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

Abstract

A 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.

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