Demise of a harbor: a geochemical chronicle from Ephesus

Delile, Hugo; Blichert‐Toft, Janne; Goiran, Jean‐Philippe; Stock, Friederike; Arnaud-Godet, Florent; Bravard, Jean‐Paul; Brückner, Helmut; Albarède, Francis

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2014.10.002

Cited by 33 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 33 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…In western Anatolia, Troy, Miletos, Ainos, Ephesus and Liman Tepe are the most prominent examples. Their rise and fall as harbour cities were shaped by environmental changes, which have been described by many geoarchaeological studies (Kraft et al ., , ; Kayan, , ; Brückner et al ., , , ; Goodman et al ., , ; Delile et al ., ; Shumilovskikh et al ., ; Seeliger et al ., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elaia, Pergamon's maritime satellite: the rise and fall of an ancient harbour city shaped by shoreline migration

Seeliger

Pint

Feuser

et al. 2019

J Quaternary Science

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Throughout human history, communication and trade have been key to society. Because maritime trade facilitated the rapid transportation of passengers and freight at relatively low cost, harbours became hubs for traffic, trade and exchange. This general statement holds true for the Pergamenian kingdom, which ruled wide parts of today's western Turkey during Hellenistic times. Its harbour, located at the city of Elaia on the eastern Aegean shore, was used extensively for commercial and military purposes. This study reconstructs the coastal evolution in and around the ancient harbour of Elaia and compares the observed environmental modifications with archaeological and historical findings. We use micropalaeontological, sedimentological and geochemical proxies to reconstruct the palaeoenvironmental dynamics and evolution of the ancient harbour. The geoarchaeological results confirm the archaeological and historical evidence for Elaia's primacy during Hellenistic and early Roman times, and the city's gradual decline during the late Roman period. Furthermore, our study demonstrates that Elaia holds a unique position as a harbour city during ancient times in the eastern Aegean region, because it was not greatly influenced by the high sediment supply associated with river deltas. Consequently, no dredging of the harbour basins is documented, creating exceptional geo‐bioarchives for palaeoenvironmental reconstructions.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elaia, Pergamon's maritime satellite: the rise and fall of an ancient harbour city shaped by shoreline migration

Seeliger

Pint

Feuser

et al. 2019

J Quaternary Science

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Magnetic susceptibility, grain size and 14 C ages for core Eph 276 are already published in Delile et al . ().…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human impact on Holocene sediment dynamics in the Eastern Mediterranean – the example of the Roman harbour of Ephesus

Stock

Knipping

Pint

et al. 2016

Earth Surf Processes Landf

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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 eighth century BC, and especially since the Hellenistic period, a high sedimentation rate indicates fast alluviation and delta progradation of the Küçük Menderes. Deforestation, agriculture (especially ploughing) and grazing (especially 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 (second/first centuries BC to the sixth/seventh centuries AD), evidenced by high sedimentation rates, raised values of heavy metal contaminations [lead (Pb), copper (Cu)], the occurrence of fruit tree pollen and of intestinal parasites. From the middle to the end of the first 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-bioarchives of relatively pristine areas have to be investigated in detail.

show abstract

“…Delile et al. () used major and trace elements as well as Pb isotopes for studying ecological changes. The sediment column can be divided into several units reflecting preharbor, harbor (open as well as protected), and post‐harbor conditions (for terminology see Marriner & Morhange, ).…”

Section: Sediment Core Eph 276 From the Roman Harbormentioning

confidence: 99%

“…() and Delile et al. (). Our main objective here is to test the hypothesis that organic compounds can also be highly suitable for tracing activities of ancient civilizations and their impacts on the environment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Molecular organic indicators for human activities in the Roman harbor of Ephesus, Turkey

et al. 2017

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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.

show abstract

Demise of a harbor: a geochemical chronicle from Ephesus

Abstract: 17 At the end of the first century BC, Ephesus became the Roman capital of Asia Minor and the

Cited by 33 publications

References 33 publications

Elaia, Pergamon's maritime satellite: the rise and fall of an ancient harbour city shaped by shoreline migration

Elaia, Pergamon's maritime satellite: the rise and fall of an ancient harbour city shaped by shoreline migration

Human impact on Holocene sediment dynamics in the Eastern Mediterranean – the example of the Roman harbour of Ephesus

Molecular organic indicators for human activities in the Roman harbor of Ephesus, Turkey

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About