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Palaeogeographical map of the environs of Ephesus during Roman Imperial to Byzantine times showing the shoreline positions at three periods.
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Coastal areas have been prime locations for habitation and commerce. Early authors such as Pausanias (second century CE), and Strabo (64 or 63 BCE-24 CE) noted the impacts of shoreline changes. Geomorphological and subsurface geological data, combined with archaeological excavation and ancient texts, indicate a long interplay between natural proces...
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Context 1
... great mole was extended to allow ships to approach the great harbour (see Fig. 5). There also were at least five attempts to clean and maintain the great harbour of Ephesus in the times of Roman Emperor Nero (54 -68 CE) and through the third century CE (Kraft et al. 2000). Apparently, numerous laws were passed to prevent using the harbour as a sewer, disposal area or dump. Many legal methods were tried to stop ...
Context 2
... impact. In the middle of the third century CE the politician Valerius Festus enlarged the harbour. However, by this time, what had formerly been the open harbour of Lysimachus, with excellent access of ships to the shore, had now been filled with dumped materials and construction debris so that the harbour area pro- gressively moved westward (Fig. ...
Context 3
... are many references (see Foss and Meriç, cited by Kraft et al. 2000) to transferring cargoes from platforms near the sea to shallow draught barges or boats that could continue up the channel to the great harbour. Figure 5 shows poss- ible locations of such platforms, but we cannot know of these features in any detail. Continued shoaling and the advance of the delta distributaries westward occurred. ...
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Resumo Este artigo aborda as condições geológicas e geomorfológicas da Sub-bacia do Baixo Pacoti – CE, enquanto componentes geoambientais do mosaico paisagístico. Inicialmente mencionou-se evolução do quadro ambiental no Quaternário, face aos movimentos eustáticos que influenciaram a dinâmica costeira e o quadro morfo-estrutural da área. Por seguin...
Citations
... Sediments transported and deposited by rivers caused the development of alluvial plains and large prograding deltas [1][2][3]. Abundant prehistoric and historic settlements were built on and along these valleys and deltas; for example, Troy in the Karamenderes valley [4][5][6][7]; Pergamon and its rural settlements in the Bakırçay valley [8][9][10][11][12]; Phocaea and Smyrna at the former mouth of the Gediz River [5]; Ephesus in the Kücük Menderes valley [5,[13][14][15]; and Miletus in the Büyük Menderes valley [5,12,16]. [9][10][11][17][18][19]; (2) aqueduct: The Atlas Project of Roman Aqueducts (https://www.romaq.org/the-project/aqueducts/article/692#tab-details, ...
Current landforms are the basis for understanding past geomorphodynamics and human activities. Based on multiple materials and methods, including geomorphometric analyses of a digital elevation model and visual interpretations of satellite images, different landscape units of the Bakırçay and Madra River catchments in the environs of ancient Pergamon are described. The area was mainly shaped by tectonics that formed a horst-and-graben structure; small Miocene horsts and NE-trending subgrabens in the Kozak and Yunt Dağı Mountains were separated by the NEE-trending Plio-Pleistocene Bergama Graben. The asymmetry in relief, drainage network, and sediment accumulation between the Kozak Mountains to the north and the Yunt Dağı Mountains to the south of the lower Bakırçay plain characterize the Pergamon Micro-Region. The regional relief characteristics, with wide flat basin and plateau areas, are suitable for agriculture. Complemented by its richness in natural resources, the Pergamon Micro-Region became a preferred settlement area, with evidence of human impact since the Hellenistic–Roman period at the latest. As a consequence of settlement activities, several landscape engineering measures were implemented simultaneously with a parallel change in morphodynamics.
... and recently has been the focus of intense research over the past few decades by the Austrian Archaeological Institute and their colleagues. Publications that focus primarily on the simentation and landscape changes include: Stock et al. (2019Stock et al. ( , 2016Stock et al. ( , 2014Stock et al. ( , 2013, Brückner (2019Brückner ( , 2005, and Kraft et al. (2011Kraft et al. ( , 2007Kraft et al. ( , 2005Kraft et al. ( , 2000. 97 Brückner 2005, 12. 98 Wood 1877, 4, 10. ...
... HN, 36.21) which states "universo templo longitudo est ccccxxv pedum, latitudo ccxxv, columnae cxxvii a singulis regibus factae lx pedum altitudine, ex iis xxxvi caelatae, una a Scopa." 162 Kraft et al. 2011, 32. 163 Ladstätter 20192016, 236. ...
... It is discussed in more detail earlier in this chapter. 360 For this specific discussion see Kraft et al. (2005, 155-56), however the coring program has also been discussed in the other articles by Kraft et al. (2011Kraft et al. ( , 2007Kraft et al. ( , 2005Kraft et al. ( , 2000, Stock et al. (2019Stock et al. ( , 2016Stock et al. ( , 2014Stock et al. ( , 2013, and Brückner (2019and Brückner ( , 2017and Brückner ( , 2005. 361 Steskal 2014, 334;Scherrer 2007, 335-36;Groh 2006, 72-73;Kraft et al. 2005, 156. ...
This dissertation explores the experience of arriving in the port cities of Asia Minor and the Aegean islands from the Hellenistic through the Early Roman periods, describing the historical, environmental, and architectural backgrounds of these sites and offering an outline of the development of their maritime facades throughout this period. A selection of four of the most important sites of this region and period are studied: Ephesus, Pergamon, Smyrna, and Rhodes. Their site biographies are presented and analyzed, later supplemented by visual reconstructions of the experience of arrival, including static viewsheds of the landscapes and basic outlines of the major monuments, which offer rigor and novel support to the claims about the cities’ facades and what would have been prominent or memorable to those arriving at the ports and harbors of Asia Minor. By comparing the facades of these cities with each other, and with their earlier forms, this dissertation provides a clearer understanding of the changes to the experience of maritime travelers, and how the memorable, identifiable features of the cities of Asia Minor developed in the context of the rise of Rome. The results of this dissertation contribute to the ongoing dialogue about the sociopolitical aspects of communal and individual identity expression in the eastern Mediterranean amid the shifting power structures of this dynamic period. In the case of the cities of Asia Minor, the rise and growth of Rome had a notable political impact as their control passed to the Attalids of Pergamon and the island of Rhodes with the Treaty of Apamea in 188 BCE and then to Rome itself in 133 BCE at the bequest of Attalus III. The maritime facades of these communities could be used to communicate ideological, political, social, and other messages to visitors approaching from the sea, and via these travelers to secondary audiences further afield, and ultimately to Rome itself. Through a regional study of architectural developments in major port towns along the coast during the 2nd century BCE – 2nd century CE I discuss the development of the maritime façades at these cities specifically by evaluating the visual impact of the built environment on the ‘outsider’ experience. This dissertation expands upon the current scholarship on port towns of the eastern Mediterranean to include aspects of the maritime facade beyond the harbor side, and offers a thorough description of what was visible, contextualized with evidence from classical authors that demonstrates how these cities may have been perceived, where possible, and supplemented by selected virtual reconstructions that will highlight certain aspects of the development of these sites. It reveals patterns of, and exceptions to, trajectories of urbanization at coastal communities, in response to the rising influence of Rome and changes to the landscape brought about by natural processes such as sedimentation and the changing sea level of the Mediterranean.
... After that operation, younger material was deposited in the basin. Already, from the first century AD, it is reported that a proconsul under Emperor Nero's reign ordered the harbor basin to be cleaned and dredged-an action which was repeated five times between the first to the third centuries AD (Kraft et al. 2000(Kraft et al. , 2011. At the beginning of the second century AD, a high priest gave an immense donation to reconstruct and enlarge the harbor area . ...
For this study, a 15-m sediment core from the Roman harbor of Ephesus has been dated with the luminescence technique. ¹⁴C age estimates from the same and a neighboring core were used for comparing and validating the luminescence dating results via a single aliquot regenerative dose (SAR) protocol: infrared stimulation of polymineral and blue stimulation of quartz. The results reveal new insights into the deposition of the sediments of the Roman harbor from 2000 BC to AD 1500 approximately. Some samples showed incomplete bleaching. The difference between the polymineral and the quartz techniques described the bleaching condition before burial. When both approaches give consistent ages, complete bleaching can be assumed. Consistent ages were further applied to the Bayesian age-depth model and discussed within the archeological context. Based on the Bayesian age-depth model, a high sedimentation rate of ca. 65 mm/year was calculated for the period of ~ 700–400 BC suggesting a fast advance of the delta front. However, other age estimates suggest a fast advance for the period 200 BC to ca. AD 100. This is probably due to incomplete bleaching of the luminescence samples and the use of bulk samples for ¹⁴C for this new study. Comparing the results with nearby cores suggests that dredging was conducted in the southern part of the Roman harbor at a depth of ca. 5 m b.s.l.
... After that operation, younger material was deposited in the basin. Already, from the first century AD, it is reported that a proconsul under Emperor Nero's reign ordered the harbor basin to be cleaned and dredged-an action which was repeated five times between the first to the third centuries AD (Kraft et al. 2000(Kraft et al. , 2011. At the beginning of the second century AD, a high priest gave an immense donation to reconstruct and enlarge the harbor area (Zabehlicky 1995). ...
Küstenprozesse zu verstehen ist wichtig, um sich an mögliche Küstenveränderungen anpassen zu können. Eine Projektion von zukünftigen Küstenveränderungen kann nur auf der Grundlage eines gegenwärtigen und vergangen Küstenverständnisses durchgeführt werden. Das Verstehen der vergangenen Küstenbedingungen, welches auf den in den Küstensedimenten erhaltenen Hinweisen beruht, erfordert den Faktor Zeit. Küstensedimente bestehen aus organischem Material und/oder Mineralien, abhängig von ihren geologischen Ablagerungsbedingungen. Optisch stimulierte Lumineszenz (OSL) ist ein leistungsfähiges Werkzeug zur Datierung verschiedener geologischer Materialien. In dieser Studie wurden in drei Untersuchungsgebieten OSL Datierungen mittels des Einzelproben-Protokolls mit regenerierter Dosis (SAR) an mineralreichen Küstensedimenten durchgeführt. Erstens wurde OSL in Songkhla in Südthailand auf Quarz-Feinkorn Sand aus Wellen-, Wind-, Lagunen- und Fluvialumgebungen angewendet, um die geologische Entwicklung aufzuzeigen. Zweitens wurden in Trassenheide an der Ostseeküste Deutschlands anhand von Quarzen in der Sand-Fraktion Küstendünen datiert, die bisher anhand der Bodenfarbe klassifiziert worden sind. Drittens wurden in Ephesos in der Türkei vor- und nach-antike Hafensedimente mit Quarzen und Feldspäten der Silt-Fraktion (Polymineral) datiert. Die Alter wurden dann mit Studien und Radiokohlenstoff-Alter aus der Umgebung verglichen. Nach der Messung des Lumineszenzsignals und der Anwendung statistischer Methoden zeigte die Äquivalentdosis Werte zwischen 0,56 und 153 Gy. Die Dosisrate sand-reicher Sedimente (durchschnittlich 0,91 Gy / ka) war niedriger als die der schluffreichen Sedimente (durchschnittlich 2,74 Gy/ka). OSL Alter zwischen ca. 160-0,6 ka zeigten Fehler von weniger als 10%. Es wurden zwei Probleme gefunden: zum einen die unvollständige Bleichung und zum anderen der Einfluss der Verwitterung. In Songkhla wurde der Verwitterungeffekt aufgrund eines sehr niedrigen Kaliumgehalts (Effekt auf die Dosisrate) beobachtet, was zu einem überschätzten Alter führte (nachgewiesen durch den Meeresspiegeltrend). Dieses Problem wurde durch Verwendung eines zeitabhängigen Dosisratenmodells gelöst. In Ephesos wurden Hafensedimente wahrscheinlich in trübem Wasser gebildet und dort gab es dann auch nicht genügend Sonnenlicht zum Zurücksetzen des OSL-Signals. Das unvollständige Bleichen führte zu überschätzten Altern (nicht konsistent in der Alters-Tiefen-Kurve). Gut gebleichte Proben konnten jedoch beobachtet werden, wenn Quarz- und Feldspatalter (in den polymineralischen Fraktionen) übereinstimmten. In Songkhla hat OSL anhand sandiger Sedimentproben die Hypothese eines Meeresspiegelhochstandes sowohl im letzten Interglazial (ca. 127 ka) als auch im mittleren Holozän (ca. 6 ka) bewiesen. Nach dem Meeresspiegelstand bei ca. 127 ka sank der Meeresspiegel und Songkhla war mehrere hundert Kilometer von der Küste entfernt. Vor 50 bis 17 ka gab es Wind-, Fluss-, und Seeablagerungen, die mittels OSL datiert werden konnten. In dieser Studie wurde OSL auch verwendet, um gemischte, feine und grobe Sedimente zu datieren, die als Lagune (ca. 7 ka) klassifiziert wurden. OSL-Alter von Holozänproben stimmten mit den in früheren Studien vorhergesagten Meeresspiegelkurven überein. In Trassenheide waren OSL-Alter das bessere Datierungswerkzeug, um die Dünenentwicklung zu klassifizieren. Dünenbildungen wurden durch OSL-Alter auf ca. 2,5-1,6 ka (Römische Warmzeit) und auf ca. 0,6 ka (nach der Mittelalterlichen Warmzeit) datiert. Während 1,6-0,6 ka gab es keine Dünenbildung, was mit einer starken Küstenerosion in der Ostsee zu dieser Zeit zusammenhängen könnte. In Ephesus beschrieben konsistente OSL- und 14C-Alter die geologische Entwicklung seit ca. 3 ka, als Ephesus einen marinen Ablagerungsraum darstellte. Um etwas 2,5 ka entwickelte sich das Delta schnell; OSL-Alter zeigen eine sehr hohe Ablagerungsrate von bis zu 65 mm/Jahr. Eine intensive Hafennutzung fand um ca. 2 ka statt. OSL-Alter aus dieser Studie stimmen mit früheren 14C-Altern an Seesedimenten überein, die aus nahe gelegene Kernproben im selben Untersuchungsgebiet stammten. Zusammenfassend kann gesagt werden, dass OSL ein sehr nützliches Werkzeug ist, um den geochronologischen Rahmen für Küstensedimente zu liefern und mit ihr können die geologische Entwicklung, der Meeresspiegelwechsel und archäologische Ereignisse seit dem späten Pleistozän gut beschrieben werden. Durch Kombination mit anderen Methoden und Daten, wie z.B. Paläontologie, Paläoklimatologie, tragen OSL Datierungen dazu bei das Verständnis der Paläogeographie von Küstengebieten zu fördern.
... In Ephesus and the Ephesia, that is, the environs of the city, geoarchaeological research has focused on the spatiotemporal reconstruction of landscape changes, with special regard to shifts in the shoreline and associated harbor migrations, and on humanenvironmental interactions (Brückner, 1997;Kraft et al., 2000Kraft et al., , 2001Kraft et al., , 2007Kraft, Brückner, & Kayan, 2005, Kraft, Rapp, Brückner, & Kayan, 2011Stock et al., 2013Stock et al., , 2015. In addition to the Artemision (Temple of Artemis), one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, which has been the subject of considerable research (Brückner, Kraft, & Kayan, 2008;Kraft, Brückner, & Kayan, 1999;Kraft et al., 2007;Stock et al., 2014), the Roman harbor and its canal have been recently investigated in detail (Delile et al., 2015;Stock et al., 2016). ...
Intensive organic-geochemical analyses were applied to sediment core samples from the Roman harbor of Ephesus that date to the open, protected, and post-harbor time periods. Screening analyses revealed a substance spectrum comprising n-alkanes, fatty acids, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and selected terpenoids. All these substance groups have been quantified and show a significant increase of concentration in the samples affected by the intensive use of Ephesus’ Roman harbor. However, a unique indicator substance or a single anthropogenic marker compound directly reflecting ancient harbor activities has not been identified. Nonetheless, systematic changes in the patterns of some major organic substance groups (PAHs, fatty acids, and n-alkanes) point to a significant change in the composition of organic matter (OM), which might reflect increased anthropogenic impacts during Ephesus’ flourishing period. These observations are likely related to enhanced anthropogenic use of natural products, such as waxes, and subsequent discharge by municipal sewage or the direct use and emission of such products in the harbor area. This study clearly demonstrates the usefulness of indicative organic compounds and changes in their patterns through time to detect the activities of ancient civilizations. This approach can be transferred to other sedimentary geoarchives associated with former settlement activities.
... The ancient city of Ephesos is located at the southern flank of the graben, c. 6 km east of the Aegean Sea. Same as for the Milesia, geoarchaeological research in the Ephesia started in the 1990s (Brückner, 1997b(Brückner, , 2005Kraft et al., 2000Kraft et al., , 2001Kraft et al., , 2005Kraft et al., , 2007Kraft et al., , 2011Brückner et al., 2008;Stock et al., 2013Stock et al., , 2014Stock et al., , 2015Stock et al., , 2016Delile et al., 2015). ...
The focus of this article is to link historical accounts about former islands of the Anatolian gulfs of the Aegean Sea to geoarchaeological evidence. During the Holocene, prominent environmental and coastline changes have taken place in many tectonic grabens of western Asia Minor, today's Turkey. The Büyük and the Küçük Menderes fault systems are excellent examples for deciphering these changes. Since mid-Holocene times, the eponymous rivers have advanced their deltas, silting up marine embayments which had once reached inland for tens of kilometres. To describe this terrestrial–marine–terrestrial evolution of estuarine islands we coin the term “life cycle of estuarine islands”. Besides other factors, such as natural erosion, sea-level changes, and tectonic activities, the delta progradation was mainly governed by riverine sediment load, which, in turn, was to a great extent dependent on human impact on the vegetation cover of the drainage basins. Based on historical accounts as well as modern geoarchaeological research it is possible to reconstruct the spatio-temporal evolution of the landscape.
... Frenzel and Boomer, 2005;Morhange, 2006a, 2007;Bernasconi et al., 2010). Study sites include Alexandria (Bernasconi et al., 2006;Véron et al., 2006), Elaia (Seeliger et al., 2013;Pint et al., 2014), Ephesus (Kraft et al., 2000(Kraft et al., , 2007(Kraft et al., , 2011Brückner, 2005;Brückner et al., 2008;Stock et al., 2013Stock et al., , 2014, Magdala (Sarti et al., 2013), Marseille (Morhange et al., 2003;Le Roux et al., 2005), Miletus (Brückner et al., 2006, Luna (Bini et al., 2012), Portus (Mazzini et al., 2011;Salomon et al., 2012;Delile et al., 2014a, b, c), Sidon , Troy (Kraft et al., 2003), Tyre (Marriner and Morhange, 2006b), Utica (Delile et al., 2015b) and İstanbul/Yenıkapı (Algan et al., 2011). For this paper, we used a multi-proxy approach by applying sedimentological, geochemical, palynological, parasitological, micro-and macrofaunal as well as archaeobotanical tools for deciphering the intensity of the human impact recorded in the harbour archive, and thus test the concept of the Anthropocene sensu lato for the Küçük Menderes graben and the Roman harbour of Ephesus. ...
... Different ages occur at the same level (e.g., 1172-932 cal BC and 43 cal BC -62 cal AD at 11 m b.s.l.). This may be due to the fact that the harbour basin had once been dredged (Kraft et al., 2000(Kraft et al., , 2011Kirbilher, 2013). ...
... It was built in order to maintain the harbour's function for trade and communication and as a protection against the deposition of river sediments (Kraft et al., 2000(Kraft et al., , 2001Zabehlicky, , 1999Steskal, 2015;Strabo, 14.1.24). It may also reflect a dredging dump site; from ancient literature we know that the harbour and canal had been cleaned and dredged several times between the 1 st to the 3 rd centuries AD Kraft et al., 2000Kraft et al., , 2011. Despite the very high sedimentation rate, a natural deposition is likely since the sediments at the base reveal stratifications under natural conditions (see thin section in fig. ...
During the past millennia, many erosion and accumulation processes have been modified by anthropogenic impact. This holds especially true for the environs of ancient settlements and their harbours along the Mediterranean coasts. Our multi-proxy investigations in the Roman harbour and the harbour canal of Ephesus (Western Turkey) reveals that humans have significantly triggered soil erosion during the last three millennia. Since the 8th century BC, especially since the Hellenistic period, a high sedimentation rate indicates fast alluviation and delta progradation of the Küçük Menderes. Deforestation, agriculture (esp. ploughing) and grazing (esp. goats) were the main reasons for erosion of the river catchment area. One consequence was significant siltation of the Hellenistic/Roman harbour basin. This sediment trap archives the human impact, which was strongly enhanced from Hellenistic/Roman to Byzantine times (2nd/1st centuries BC to the 6th/7th centuries AD), evidenced by high sedimentation rates, raised values of heavy metal contaminations (Pb, Cu), the occurrence of fruit tree pollen and of intestinal parasites. From the middle to the end of the 1st millennium AD, the influence of Ephesus declined, which resulted in a decrease of human impact. Studies of several ancient settlements around the Mediterranean Sea tell a comparable story. They also confirm that during their most flourishing periods the human impact totally overprinted the climatic one. To detect the latter, geo-bio-archives of relatively pristine areas have to be investigated in detail.
... Akyüz and Altunel, 2001;Karabacak, 2011;Karabacak et al., 2013;Özdaş and Kızıldağ, 2013;Passchier et al., 2013). Geomorphological studies additionally constrained the interaction of humans and landscape (Kraft et al., 2007(Kraft et al., , 2011Brückner et al., 2013;Stock et al., 2013Stock et al., , 2014Seeliger et al., 2014;Delile et al., 2015). Geoarchaeological work therefore contributes to a better understanding of ancient life in southwestern Asia Minor. ...
From the 6 th century BC to Byzantine times, the ancient city of Limyra was an important urban center of the Lycian territory at the southwestern coastal region of Asia Minor. Archaeological, geological, hydrochemical and surface elevation data, as well as 14 C age dating constrain a paleo-hydrogeological model, explaining the submergence of the city foundation walls below the groundwater table. In this model, tectonically induced subsidence of the acropolis (Toçak Dağı) initiated a debris flow into the area of the lower city. Both, natural and anthropogenic gravel accumulation resulted in the formation of a new aquifer pathway redirecting formerly bypassing karst water into the city center. Consequently, the inhabitants of Limyra had to fight against the rising ground water table at least since the 6 th to 10 th centuries AD.
Die antike Stadt Limyra war vom 6. Jh. v.Chr. bis zu byzantinischer Zeit ein bedeutendes urbanes Zentrum in Lykien an der süd-westlichen Küste von Kleinasien. Archäologische, geologische und hydrochemische Daten sowie ein Geländemodell und ein 14 C Alter unterstützen ein paläo-hydrogeologisches Modell, welches das Absinken der Grundmauern der Stadt unter den Grundwasser-spiegel erklärt. Das Modell beschreibt tektonisch induzierte Massenbewegungen vom Burgberg (Toçak Dağı) in die Unterstadt. Die natürliche und eine zusätzliche anthropogene Schuttanreicherung führten zu einer Umleitung des ursprünglich vorbeifließenden Grundwassers in das Stadtzentrum. Dies hatten die Bewohner von Limyra spätestens seit dem sechsten bis zehnten Jh. n. Chr. zu bewältigen.
... 500 m into the Arvalya and Derbent valleys during Neolithic times. Thereafter, the continuous delta advance of the Küçük Menderes river and its tributaries since the 5th/4th millennia BC lead to a complete siltation of the marine embayment (Brückner, 1997(Brückner, , 2005Kraft et al., 1999Kraft et al., , 2000Kraft et al., , 2001Kraft et al., , 2005Kraft et al., , 2007Kraft et al., , 2011. Until the 1st millennium BC the siltation in the environs of the Çukuriçi Höyük was dominated by the rivers Derbent Dere and Derbent Çayı, and in the environs of the Arvalya Höyük by the river Arvalya Çayı. ...
... In Ephesus, geoarchaeological research started at the beginning of the 1990ies with a focus on coastal changes and siltation processes, landscape reconstruction in the city area of Ephesus, different harbour sites (Brückner 1997(Brückner , 2005Kraft et al. 2000Kraft et al. , 2001Kraft et al. , 2005Kraft et al. , 2007Kraft et al. , 2011, and on the Artemision and its surroundings (Kraft et al. 1999(Kraft et al. , 2007(Kraft et al. , 2008Brückner et al. 2008). Figure 1: Scenario of the delta advance of the Küçük Menderes river since Neolithic times. ...
Under the auspice of International Associations of Geomorphologists (IAG), our Working Group on Geoarchaeology has been actively organising scientific sessions in a number of international conferences for years. This academic community keeps growing with the aid of social network services.
