to recent times. They are, perhaps, of sufficient interest to be recorded, and this ought to be done as nearly as possible in the order in which they probably occurred. Ancient river beds. —The most convenient physiographical records as a starting point, are the ancient river beds. The numerous borings taken in this district, prove that the pre-glacial stream which carried off the water to the sea from this neighbourhood, did so at a level considerably below the present low water mark. Its bed is traceable from the river Tees, near Newport, where it enters the county of Durham, and takes the direction of Saltholme, where it is ascertained by a boring to be 98ft. deep, and filled with sand and gravel; the following is the section:— | | | | | | | FEET. | |:------------------------------ | - | - | - | - | - | ----- | | Sand | … | … | … | … | … | 35 | | Warp (a fine carbonaceous mud) | | | | … | … | 15 | | Sand | … | … | … | … | … | 23 | | Warp | … | … | … | … | … | 23 | | Gravel | … | … | … | … | … | 2 | | Into the red sandstone | | … | … | … | … | 1 | | | | | | | | 99 | It is next traced to Port Clarence, where boulder clay at a depth of 77ft. was proved, according to the following section:— | | | | | | FEET. | INCHES. | |:--------- | - | - | - | - | ----- | ------- | | Soil .. | … | … | … | … | 1 | 6 | | Clay … | … | … | … | … | 4 | — | | Dark Sand | … | … | … | | 7 | 6 |