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The Pass at Thermopylae, Greece Author(s): John C. Kraft, George Rapp, Jr., George J. Szemler, Christos Tziavos, Edward W. Kase Reviewed work(s): Source: Journal of Field Archaeology, Vol. 14, No. 2 (Summer, 1987), pp. 181-198 Published by: Boston University Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/530139 . Accessed: 18/01/2012 15:06
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http://www.jstor.org The Pass at Thermopylae,Greece
John C. Kraft Universityof Delaware Newark,Delaware
George Rapp, Jr. Universityof Minnesota Duluth,Minnesota
George J. Szemler LoyolaUniversity of Chicago Chicago,Illinois
ChristosTziavos NationalCentre for MarineResearch Athens,Greece
EdwardW. Kase LoyolaUniversity of Chicago Chicago,Illinois
Conflicts among historians over the battle at Thermopylae in 480 B.C. tend to center around supposed inconsistencies between ancient sources, particularly Herodotus, and the modern topography of the region. The area, however, is one of extensive tectonic activity, fluctuations in sea level, and sediment de- position. Any attempt to reconstruct ancient events on the basis of modern topography alone is therefore bound to be misleading. Precise paleogeo- graphic reconstruction would require a large-scale drilling program. This study involved the drilling and analysis of seven core holes in sediments infilling the Gulf of Malia. Results clearly demonstrate a Holocene epoch marine incursion to the far west of the Malian embayment and subsequent considerable variation over time in the physiography at Thermopylae. We have reconstructed the shoreline for ca. 480 B.C. and examined variations in the morphology of the middle gate with respect to the width of the pass. Geological and geomorphic evidence suggest that the pass at Thermopylae was closed for long portions of recorded history and may therefore have had less relative importance as a route into southern Greece.
Introduction:Historical Studies coastal "pass"between the mountainsand the sea (Gulf The heroicdefense of Greeceby Atheniansand Spar- of Malia) at Thermopylae(a Greek word meaning"hot tans againstmultiple Persian invasions in the early 5th gates,"in referenceto the thermalsprings that issue there centuryB.C. has loomed large in studiesof the originof from the base of the mountains).Xerxes' route from Westerncivilization, with Herodotus'work on the in- northernGreece to Attica (Athens)supposedly followed vasion of Xerxes serving as a focus of scholarlyatten- the coast becausehe intendedto keep in touch with his tion. Extensive efforts have been made to reconstruct fleet andbecause Greece is mountainousand wouldhave details of these importanthistorical events. One major affordeddifficult inland passage for such a large army. event in the conflict was the stand againstthe Persians Readersnot familiarwith the details of Herodotus'ac- by the Spartansand allies underLeonidas at the narrow countof the battleare advised to review it in the original 182 The Pass at Thermopylae/Kraft, Rapp, Szemler, Tziavos, and Kase
Figure 1. Location of the passes at Ther- BULARI I~TURKEY mopylae on the Malian Gulf, eastern YUGOSLAVIA.a Sea. Greece, Aegean ALOAMIA
GREEC ~ s:~ sa
:i ~ ri- ~ t~lf AEGEAN ~ :rSEA
I SE OIIA ~~? A QUATERNARY:::?;~goo PR-UTRNR50l')O!00 K ~
Figure 2. A geomorphic map of the area of modern Thermopylae showing the line LEGEND of drill cores used in constructing cross- . on ! 1,; TP- 1 section, Figure 7. The relationship of the o_K ILOMETERSR west, middle, and east gates, and the allu- CONTOURS vial fan of the deep ravine emerging from a eACKSWAMP Mt. Kallidromon, near the ancient site of L -- m $WoLMARSH DRILLHOLE LAL Anthela, are shown. * HOT SPRING J~L 1L ALN SHOREE480B.C.UL AL
o WES GATE EAST GATE
1-WG-1-'
M ..-880 4TP- -KOL NOS
KALLIDROMON
or in one of the countless ancientand modem summar- with the Spartanforces at Thermopylaeuntil the end of ies. the battle, suggesting water depths greater than 1 m Historianstell us that the battle of Thermopylaein immediatelyoffshore (Her. 8. 21.1). Thus the pass at 480 B.C. (and many other battles) was fought there be- Thermopylaewas usable in 480 B.C.Historians suggest cause of the narrownessof the passagebetween the sea that the pass was approximately20 m wide or wider at and the steep slope of Mt. Kallidromon(FIGS. 1, 2) (Her. the middle gate (see FIG. 2) but much narrowerat the 7. 198-201, 211-213; Paus. 10.20). Further,we know west gate and east gate (Leake 1836; Gell 1819). "Gate" thatat least one Greekship was able to remainin contact refers to each of three narrowpoints in the pass where Journal of Field Archaeology/Vol. 14, 1987 183 low cliffs of the mountainsjutted out very close to the ber of walls constructedin many areas on the NWside sea. of Mt. Kallidromon,presumably to preventsuch flank- Historianshave regardedthe pass along the sea at ing movements. Perhapsno one ever successfully de- Thermopylaeas the most logical and relatively easy fended the pass at Thermopylae when a flanking route from northernGreece south to Attica. Because movementwas made. Both the Persiansand the Gauls Herodotus(and other ancient historianswho discussed turnedback and enteredsouthern Greece via the pass at the battle at Thermopylae)wrote nearly a half century Vardhatesbetween the TrachinianCliffs and Mt. Oeta or more afterthe battleof 480 B.C.,lively disputeshave to the west of the Sperchiosplain. It is possible that continuedconcerning the location where the Spartans Greek strategythroughout ancient times was not to win madetheir stand, the widthof the pass, andother aspects battles at Thermopylae,but ratherto turn the flanks of of the geography of the battle. Attempts by modemrn armies and peoples intendingto enter Greece through scholarsto do topographicreconstructions of the battle the centralcorridor into the Valley of Doris. Pritchett areahave been completelycompromised by the infilling (1985: 190-216) presentsa summaryof militaryactions of the Gulf of Malia by sedimentsfrom the Sperchios relatedto the pass at Thermopylae,somewhat in contrast River. Sedimentaryprocesses have completely obliter- to our own thoughts. ated the ancientlandscape of the Malianplain. It is not Concerningthe ancienttopography and the geography our intentionin this paperto review and critiqueall of of the aforementionedbattles MacKay (1963) has ob- the pointsat issue in the geographyof the 480 B.C.battle served:"If, afteronly 150 years we have some difficulty at Thermopylaebut ratherto set out new informationon following the journeysof English travelers,after 2000 the paleogeographicconstraints of the battle based on years we must be extremely hesitant in rejecting the our three-dimensionalgeological reconstructionof the accountsof an ancientsource simply becausewe cannot ancientphysiography. immediatelydetermine his itinerary."MacKay is allud- A battle similarto the one in 480 B.C.was fought in ing to the large numberof scholarsin the last 250 years 191 B.C. between forces under Antiochus the Syrian, who have arguedover details of the ancienttopography with Aetolianallies, and the Romanswith Philip V and at Thermopylae.Much of the argumentis based on Macedonianallies. In this case, Antiochusentrenched statementsof Herodotusthat are consideredby many his army at the east gate while the main Roman army scholarsto be factual. These scholars assume that the underM'. Acilius Glabrio'camped within the pass near Persian army was camped on the Malian plain at the the hot springsat the middlegate (Livy 36. 15.3; 16.5). base of the NWedge of Mt. Kallidromon.Herodotus Although the Romans outnumberedAntiochus' forces claims that the Persian flanking unit (the Immortals) approximatelytwo to one, Antiochuswas able to hold startedout by crossing the Asopus River and thence themoff initiallyat the east gate. The Romans,however, began its climb. A crucial statementis that the Persian made a direct flanking movement along the cliff-like Immortals,guided by Ephialtes,had the "Oetaeanmoun- slopes of Mt. Kallidromon, and M. Porcius Cato tains on theirright hand and the Trachinianon theirleft" droppeddown on the flank of Antiochus'army (a feat when startingtheir climb aroundMt. Kallidromon(Her. probablynot deemed possible for even an integrated, 7. 216, 217). A look at present geomorphology (FIGS.3, disciplinedregiment) with approximately2000 legion- 4) makes the problemclear. Because the Asopus River naires and routed them so completely that only 500, is at the foot of Mt. Kallidromonand in ancienttimes includingAntiochus, escaped. Over several millennia, may have coursedbetween partof the Persianencamp- the Gauls, the Huns, the Bulgarians,and otherpeoples ment and the mountain,a dilemmais created.The Aso- invadedGreece via the Sperchios-Malianplain.2 Each pus River must be crossed and yet a path with the time, when opposed in the pass at Thermopylae,the mountainsof the Trachinianson the left andthe Oetaeans invaders made a flanking movement and the Greeks on the rightmust be accountedfor. These two conditions retreated.MacKay (1963: 241-255) recordsa largenum- are not necessarilycontradictory as to the flankingroute of the Persian Immortals (MacKay 1963; Pritchett 1962, 1. "M'." is an abbreviation for the praenomen "Manius"; "M.", how- 1965, 1982a-d). Further, Herodotus noted that the Aso- ever, stands for "Marcus." pus River flowed past Anthela, near the west gate (only 2. The battle of 480 B.C. vs. the Persians; 279 B.C. vs. Brennus and possible a minimum of 3 km wNW of Anthela townsite) the Gauls; 207 B.C.Philip vs. the Aetolians; 191 B.C. saw Antiochus (Her. 7. 200). of vs. the 395 Alaric 6th Syria Romans; A.C. (unopposed); century We know from various historic sources that ships were A.C. fortifications by Justinian; A.C. 1204 Boniface of Monferrat (un- opposed); and even the Germans in 1941 (by this time, however, the able to approach Greek positions at the middle gate. pass was no longer narrow). It is probable that the pass at Thermo- Indeed, two centuries after 480 B.C., archers on ships pylae was never successfully defended. fired arrows at the attacking Gauls (Paus. 10. 21.4). A 184 The Pass at ThermopylaelKraft, Rapp, Szemler, Tziavos, and Kase
3. An index to the Figure map topogra- - DRILLHOLES THIS STUDY t. OTHR Y phy of the Gulf of Maliaand the Sper- rOTHXtYS ?!M t SN chios Riverdelta lines of a DRILLHOLES plainshowing NIGMIR & YEB cross-sectionand drill sites (Stahl,Aust, andDounas Austet al. 1974; 1980, 1984; , contour Interval 200m Tziavos 1977, 1978). v/cvt N 3143T74 c' STYLI$ LAMIA
L GULF OF MALIA
01%jO,,S KILOMETERS1 2 3 4 5
O MOLOS
McO THERMOPYLAE
r SMt. K ALLIDRO MON t, ~ C:2 11;kl^
Figure4. A topographiccontour map of LEGEND the SWcomer of the Malianplain includ- ing the areaof Mt. Oeta, the Trachinian \ andthe locationsof the .QhoJmL % Cliffs, present •CONTOURS1 DRPLLHOLE20m Asopus,Xirias (Melas), andGorgopota- U 4m mos (Dyras)Rivers. Shorelines for 480 B.c. and 4500 B.P.are shown. Alluvial fans andthe pass at Vardhatesare emphasized SKILOMETERS by the topographiccontours. Start of Per- sianflanking movement as describedby Herodotus(8. 21.1) andWallace (1980) is 0ATO VARDHATES shown.Recently, a drainageditch from springsat the foot of the TrachinianCliffs flowingpast drill site KR-1 has been re- named"Melas" after the ancientname of the XiriasRiver 1-2 km to the north.D = s-s DehmaGap.
KR-1 MODERNTRACHIS/ AVARDHA HERACLEIA
PERI8AN FLANK
AEHITA
MTIANOPEA Journal of Field Archaeology/Vol. 14, 1987 185 centurylater, the groundbetween fortificationsand the Doris from which easy passage may be made southward sea was an impassablestretch of swamp and quicksand via Chaeroneaand Thebes or via the narrowdefile at (Livy 36. 18.4). Yet we also know thatduring Leonidas' Graviathrough the mountainsto Amphissaand thence last desperatefight, many Persiansdrowned in the near- to the Gulf of Corinth(Kase 1973; Kase and Szemler shore waters of 480 B.C.(Her. 7. 223.4). At the end of 1983). P. W. Wallace (1980: 14-23) analyzedthe stra- the battle, an Athenianwarship under Abronichusleft tegic problemsof flankingthe Greek army entrenched the beach near Kolonos and returnedto the allied Greek in the pass at Thermopylaein 480 B.C.He noted thatthe fleet at the northend of Euboea. On the other hand, in 279 B.C.,in the battle with the Gauls, only with great difficulty could the Athenian fleet rescue the trapped Greek defendersof the middle gate. From 480 B.C.to 279 B.C., either local relative sea level had dropped slightly or else shallow marine muds of the Sperchios River pro-delta formed muddy offshore shoals that afforded naval vessels only poor access to the middle gate. Figure5 is a photographtaken from Kolonos looking towardthe middle gate, showing a large expanseof the travertinefan. It is importantto realize that this view in 480 B.C. would have been looking downhill approxi- mately20 additionalm underthe presentland surfaceto the actualbattle site, at a slight wideningin the pass of approximately20 m between the cliff and the watersof the Malian Gulf at the middle gate. Thus, modem ob- Figure5. The middlegate at modemThermopylae, photo taken from servationscan be extremelydeceiving in the interpreta- the top of KolonosHill lookingwest to the battlefieldof 480 B.c. Up to tion of ancienthistoric events and geographies. 20 m of travertineand other sediment overlies the surfaceof the bat- A similar occurs in the site of tlefield.The shorelineof 480 B.C.,likewise buried, was situatedin the problem considering centerof the photograph. the city of Anthela (FIG.2), which is located in an in- dentationor cul de sac to the SEof the west gate. The ancient village was located at the easternmostpoint of YEARS BEFORE PRESENT x 1000 12 11 10 D 8 7 a 5 4 3 2 1 0 the territoryof the AmphictyonicLeague. One might questionwhy it was placed in its presentposition. Study of possibleeustatic fluctuations of sea level (FIG.6) shows PRESENT SEA LEVEL thatat certaintimes, e.g., early-middlethird millennium -10 c B.P., Anthela would have overlooked the sea with an -- narrow if not cut off from '- extremely beach, completely -20 the middle gate. Possibly Anthela was located in this IL site because it was a naturalgeological and geomor- SEA LEVEL CURVES -so phologic limit of access to the territoryof the Pylaean BAY OF NAVARINO Amphictyony(Kase and Szemler 1983). GULF OF MESSENIA -40 Xerxes may have watchedthe battlefrom the low spur PLAIN OF ARGOS ANATOLIA (0. EROL) of Mt. Kallidromonabove and to the west of Anthela. -50 As Herodotusstates: "Duringthese onsets the King (it is thrice in fear for his from the Figure6. Localrelative sea-level curves from some of the graben- said) sprangup army like in as contrastedwith eustaticor abso- thronewhere he set to view them" 7. The embayments Peloponnese, (Her. 212.1). lute sea-levelinterpretation based on evidencefrom the nearbycoasts hill west of Anthela is the only place from which the of Anatoliadetermined by ProfessorO. Erol andsynthesized in part battlecould be watchedby a Persianking who presum- froma globalcurve constructed by Fairbridge.The sea-levelcurves ably requireda large numberof troops to protecthim. fromthe variousgrabens are different because the tectonicsare differ- ent. Thereis considerable the eustatic No other geomorphicfeature of 480 B.C.fits these re- controversyregarding sea-level curve,but the curvecorrelates well withsimilar curves established quirements. elsewherein the world(Fairbridge 1961, 1981). Subsidencerates for A large wide pass at Vardhates (FIGS. 3, 4) extends the Gulf of Maliagraben are not knownbecause of minimaldata on throughthe so-called Dhema Gap into the Valley of relativesea-level positions. 186 The Pass at Thermopylae/Kraft, Rapp, Szemler, Tziavos, and Kase
valley at Vardhates(near the DhemaiGap) was wide of the presentSperchios River floodplainand delta were enough for an army to march through to the higher almost completelycovered by the sea at approximately elevations, thence turn southward,join the Anapoea 4000 B.C.At that time, the river fans and deltas of the path, descend to the east of the pass at Thermopylae, Asopus and SperchiosRivers and other minor streams and outflankthe Greeksentrenched near the hill of Ko- flowinginto the Gulf of Maliabegan to infill the western lonos west of the middle gate. Pritchett,however, has end and alluvial fans began to infill the flanks of the locatedthe flankingmovement of the PersianImmortals Gulf of Malia. underHydarnes in a much more direct route:from the A curve establishedby Erol (Kraft, Kayan, and Erol headof the Malianplain at the foot of Mt. Kallidromon 1980) suggests that relative sea level was somewhat up the edge of Mt. Kallidromon'swestern end, thence higherthan that of the presentday for much of the past to the Anapoeatrail and down to the Gulf of Malia to 6000 years in the Aegean area (FIG.6). Local tectonic outflankthe Greeks. evidence and studies in grabenselsewhere suggest that MacKay(1963: 241-255) has also studiedthe problem the grabenor basin of the Gulf of Malia continuedto of the battle of Thermopylaeand the path of the Im- subside throughoutthe Holocene epoch (past 10,000+ mortals in great detail. Both he and Pritchett(1962, years) (Kraft,Rapp, and Aschenbrenner1980). Studies 1965, 1982a-d)have little questionthat the shortestpos- in the grabenof the Gulf of Malia and sea-level data sible routewas up the Nw flankof Mt. Kallidromonfrom from grabenselsewhere in Greece show that local rela- the Malianplain, west of Dhamasta.As Pritchettnoted, tive sea level has variedsomewhat while the sediments it makesno sense for an armyand camp within sight of in the grabenscontinued to subside(Kraft, Aschenbren- its objectiveto make a lengthycircular route northward, ner, and Kayan 1980). westward, then south, then east, almost doubling the Approximately14,000 years ago, near the end of the distanceof the most directroute around Mt. Kallidromon latest glaciation, sea level was approximately100 m to the middle gate. On the other hand, a heavily-armed below its presentlevel. Withthe waningof the last major force of more than 5000 men climbing a mountainat glaciation, world sea level began to rise to its present night for a frontalassault would surelyhave been heard elevation and, according to many authors, above its by the defending Phocian outposts at the top of Mt. presentlevel (Fairbridge1961, 1981). Fromthe onset to Kallidromon.Wallace's argument was based on the fact about6000 years ago, at the time of the "ClimaticOp- that, at the time, the countrysidewas open forest and timum," sea level rose rapidly, inundatingthe valley the path at Vardhateswas wide enough that an army systems of the Mediterranean.There is disagreement could easily march along this route. Wallace (1980) about sea levels since 6000 B.P.One school of thought made the trip with a flashlightin one night and arrived holds thatsea level rose slightly above presentlevel and at dawn at the top of Mt. Kallidromonheading down then fluctuatedabove and below presentelevations to its the Anapoeapath to the rearof the Greekposition in the currentposition. Anotherschool of thoughtstates that same amountof time recordedby Herodotus.Most re- the rate of rise droppedsharply about 6000 years ago cently, E. W. Kase and G. J. Szemler(1982: 357) have and furtherslowed down about3000 to 2000 years ago. shownthat the access throughthe DhemaGap was used Figure6 presentsseveral sea-level curves. Those from by Xerxes on his way to Athens, and not (as generally the Bay of Navarino, Gulf of Messenia, and Gulf of assumed)the access throughThermopylae. Argosare local relativesea-level curves constructed with informationfrom radiocarbon dates on sedimentsin sub- Background: Geological Considerations siding grabens.Therefore, although these curves can be The Gulf of Malia is a deep marine embayment accuratefor theirlocal setting, they cannotbe projected formed as a graben, a rapidly subsiding block of the with accuracyto other embaymentswith differenttec- earth's crust (FIG.3). It is flanked on the north by Mt. tonic settings.They are merelyexamples of what a local Othrysand on the south by Mt. Kallidromon(geologi- relativesea-level curve in the Malianembayment might cally-upthrown blocks of the earth's crust). To the NW look like without added eustatic sea-level fluctuation. lies the broad valley of the Sperchios River, to the west The eustatic curve constructed by Professor Erol (Uni- Mt. Oeta, and to the sw the Trachinian Cliffs. It is an versity of Ankara) is based on data obtained along the area that has been extremely active tectonically through- shorelines of Aegean Anatolia added to a synthesis of out the Quarternary Period (Maratos 1972). With the Fairbridge's curves. This curve represents the school of waning of the last major ice age more than 10,000 years thought asserting that sea level rose rapidly to above its ago, sea level began to rise and enter the Gulf of Malia. present level about 6000 B.P. and has since fluctuated Evidence of local relative sea-level rise obtained in our above and below present sea level (Fairbridge 1961, geological studies shows that the Gulf of Malia and areas 1981). It is probable that all curves shown in Figure 6 Journal of Field Archaeology/Vol. 14, 1987 187 arecorrect for limitedregions. Thus, a local relativesea- The rates of tectonic subsidencein the Malian Gulf level curve derived for the Malianembayment must be are unknown.The tectonic events probablyare short- a compositeof tectonicsubsidence plus eustaticsea-level term, discontinuous,and markedby earthquakes.Many rise and fall. minor earthquakeshave been recordedthroughout his- BecauseErol's sea-levelrise curve(Kraft, Kayan, and toryon the Malianplain including at least one inundation Erol 1980) was based on data from the Aegean coastal by a tsunami,or majorsea wave (Pritchett1965). Figure zone, we use his curve in this paperto calculateancient 8 is a cross-sectionto the west of the pass of Thermo- sea levels. Using Erol's eustaticsea-level curve we can pylae (see line of sectionB, FIG.3). These dataare based interpretthe complex geological events that occurred on drill holes made by Stahl, Aust, and Dounas (1974) aroundThermopylae. At the time of the battle in 480 and by Aust et al. (1980; 1984) in groundwateror hy- B.C.,sea level was slightly above its presentlevel, thus drologic studiesof the subsurfacesediments of the Ma- deepeningthe offshore waters and narrowingthe width lian plain and SperchiosValley. They clearly identified of the pass at the west, middle, and east gates. Radio- up to 300 m of valley-grabensediment infill. Their de- carbon data and stratigraphicinterpretations from the terminationof three gross units (lower mud, middle cross-sectionat Thermopylae(FIG. 7) arecompatible with sand, and uppermud) based on more than 18 drill holes Erol'ssea-level interpretation.Marine sands extend very includes a stratigraphicrecord of transgressionand close to the subsurfaceextension of the grabenmargin regressionof the sea throughoutlater Quaternary times. and the steep cliffs of Mt. Kallidromon(480 B.C.,see The sedimentaryrecord of fluvial and marine deposits dashedline in FIG.7). Marinewaters were close to shore in the Gulf of Malia and the Sperchios Valley graben 4500 years B.P.and the marinestrata extend to within 1 may extend to much greaterdepths (approximately800 m of presentsea level (see TABLE1). A date of 2150 or m). The sedimentaryrecord may possibly includea stra- 2300 B.P.,as shown in core TP-2, shows the positionof tigraphicrecord of the entireQuaternary and latest Ter- a swampor marshat that time. These data suggest that tiary (Zamaniand Maroukian1980). the pass at Thermopylaeat the time of the battlein 480 AlthoughAust and Stahl and others clarifiedartesian B.C.would have been extremelynarrow. Yet at the time relationshipsin the western Malian Basin, they also of the battle with the Gauls several centurieslater, the showed that single sedimentaryenvironmental litho- pass was wider, with shalloweroffshore waters. Fluc- somes such as strandlines,paralic sands, distributary tuationsin width of the pass at Thermopylaeover the sands, alluvial fans, deltaic organic muds, marinepro- past five millenniaare common, as expected in an un- delta muds, backswampfloodplain deposits, etc. could stablestructural configuration along the flankof a major be preciselydelineated given a sufficientnumber of drill graben. cores, radioisotopicdating, etc. (Sahl, Aust, andDounas A A' SOUTH Mt. KALLIDROMON NORTH Figure7. A geologicalcross-section at +40 UP TO 1300m the middlegate of the pass at Thermopy- lae. Drill-coresections provide interpreta- +30 THERMOPYLAE tion of depositionalenvironments for MIDDLE GATE subsurfacesediments and radiocarbon +20 TP-4 SPERCHIOS RIVER datingof materialsestablishes a time (OLD CHANNEL) framefor the depositionof theseenviron- 0 (EARLY 19th O• CENTURY) ments.Care must be used, however(i.e., core TP-3 shows a veryold dateoverlying 7~740 _/ I a youngdate). Spuriousdates are com- SEA B.P..' FLOODPLAIN in as materials LEVEL 150or 2300 mon streambed sequences can be and The MARINE SANDS B.P retransported deposited. dashedline indicatesland surface and sea bottom,480 B.C. (See line of sectionin FIG. 2.) w -20
MLEGENDR -30 o GRAVEL SILT 0 COARSE TO VERY - CLAY COARSE SAND MICROFAUNA -40 * MEDIUM SAND TRAVERTINE *FINE TO VERY a MARSH FINE SAND
0 250 500 750 1000 1250 METERS 188 The Pass at ThermopylaelKraft, Rapp, Szemler, Tziavos, and Kase
Table 1. Radiocarbondata from drill-coresamples.
Lab Elevationof Inferred Age in YearsB.P. Sample Samplein Material Depositional 5568 5730 MASCA 1 # m* Dated Environment - 14C half-life half-life CorrectedDatet TP-2 4.5 to 3.75 Grassroot Coastal 90 ? 9 755.? 80 778 A.C. 1220-1200 swamp- marsh TP-2 -1.2 to -1.5 Grassroot Coastal 232 ? 8 2120 ? 80 2184 200 or 350 B.C. system in gray swamp- mud marsh TP-2 -9.25 to -9.6 Pelecypodand Shallow 419 ? 10 4360 ? 140 4491 3150 B.C. gastropod marine shells TP-3 -1.3 to -1.8 Total organics Very shallow 478 ? 7 5220 ? 110 5377 4040-4060 B.C. in darkgray- marine black mud TP-3 -2.2 Wood- Very shallow 56 - 9 460 ? 80 474 A.C. 1420 fragmentof marine tree TP-4 -8.0 Marinegrasses Very shallow 24 3970 ? 330 4089 2585 B.C. and/oralgae marine KR-1 +25 Wood Alluvium - 240 ? 80 247 A.C. 1703 WG-1 - Total organics Pro-delta - 3760 ? 100 3872 2180 B.C. *Relativeto meansea level. tSee Ralph,Michael, and Han 1973.
1974). Thus, precise paleogeographies could be recon- Macedonian port of Pella has now been abandoned, late- structed with a large-scale drilling program. We have Holocene deltaic deposits have pushed coastlines far shown that the upper 10-20 m of sediment are of mid- seaward. Other important changes have been wrought in Holocene epoch and younger (FIG. 7; TABLE 1) and thus areas where the sediments from smaller streams were represent Helladic and younger depositional events, all redistributedby wave action and resultant barrier accre- of great import to our hypotheses and interpretations. tion plains. An example of this type of morphological Information available to us clearly demonstrates a modification occurred in the area of the "five rivers" and Holocene-epoch marine incursion to the far west of the Pamisos River in sw Greece (Kraft, Rapp, and Aschen- Malian embayment. The precise margin of the marine brenner 1975). Summaries of some of the processes environments along the surrounding cliffs is indefinite, involved have been published by Kraft, Aschenbrenner, however. We have therefore used our interpretive section and Rapp (1977); Kraft, Rapp, and Aschenbrenner at the middle gate (FIG.7) as a guide to maximum pos- (1975); Kraft, Kayan, and Erol (1980); and Kraft, sible strandline positions from Figure 8 and as illustrated Aschenbrenner, and Kayan (1980). in Figures 2 and 4. Figure 8 is of particularinterest since Tziavos (1977, 1978) studied the sediment distribution it shows clearly that the marine embayment of the Gulf and micropaleontology of the modem sediments of the of Malia in Helladic times extended west of the present- Sperchios delta. Zamani and Maroukian (1979) outlined day delta-plain towns of Anthili and Moschochorion. the changes in coastal geography of the various distri- Indeed, it is probable that with the initial peak flooding butaries of the Sperchios River after the great southern of the graben, approximately 6000 years ago, the entire extension of the bird's-foot distributary bypassed the embayment was flooded to all flanking cliffs. southern shoreline at Thermopylae, destroying the geo- Erosion of the highlands brought sediment to stream morphic landform of a "pass" that had existed for the valleys where alluvial systems transported the materials previous four to six millennia. Precise delineation of to the low-lying coastal plains. In some of the deltas that shoreline positions, coastal and deltaic environments, were formed, the land protruded far into the sea. In the and general geomorphology of the plains of the Sper- sheltered Gulf of Malia, at the delta of the Acheloos chios and tributaryvalleys prior to A.C. 1810-1830, can River to the west of Mesolongi in Acarnania, and at the only be accomplished by the application of scientific classic deltas of the Thermaic Gulf where the ancient methodologies supported by archaeological evidence and Journalof Field Archaeology/Vol.14, 1987 189
topographiesat Thermopylae,we drilled and analyzed SOUTH NOfTH +40 the materialsfrom seven core holes in the sediments ?????,, XODIT?A?.?....o.. DHAMABSTA BD-1 .:.::: infillingthe Gulf of Malia (FIGS,2, 7, 9). *???? 5-2D ( ????.... 8DPERCHIO8>,z .% " cores numberedWG-1, TP-1, TP-2, TP-3, and TP-4 ...8 0...... 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 andfrom Leake andGell KILOMETERS (FIG.2), mapsby (1836) (1819), LEGEND suggests that the narrow pass ceased to exist at the 4 PEBBLE O GRANULE COARSE $AND MEDIUM $AND FINE $AND * 81LT - CLAY MICROFAUNA (7HELLS J-kPLANT FRAGMENTS beginningof the 19thcentury. Massive sedimentationof the Sperchios River delta has bypassed Thermopylae, Figure8. A geologicalcross-section across the westernMalian plain creatinga delta-plain.Nevertheless, transportation along (see FIG.3 for line of section). Shallowmarine sedimentation into the the pass was still poor in the second decade of the 19th farwestern part of the Malianplain is provenby the marinesediments century(Gell 1819). Our line of drill cores was made in thecores. perpendicularto the cliffs of Mt. Kallidromonfrom the area of the hot springsand Kolonos at the middle gate historicalevidence derived from the examinationof nar- northwardacross the southernside of the Malianplain. rativehistorical records. They show thatfrom 4000 B.C.to approximatelyRoman times the southernshoreline of the MalianGulf lay very close (20 to 100 m) to the flank of Mt. Kallidromonat New Data: Geological Field Studies the middle gate (FIGS.2, 7). Thereafter,the width of the In order to determinethe details of the sequenceof pass fluctuateduntil the beginningof the 19th century, geological environmentsand to reconstructthe ancient when a distributaryof the Sperchios River infilled the shorelinearea at Thermopylae. D D' SOUTH-WEST NORTH-EAST Antiquemaps and sketches can vary from precise to 60 TRACHINIANCLIFFS UP TO 700m useless and/ormisleading sources of data. We were for- 50 tunatethat Leake published a map of the study areaand left good notes regardingrapid changes in landformsat 40o RAKHITA Thermopylaein the early 19thcentury. His observations _ are proven, because the recent (19th-century)southerly distributaryof the SperchiosRiver can be directly and FINEALLUVIAL FAN favorablycompared with its extant dry channeljust 1 0 25 0.50 1 1.25 1 50 km NEof the "gates"of Thermopylae(FIG. 10). SEA SEA FKILOMETERSOODPLAIN Pouqueville(1835) left us with what is potentiallya LEVEL LEGE ND P L -10 0GRAVEL SILT PROBABLE MARINEgreat treasure-a sketch of the landscape along the southernshore of the Gulf of Malia ca. 1800 based on -20 *FINE TONVERY .9PLANT FRAGMENTS .go his travelsin Greece from 1798 to 1801, which he first publishedin 1805. Pouqueville'swritings regarding to- KILOMETERS pographyat Thermopylaeare of little use. His sketch "Gr:ce-Thermopyles"(FIG. 11) publishedin 18353 in a of Greece, however, includes a dia- 9. A cross-section history perspective Figure geological fromthe steepTrachinian Cliffs of the at that shows a land- at Rakhita(a BronzeAge site-possibly partof ancientTrachis) at the gram passes Thermopylae headof the Malianplain. Core-holeKR-1 suggeststhat 20 m of sedi- mentsin the alluvialfans andfloodplains of the Xirias(Melas) and 3. Althoughthe firstinitials of Pouquevilleare not given in this work, AsopusRivers coalesce over shallowmarine sediments. we assumethe authorto be the same as Pouqueville1805. 190 The Pass at ThermopylaelKraft, Rapp, Szemler, Tziavos, and Kase Atov wr (74 C)ORTA SOF AND TMx of-: Pi' ___ " 1A1w 1~1;? FTRAQHIIIIA wKatavothr otn 04 AGPUS ls v E- F saltAo* /P 0 -SALTPOND r SATTAwd THRMPY 0 P.:YU rravrt ZARA& r4R mw . ILI 1 ( l:. elTATUT W: v6 Otb r ...... WLES I..w46, 4.*6 ~O A.W Aqa `i a i E* dUL "Al i o \ h: ?LEAKE AW ~~~L; NA L I A C G(r L *i. :STATUTE MILESii ...... Figure 10. W. M. Leake's"Plan of Thermopylaeand the AdjacentCountry" (1836). By the timeof Leake'stravels, the pass at Thermopylaehad widened considerably and the deltaof the SperchiosRiver and its tributarieshad prograded sea- wardup to 8 mi. A = ancientcoastline as interpretedby Leake;B = middlegate of Thermopylae. scape sketchednear the time of Leake's firsttravels (ca. the west gate, and in the distant center, the passes at i802). Thermopylaesurrounded by a low talus slope and sharp Figure 11 is a view to the east from the cliffs at cliffs mergingwith the sea (Gulf of Malia). From geo- Trachis. While the vertical and distance (depth) per- logical and geomorphicevidence, the sketch (FIG.11) is spectivesare distorted,the view clearlyshows the south- much as we would predictthe passes to have appeared ern Sperchiosdistributary in the foregroundadjacent to shortlybefore or at the time of Leake's first visit. Ap- Journal of Field Archaeology/Vol.14, 1987 191 areal delineationof these Quaternarysedimentary envi- ronments,however, is not yet possible, althoughPleis- tocene sedimentsof alluvial fans can be observedalong the flanksof the highlandssurrounding the graben. Figure 7 is a cross-section showing the subsurface strata that have accumulatedat the middle gate. The location of this cross-sectionis noted on Figure 2 (A to A'). Our sediment cores were used to determinethe environmentsof and mi- " depositionby sedimentological cropaleontologicalanalysis. In those fortunate cases where organic remains were encountered,radiocarbon dates were obtainedto the of ban place sequence environ- iZ~ ments into a Holocene time frame (TABLE1). ~=;;u'"`L"s~?~;PL~pi0~~ _~--_~Z_~**CL)^;W...^R Figure 8 shows subsurfacerelationships across the western Malian The location of this section is Figure 11. A sketchlooking eastward from the cliffs at Trachis/Hera- plain. cleia to the cliffs at Thermopylae,ca. 1798-1802. Althoughpublished shownon Figure3 as B to B'. Figure9 is a cross-section by Pouquevillein 1835, the SperchiosRiver distributary to the lower from the TrachinianCliffs towardthe sea. The location left andthe open watersof the Gulf of Malia(center and left) against of this sectioncan be seen on Figure4 as D to D'. Figure the cliffs andalluvial fans of the passesat Thermopylaeclearly pre- 12 illustratesthe subsurfacesection of the eastern of date Leake's as in 1836. verticalex- tip map (FIG.o10) published Although delta of the aggerationis great,the sketchshows Thermopylaemuch as it ap- the modern SperchiosRiver. Its location is pearedfor manymillennia. Problems of large-scaletraffic through the shown in Figure3 as extendingfrom C to C'. "passes"are somewhat evident at the firstcliff (nearthe west gate). Figure2 is a mapof the pass at Thermopylaeshowing Duringan on-sitevisit, this view was identifiedby Szemlerand Kase the steep cliffs of Mt. Kallidromonnear the middlegate. as thatdescribed in Pausanias10.22.1. The alluvial fans of several valleys that emerge to the east and west of Kolonos and from the deep ravinenear proximately20 years later, on his second visit, Leake Anthelaare also shown. It is importantto note, however, includedhis map (FIG.10), which shows a dramatically that these fans were much smaller at the time of the differentThermopylae by-passed by the SperchiosRiver battleof Thermopylaein 480 B.C.The mergingcontours delta. Further,this appearanceof Thermopylae(minus shown on Figure 2 indicate that the slopes at the east the forefront with distributary)is what the passes at gate and the west gate are extremelyhigh and cliff-like. Thermopylaewould have been like from 1800 back to Duringthe drillingof core-hole KR-1 at the western the ClimaticOptimum of 5,000-6,000 B.P.Pouqueville end of the Malianplain near the TrachinianCliffs, we (or his artist)shows what he saw at Thermopylaeat the end of the C C' very eighteenthcentury. NORTH-NORTHWEST Two excellent of the area SOUTH-SOUTHEAST geologic-topographicmaps +60 have greatlyaided us in our study of ratesof alluviation PANOURGIA I PANOURGIA in the Gulf of Malia (MaliakosKolpos) (Marinoset al. +40 1 GULF OF MALIA 1963; 1967). The presentGulf of Malia is greaterthan +20 .. SPE RCHIOSOS 20 m We have no of the total thick- DELTA deep. way knowing SEA OFN V ness of the Quaternarysediments that have partlyinfilled LEVEL ** iiii the gulf. In none of our borings have we encountered -20 SHALLOWMARINE AND DELTAIC YELLOW • : the base of the sediment. More than 20 -40 a Ho;,%Lcne-age -40 LEGEND w GRAY , PEBBLE iii borings by the Greek National Institutefor Geological GRAVEL SILT -60 GRANUL CLAY and Mining Research/IGMEhave penetratedup to 200 0 i m on the lower floodplainof the SperchiosRiver and SCOARSECONGLOMKILOMETERSERATE the Sperchiosdelta plain.4These sedimentsinclude del- taic distributarysands, shallow marinepro-delta muds, 0 I 2 3 4 5 KILOMETERS6 7 8 9 10 II 12 13 levee and backswampsands and muds, floodplainsedi- and alluvial-fandebris. Correlationof sand and ments, Figure 12. A geologicalcross-section of the extremeeastern tip of the mud sedimentologicunits is possible in this artesian moderndelta of the SperchiosRiver across the Gulf of Maliain the vi- system. Precisetime-line stratigraphic interpretation and cinityof Agios Trias.The SperchiosRiver is still rapidlyadvancing the Gulf of Malia. FIG.3 line 4. The Holoceneinfill of the MalianGulf is at least 70 m thick, south eastward,infilling relativelydeep (See for of Lamia. of section.) 192 The Pass at Thermopylae/Kraft, Rapp, Szemler, Tziavos, and Kase encountereda thick section of probableparalic marine posits, salt-marshswamp deposits, and shallow-marine sands underlyingfloodplain and alluvial-fansediments. sandy silts and muds. In addition, in the pass at Ther- A small numberof red, coarse sand-size grains were mopylae, particularlyat the middle gate, a large trav- observed among the gray sand grains dominantin the ertinefan is buildingupward and seaward. entire section. Out of curiosity, one sand grain was collected and sent to Dr. Diana Kamilli for analysis. Discussion: Reconstruction of the Ancient This showed the specimen to be a medium-fired,oxi- Landscape dized ceramic fragment containing biotite-quartz-feld- The physiographyat Thermopylaehas varied consid- spar with a hematite-stainedmatrix. Although this erably throughtime. Most of this variationis the result occurrenceof ceramic materialin the marinesection is of changes in local relative sea level and sedimentde- withouta precise date, it does indicatethat people were positionalinfill of the west end of the Malian graben, using potterywhen the waters of the MalianGulf were includingmajor alluvial fan, travertinefan, and deltaic at the westernmostend of the Malian plain. This is progradation. compatible with our geological interpretationsof the A reconstructedshoreline for approximately480 B.C., westernend of the MalianGulf in the EarlyBronze Age. the time of the battleof Thermopylae,is shown in Fig- Cross-sectionFigure 9 shows the relationshipof the ures 2, 4, and 14. Equallyimportant, the reconstructed BronzeAge site at Rakhitaat the foot of the Trachinian Bronze Age shorelinefor approximately4500 years be- Cliffs of ancientTrachis to the low floodplainbetween fore presentis shown in Figures4 and 14. Any Bronze the Xirias (ancientMelas) and AsopusRivers. Core-hole Age sites along the westernend of the Malian embay- KR-i was drilledin the low-lying areabetween the two ment probablywere coastal sites. Particularly,any of riversalong a new drainageditch to which the old term these sites that might be associated with the passes of "Melas River" has now been applied. Figure 9 shows the Gorgopotamos(Dyras) River or the Xirias (Melas) that 3 m of sedimentationoccurred over the last 247 River might be consideredto have been port sites for years. More than20 m of floodplainand streamdeposits transshipmentof materialsinland via passes to the Valley have formed in this area overlying a probablecoastal/ of Doris and thence into southernGreece. When the sea marine sand unit. Presence of the paralic sand unit in extended to the westernmostlimits of the Malian em- core-holeKR-1 shows that the ancestralmarine Malian bayment, the pass at Thermopylaewould have been a embaymentextended close to the TrachinianCliffs (FIGS. cliff into the sea at the west, middle, and east gates and, 4, 13), possibly precisely to the foot of the cliffs. therefore,impassable to large-volumevehicular traffic. The varied depositionalenvironments identified from From 5000 to 3000 years B.P. many small towns may our surface studies include alluvial fans, river-channel have lain along the foot of Mt. Oeta along the ancient deposits, the naturallevees and channelsof bird's-foot shoreline,but these would now be buriedunder as much deltaic extensions, floodplainor overbankalluvial de- as 20 to 30 m of sediment and are thus essentially undiscoverableby archaeologists(Simpson 1981: 81).5 Those few sites that were higherup on the flanksof the hills or buriedin the earlierportions of alluvialfans take on a new importancein termsof the trafficfrom northern to southernGreece (see Rakhita,FIG. 9). In the first decadesof the 19th century,Leake (1836) studiedthe area of the head of the MalianGulf and the pass at Thermopylae.He produceda map (FIG.10) that is extremelyrevealing in termsof the fluvial and marine processesthat had continuedfrom the time of the ancient Greeks to his time. Leake's map shows his estimateof the locationof classical Greece's ancientcoastline. His interpretationis obviously schematic, although he at- 5. R. H. Simpson (1981: 81) reported"three Mycenean sherds on the lowest terracesof the site of ancientHeraclea" (see FIG.4) but no Figure 13. The westernend of the floodplainof the Gulfof Malia. signs on the citadel above. This raises the possibility that Helladic The TrachinianCliffs areto the left, withthe pass of Vardhates(near shorelinesextended further westward, as proposedin this paper.Un- the DhemaGap) in the centerand Mt. Oetato the right.Photograph less verified by additionalevidence, however, the sherds could as takenfrom the low floodplainbetween the alluvialfans of the Asopus well have been introducedduring a later occupancyor become em- Riverand the Xirias(Melas) River, looking west. placedas pebble-sizeclasts in transitacross lower prehistoric Trachis. Journalof Field Archaeology/Vol.14, 1987 193 Figure 14. Variationsin modemand an- cient shorelinesof the Gulfof Malia- 1 537 SperchiosRiver delta-floodplain. From variousmaps and as reconstructedin this paper(Tziavos 1977, 1978;Bittner et al. 1880). SHORELINE J ,4500 HORELINE 1950 •d B.P. 8.4," _ _ OF MALIA • • GULF • SHORELINE , •".,-" 1876 SHORELINE 1972 E , HO SHORELIE doLE .)\ CONOURINTRV.A80*R0 1 2 3 4 5 -1800 KIL O M E T E R S d ;C TOQ1 ON -THEROPYLE ,o ?117 COTORINERA20 temptsto become more specificat the middlegate where tion, but it is not as likely. Leake also notes the great he shows a deep indentationof the coastlinetoward the changes in delta morphologybetween his first (1802) cliffs of Kallidromon,east of Anthelaand just west of and, some 20 years later, second visits. the hill of Kolonos. Clearly, the SperchiosRiver was The dynamicsof geological change in the mountain the major streamcarrying the greatestamount of sedi- ranges probablyhave been fairly slow to effect change ment into the head of the Malianembayment. Its tribu- in the hard mountainrock. On the other hand, in the tarieswere, in decreasingorder of importanceof volume fluvial systems of the Sperchios River, its floodplain, of sediment, the Asopus River, the Dyras River (Gor- andits tributaries(the Asopus, the Melas, andthe Dyras) gopotamos),and the Melas River (Xirias). It is interest- anddeposition of sedimentsinto the Gulf of Malia, quite ing to note that the pathof the SperchiosRiver diverges the oppositeis true. Precisioncontour maps of the Aso- southeasterlyimmediately upon emergingonto the Ma- pus River, the Xirias (Melas) River, and the Gorgopo- lian plain and then flows almostdirectly toward the west tamos (Dyras) River clearly show large alluvial fans. gate, thence parallelto the cliffs of Thermopylae,to its These deltoid intrusionsinto the ancientGulf of Malia distributarieseast of Thermopylae. (This abandoned variedgreatly in geographicextent over the past 5,000- channelis still preciselyidentifiable in surfacemorphol- 10,000 years (FIG.8). At times the alluvial fans were ogy.) This is a most unlikelypath for a majorsediment- low-lying and small, at othertimes large and expanded, bearingriver flowing into an embayment,however. One as at present.The Asopus River has a 1300 fan spread would expect the river to flow into the center of the to the NWof its presentposition (FIG. 4). On the average, embaymentalthough, as its levees rose, it would break the river flowed 300 to the northof its presentposition. throughand flow to other paths. To have such a long Thus it is possible, as noted by Green (1970: 126), that extension of the river flowing along the flanks of the a large portionof the Persianarmy "pitchedcamp near embaymentas opposed to the middle suggests the pos- Trachisbetween the Sperchiosand the Asopus Rivers," sibilityof humanintervention. Leake labels a majorarea althoughit is questionablewhether they occupied An- in the center of his map as "rice grounds"and notes a thela (on the other side of the Asopus River) and a low salt works near the shoreline. The possibility must be ridge of Mt. Kallidromonat the same time. We must consideredthat humansaltered the course of the Sper- also rememberthat the flankingmovement of the Per- chios River to its maximum southerlyposition in the sians in 480 B.C.refers only to a regimentof 5,000 men later 18thor very early 19th centuryin orderto createa (the Immortals)as opposed to approximately300,000 large, flat, well-irrigatedarea for the growing of rice. men and women in the Persianarmy, if we can believe Naturalphenomena could have createda similar situa- Herodotus'numbers (How and Wells 1928). But it is 194 The Pass at ThermopylaelKraft, Rapp, Szemler, Tziavos, and Kase quite clear that 10,000 to 20,000 Persianscould have across a much lower slope alluvial fan-riverplain than been campedon the right bank of the Asopus River fan that of today. Precise geological determinationof the and plain between the river and Mt. Kallidromoneven location of the river channel(or indeed multiplechan- if the AsopusRiver of 480 B.C.flowed along the extreme nels) is impracticalfor two reasons. First, a very large southeasterly-possiblechannel on the fan closest to Mt. numberof drill holes is requiredfor accuratestudy of Kallidromon.The Persianencampment surface probably the third dimension (subsurface)morphology of any lies underthe presentMalian plain, buriedat least 15 to time-depositionalsurface. Second, one is unlikely to 20 m beneathpart of the presentAsopus alluvialfan by encounterorganic materials suitable for radiocarbondat- alluvium of the tributaryrivers and floodplainsof the ing for each channel and stratumof fluvial sediments SperchiosRiver. relatedto each of the many paleo-channelsof the ances- A similarsituation exists at the "pass"at Thermopy- tral Asopus River. The Asopus River channel of 480 lae. MacKay(1963) noted that Marinatosdug a trench B.C.could have been anywherebetween the Trachinian 8 m deep at the middle gate and was still in sediments Cliffs andthe northernflank of Kallidromon,more likely of Byzantineage. Our geological analysisof the middle in the middlethree-fifths of the river fan. gate areaclearly shows thatup to 20 m of travertineand There has been an extremelysharp, "cliff-like"drop other forms of sedimentoverlie the actualbattle site at into the sea at the west gate for at least the last 6000 the middlegate (FIG. 7). years. Passageto southernGreece was possiblevia either Figure4 is a topographicmap showing Mt. Oeta and the very narrow"wagon-track" path along the sea or by the TrachinianCliffs. At the TrachinianCliffs, a precip- climbingover the relativelylow-lying (between 100 and itous cliff dropsoff sharplyto the Malianplain. Nearby 250 m in elevation) ridge-likeextension of Mt. Kalli- and to the NW,the hills and cliffs of Mt. Oeta are still dromonin the vicinity of Anthela, thence downwardto high but not precipitous.The XiriasRiver (MelasRiver) the seashoreby the middle gate, which is borderedby and the GorgopotamosRiver (DyrasRiver) carriedsed- very high cliffs, thenceby the east gate which againwas imentsinto the head of the ancestralGulf of Malia. "cliff-like"into deeperwaters with a very narrowpass. It is, therefore,reasonable to identify a large area of The topographysouth of the east gate or along the flank the Malian plain at the foot of Mt. Kallidromonwith of Mt. Kallidromonat the east gate was of relatively partof the Persiancamp betweenthe Asopus River and low slope andcould be bypassed(FIG. 2). Thus, in study- Mt. Kallidromon.Thus Herodotus' statementthat the ing possibilities of passage from northernto southern Immortalsfirst crossed the Asopus River and then en- Greece via the pass at Thermopylae,one must focus on tered a pass with the TrachinianCliffs on the left and the middlegate along the ancientstrandline. Mt. Oeta on the right is a reasonableaccount and ac- Exceptionsof lower sea level, with accompaniedwid- curate geomorphicdescription of the situationin 480 ening of the pass at Thermopylae,possibly occurredca. B.C.This would lend supportto the hypothesis(Wallace 300 B.C.to A.C.1100 and 1700 B.C.to 1300 B.C.(Livy 1980) that the pass at Vardhateswas that used by the 36. 16.5).6 Thusgeological evidence shows thatthe pass Immortals.The argumentregarding the path of the Im- at Thermopylaeshould be eliminatedas a majoraccess mortalswill continueinto the futureas it has raged for route to southernGreece throughoutthe greaterpart of the past 250 years. It is absolutelycritical, however, that pre-Romanhistoric and prehistorictimes back to Late any furtherdiscussion of this matterconsider the paleo- Neolithic-EarlyBronze Age time. topographyof the westernend of the Malianplain, in- the various of the and Xirias cluding positions Asopus 6. The on historicalevents of sea-level fluctuation a and the fact that the was much impact along (Melas) Rivers, plain precipitouscliff, narrowstrandline, and adjacentsea must have been lower (ca. 20 m), with its river channels constantly profound.At the time of the 480 B.C.battle, sea level was relatively changing. high and the middle gate narrow.On the other hand, during the Neither currently-visiblenor abandonedchannels of invasionof the Gauls in 279 B.C., relative sea level was lower, and historiansrecord the of the Athenianfleet in the the River observed within the past problems evacuating Asopus by anyone surroundedGreek army due to the offshore muddy shoals. By 191 500 yearshave any knownrelationship to loci of Asopus B.C. the middlegate had become wide enoughto serve as the Roman Riverchannels of morethan 2000 years ago. The "mod- army stagingarea while Antiochusopted to defend the higherridge em" alluvialfan-floodplain lies manym above sediments at the east gate. At times of peak sea levels we should anticipate deposited2500 years ago as the Asopus River fan ex- waves againstrocky cliffs with no significantpassage possible; i.e., the pass at Thermopylaewould be "closed."Analysis of sea-level pandedupward, north, and east acrossthe Malianplain. fluctuationas used hereinis basedon a curvederived from the eastern The AsopusRiver channel of 480 B.c. could have flowed Aegean, locally-derivedgeological evidence from a subsidinggraben, in any direction and azimuthover a 1300 are into the and compatiblehistorical statements. With this caveat one can recon- Malianplain. The river of that time would have flowed structcoastal paleogeography. Journalof Field Archaeology/Vol.14, 1987 195 The slope of the topographyabove the west and east years. The argumentas to how the Persian Immortals gates is not cliff-like and might have been flanked.The and othersmade a flankingmovement via the Anopoea Spartanleader, Leonidas, may have chosen the middle pathmust consider the probabilitythat the morphologies gate for his defensive position based on the vicinity of of the areas of the Persianencampment at the head of the low hill, Kolonos, and a wall supposedlybuilt by the MalianGulf and the east gate at Thermopylaewere the Phokians.In effect, he adopteda positionfrom which much differentthan those at present. The differences his troopscould attractthe Persiansinto a slightlywider may have been so great as to place at least partof the portionof the pass and then retreatbehind protective Persianencampment on the opposite side of the Asopus positionsflanked by the precipitouscliffs of Mt. Kalli- River from that assumed at present. If so, then the dromon, Kolonos, and the sea (Gulf of Malia of 480 requirementsthat Herodotus' path of the Immortals B.C.). startedwith their crossing the Asopus River, with the The morphologyof the middle gate varies from peri- mountainsof the Oetaeanson the right and the Trachi- ods when waves lapped against the cliffs of Kallidro- nian mountainson the left, might easily be met by the mon, as at 6000 to 4000 yearsB.P. and muchof the third simpleexplanation that the AsopusRiver built its alluvial millenniumB.P., to the currentplain of 5-km width. In fan and flowed in channelsover a 1300 spreadof river all probability,the pass was not more than 20-30 m flow. wide during the 480 B.C. battle. During the battle of Similarly,the reason for Anthela's location in an in- Thermopylaein 191 B.C.,it is possible that relativesea dentationbetween a deeper ravine and the west gate level had begun to drop and the pass at the middle gate must be reexamined.The presentmorphology has little would have been wider. This may have been the reason to do with the originalsiting of Anthela.This important that Antiochusdecided to base his defense at the east site of the AmphictyonicLeague of the thirdmillennium gate, forcing the Romans to a disadvantageas they at- B.P. was located in a highly defensible position, with tacked out of the narrowmiddle gate towardthe east deep watersagainst cliffs at the west gate and the pass gate. It is furtherpossible that Antiochus, wishing to at Thermopylaeprobably closed, with waterslapping at avoid the many flankingpossibilities (e.g., the actual the very foot of Kallidromon'srocky cliffs. disasterthat befell him when Cato attackedhis flankand Finally, we shouldraise the issue of the relativeim- destroyedhis army), fearedentrapment if he positioned portanceof the pass at Thermopylae.When the pass was his armyat the middle gate. open to trafficit was an easy route into southernGreece In addition to the slow but steady changes due to (Szemler 1981). Geological and geomorphicevidence, erosionand deposition, catastrophic tectonic events have however, suggests that the pass was closed for great and will continueto affect the grabenembayment of the portionsof the last 5000 years and even when open was Malian Gulf. Pritchett(1965) noted a reference to a frequentlyvery narrowand marshy.Recent researchby tsunamiengulfing the head of the MalianGulf in the 6th the Phokis-DorisExpedition of Loyola University of centuryA.C. Pritchett quotes Finlay (1877: 255): "The Chicago (EdwardKase, Director) has shown a more watersof the Maliae Gulf retiredsuddenly, and left the favoredroute into southernGreece to the west of the shores of Thermopylaedry; but the sea, suddenlyre- Asopus Gorge, at Dhema Gap near Vardhates.Here an turningwith violence, swept up the valley of the Sper- easily accessibleand wide pathwayled to the Valley of chios, and carriedaway the inhabitants." Doris andthence south to Atticaor to the Gulf of Corinth via the pass at Gravia and This route was Conclusions Amphissa. alwaysopen, in the geomorphologicalsense, for the past We have shown that the Gulf of Malia, particularly 5000 years. It was fortified in the Gap and at Kastro the western part including the Malian plain, is highly Orias. It is noteworthythat the armies of both Xerxes dynamicand ever-changingin geomorphicform due to and Brennusthe Gaul fought majorbattles in the pass tectonic, catastrophic,and erosional-depositional-sedi- at Thermopylaeand then, having attainedvictory, they mentologicalprocesses. We have furthershown that very turnedwest (backwards)and entered southernGreece high rates of deposition occurred at the head of the via the DhemaGap. Perhapstheir fear of a Greek army Malianplain and thatup to 20 m of sedimentoverlie the on theirrear flank outweighed their desire for access to site of the battlefieldat Thermopylaeat the middlegate. the south via Thermopylae.Certainly from the Greek Similarvolumes of sedimentoverlie the land surfaceof point of view this makes more strategic sense for re- the Malian plain upon which the Persians encamped. peatedlyforcing battle at Thermopylae. Therefore,any conclusions based on present geomor- The geological interpretationswe have presented phology are suspectunless one takes into accountall of shouldbe majorfactors when consideringthose historic the physical processes occurringduring the past 2500 and prehistoricevents that occurredat the head of the 196 The Pass at Thermopylae/Kraft, Rapp, Szemler, Tziavos, and Kase MalianGulf over the past 5000 years. Both catastrophic R. Foresterof the SmithsonianInstitution and Dr. F. M. andslower geological processes occurred leading to mas- Swainof the Departmentof Geology, Universityof Del- sive changes in morphology at the "passes"of Ther- aware,kindly helped with the microfaunalidentifications mopylae and at the head of the Malian plain. The used for environmentaldifferentiation. Dr. Horst Aust, shorelinehas progradedeastward into the Gulf of Malia Bundesanstaltffir Geowissenschaftenund Rohrstoffe, at least 15 km within the last 4500 years (FIG.14). Be- Hanover, Federal Republic of Germany, engaged in cause the alluvium that formed the Malian plain is so lengthy correspondenceand discussion regardingthe extensive and so thick, we cannot hope to know the lithologic interpretationsof the artesiansystems in the specifics of any ancient humanworks underthe plain. SperchiosValley and its delta floodplain.Very helpful We can only state that changes in morphologyand in commentsby ProfessorsWilliam Farrand and Tj. H. van flow directionsof the tributarystreams and the Sperchios Andel on an earlierdraft of this paperwere responsible River were probablythe normrather than the exception for majorimprovements, and JudithD. Holz carefully throughoutthe last five millennia. edited the final draft. Concepts and rationale for the We will end with a brief comment on the natureof study are detailed in Kraft (1972). Dr. John Morgan, evidence and the philosophy of our approachto the Departmentof Physics at the University of Delaware, solution of interdisciplinaryproblems. Historiansand provided help regardingthe classical writings as they some archaeologistsapproach problems of ancientland- bearon this work. And last, we thankMr. TeranceVidal scapesfrom a narrativehistorical line of reasoning.Clas- for his perseverancein trackingdown the source for a sicists constantlychallenge the interpretationsof others diagramby M. Pouqueville,a matterthat had eludedus and attemptto make a "best fit," sometimeswith anti- for many years. podal answers. Scientists, geologists in particular,and some archaeologistsprimarily use empiricaldata. Sci- entific methodologycombines the interpretationof fac- tual information,hypothesis building, and deductionin John C. Kraft is the H. Fletcher Brown Professor of orderto reacha conclusion(sometimes multiple working Geology and Marine Geology at the University of Del- hypotheses).In this paperwe promotethe integrationof aware. His research includes the application of geo- a multiplicityof disciplines into a commonapproach to logical principles to the interpretation of coastal the solution of problems that address interpretationof landform changes as related to sea-level fluctuations ancientlandforms and historicalevents. and paleogeographic reconstructions of coastal envi- ronmental settings. Most of his research concerns the Acknowledgments coastal zones of the U.S. mid-Atlantic region, Hawaii, and address: We wish to acknowledge the Institute of Oceano- Greece, Turkey. Mailing Department of DE 19716. graphic and Fisheries Research (I.O.K.A.E.) Athens, Geology, University of Delaware, Newark, Dr. ConstantineVamvakas, then GeneralDirector; the George Rapp, Jr., is Professor of Geology and Ar- Director the Phokis-DorisExpedition of the Loyola University of chaeology, of Archaeometry Laboratory, and Dean the Science and Chicago;7the ArchaeometryLaboratory of the Univer- of College of Engineering, Duluth. He is also a sity of Minnesotaat Duluth;and staff of the Department University of Minnesota, profes- sor at the Center Ancient of Geology, University of Delaware, for their partici- for Studies, University of He has done extensive work pationin this research. Minnesota, Minneapolis. in in Israel, Drillingequipment and personnelfor a portionof this geoarchaeology Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, and North study were providedby the NationalInstitute for Geo- Africa. G. J. Szemler is Ancient Greek and Ro- logical and Mining Research (N.I.G.M.I.R.) Athens, Professor of man He has Greece. Mr. John Papadopolous,driller, kindly helped History, Loyola University of Chicago. books and various articles on ancient Roman us completethe drill-corestudies in 1979. We also ac- published knowledgethe help of N.I.G.M.I.R. and the Service of priests, politics, and religion. As Associate Director of a co-editor the LandDevelopment (Y.E.B.) of Greecein supplyingde- the Phokis-Doris Expedition, he is of tailed drill logs of deeper borings across the lower al- historical section in the Expedition's final publications. a and luvial plain of the SperchiosRiver. Drs. M. Buzas and Christos Tziavos is geologist micropaleontolo- gist with the Ministry of Industry, Energy, and Tech- nology at the National Centre for Marine Research at 7. An versionof this analysis expanded study, includinggeomorphic Kosmas, Hellinikon, in Athens, Greece. His re- of the "GreatIsthmus Corridor," will be publishedas a part of the Aghios final publicationsof the Phokis-DorisExpedition by the Loyola Uni- search includes micropaleontology and geology of the versityof Chicago. coastal zone and marine environments of Greece. Journal of Field Archaeology/Vol. 14, 1987 197 Edward W. Kase is Associate Professor of Ancient Kraft,J. C., S. E. Aschenbrenner,and i. Kayan History at Loyola University of Chicago. Since 1974 1980 "LateHolocene Coastal Changes and ResultantDe- he has directed the Loyola University Phokis-Doris Ex- struction or Burial of Archaeological Sites in pedition, which has been exploring and excavating in Greeceand Turkey,"in M. L. Schwartz,ed., Pro- the Isthmus Corridor between Itea and Vardhates in ceedings of the Commissionon the Coastal Envi- Field Coastal west-central Greece. ronment, Symposium, Archaeology Session, 24th International Geographical Con- gress, Shimoda, Japan. 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