Late Holocene Paleogeography of the Coastal Plain of the Gulf of Messenia, Greece, and Its Relationships to Archaeological Settings and Coastal Change

JOHN C. KRAFT Department of Geology, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware 19711 GEORGE RAPP, JR. Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, and Hellenic Institute of Oceanographic and Fishing Research, Agios Kosmas, Ellinikon, Athens, Greece STANLEY E. ASCHENBRENNER Minnesota Messenia Expedition, Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455

ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION made that current geomorphic elements have existed from middle Holocene time to The coastal plain of the Pamisos River The late Holocene geologic history of the the present. Despite extensive discussion in and five associated rivers at the head of the world's sandy coastal plains undoubtedly the literature of the interplay between cul- Gulf of Messenia in the southwestern played a significant role in their occupancy tural and physical phenomena since Peloponnese includes middle through upper by man. These plains are loci of relatively Neolithic time, a true synthesis of these Holocene sedimentary-environment litho- rapid geographic change, so there is a po- elements has been exceedingly difficult to somes of alluvial flood-plain deposits, tential for large error if the assumption is achieve. In addition to a lack of adequate channel sand, braided streams and deltas, bank swamps and marshes, dune fields, minor lagoons, beach-accretion ridges, and shallow-marine sediment. The areal distribution of these environments is in balance between the sediment supplied by the alluvial systems and their modification by coastal wave action. Questions remain about the importance of tectonic uplift and downwarp relative to sediment input and changes in eustatic sea level. Radiocarbon and pottery dates, drill cores, outcrops, and environmental studies have provided information for the development of a synthesis of paleogeographic change and its relationship to archaeological remains from the Neolithic period (middle Holocene) to the present. Examples include (1) a marine embayment extended into the area of the present Pamisos River flood plain near the town of Messini in middle late Holocene (Neolithic-Helladic) time, (2) rounded hills flanking the low-lying Karya River coastal plain were wave-cut cliffs in pre- Roman time, (3) the lower Karya River valley, now occupied by a braided stream, was a swampy lagoonal area, (4) major Early Helladic buildings at Akovitika were constructed along a shoreline, whereas the site is now surrounded by backswamp, and (5) the post-Roman delta-coastal plain of the Tsana River is now undergoing intense erosion. These types of paleogeographic analyses may prove of use to archaeologists in understanding the reasons for selection of habitation sites. They may also assist the modern occupants of the coastal area in coastal planning and in understanding rates and nature of coastal change at the head of the Messenian embayment. Key words: Figure 1. Index map of southern Greece, showing areas of Quaternary sedimentary strata (striped), mainly Holocene at surface but with Pleistocene subsurface elements at heads of gulfs and embay- sedimentology, geomorphology. ments and in interior drainage basins.

Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 86, p. 1191-1208, 21 figs., September 1975, Doc. no. 50902.

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daring to correlate geomorphic-climatic provide useful models for projection into The coasts of Greece are an area in which arid cultural events, it now appears evident the geologic past. Major advances in com- study of paleogeographic detail can benefit that attempts to project geomorphic- prehension of the nature of coastal change scholars from several disciplines, and in climatic events from one geographic prov- in late Holocene time must be a product of which accurate archaeological dates can be ince to another are not likely to be success- interdisciplinary studies. Past studies often used effectively (Fig. 1). The writings of an- ful, since climatic change is frequently a combined elements of geomorphic or cient authors such as Pausanias, Herodotus, provincial event and cannot be extrapo- geologic reasoning but ignored meteorol- Strabo, and Aristotle frequently refer to lated world-wide. A related problem is the ogy, archaeology, and other disciplines. We geomorphic and environmental changes influence of eustatic versus local sea-level firmly believe that future advances in that have affected the geography and his- fluctuations on cultures associated with paleogeographic and paleoenvironmental tory of the Aegean area. These references coastal-plain and maritime environments. reconstruction lie in the interfaces between have been used sporadically by historians Successful solution of such problems re- and not in the cores of the separate discip- and archaeologists in attempts to show quires a measure of short-term and long- lines. paleoclimatic and, more rarely, paleogeo- term geomorphic change. Fortunately, the The rate of rise of sea level either greatly graphic conditions in late Holocene time in sedimentary records of river and coastal diminished or ceased at the end of Early the eastern Mediterranean. plains, deltas, and shallow-marine deposits Helladic time (middle to late Holocene In the past 20 years, a wealth of data, re- provide such a measure. These records hold time). The effect upon the world's coastal search techniques, and concepts of en- the clues to paleogeographic interpretation environments and coastal morphology vironmental analysis have been directed to and rates of geographic change requisite for must have been severe. The effects on cul- the interpretation of paleoenvironments in paleoenvironmental and paleogeographic tures oriented to previous morphologic and the Mediterranean area, but in general they reconstructions. climatic conditions may have led to the have been limited to surface geomorphic Reconstructions of the late Holocene en- need for reorientation of ways of life as well studies. Some attempts have been made to vironment are of immense use to historians, as of location of building sites and arable relate geomorphic setting to climatic archaeologists, and civil engineers. They lands. change, in the form of paleoclimatic studies based upon pollen analysis and upon analysis of historical records. Attempts Figure 2. Potential elements of marine transgression 3/ REGIONAL CLIMATIC CHANCE have been made to explain the rise and fall MORE EROSION • REGRESSION of civilizations by change in both historical or regression, showing eight variables that might affect LESS EROSION - STABILIZATION OR TRANSGRESSION stability of coastal position in sedimentary and environmental factors, the ultimate continental-shelf—coastal-plain setting. goal being to relate historic events to geomorphic-climatic and man-made causes.

0/ DEFORESTATION AND OTHER 7/ TECTONIC UPLIFT OR Although Carpenter (1966) proposed VEGETATION COVER CHANCES"V«./ DOWNKARP OF that a sequence of cyclic climatic events had ERODING AREA i/CrcLIC STORK TRACK a dominating effect on the rise and fall of SHIFT • »AVE CHARACTER UPLIFT-MORE SEDIMENT- CHANGE • TRANSGRESSION REGRESSION Mediterranean civilizations, analyses of the OR REGRESSION OOWNWARP - LESS pollen record (Wright, 1961, 1968, 1969) SEDIMENT-TRANSGRESSION do not appear to confirm cyclic climatic in-

TRANSGRESSION • f terpretations of middle or late Holocene environmental change. 1/ EUSTATIC CHANGE IN Detailed study of pollen spectra, where SEA LEVEL available in relatively continuous Pleistocene-Holocene sections, seems to be a prerequisite for comprehension of both climatic and man-effected environmental change. Typical examples are the work of van der Hammen and others (1965) on a thick peat sequence in Macedonia and of Wright (1968) on the lagoonal muds of Osmanaga. In regard to climatic change

TABLE 1. RADIOCARBON DATA AND DESCRIPTIONS OF DRILL-HOLE SAMPLES, HEAD OF GULF OF MESSENIA

Location Elevation* -6C"1 Age (yr) Date Description Environment (m) 5568 5730 Corrected half-life half-life MASCA+

Grigorios Karya River +0.1 to +0.4 216 ± 9 19,555 ± 85 2,012 1,900 50 A..D . Brown to black sand Backswamp at base Zervas, 1-7084 coastal plain with plant debris of beach debris Troupakis no. 2, Karya River -3.4 to -7.0 976 ± 7 29,960 ± 2,800 30,832 28,882 B • C. Organic, finely di- Flood-plain silt 1-7086 coastal plain vided in gray silt Pamisos no. 4, Pamisos River -6.5 to -7.0 432 ± 7 4,545 ± 95 4,681 5,310 3360 B .C. Plant debris 1n Backswamp - flood sample 13, flood plain greenish-black mud plain - overlying 1-7228 and sand marine sand Pamisos no. 4, Pamisos River -15.5 to -17.3 457 ± 7 4,905 ± 95 5,052 5,660 3710 B.• C. Plant debris in Backswamp - flood samples 37 to 41, flood plain dark-gray, very plain above allu- 1-7226 fine sand vial mud Pamisos no. 3, Pamisos -2 to -2.25 278 ± 8 2,615 ± 90 2,693 2,760 810 B..C . Swamp grass in Backswamp of Aris 1-7227 flood-plain yellow-brown mud River on Pamisos backswamp flood plain

* Of sample, above or below sea level. + Accordlnq to Museum of Applied Science Center for Archaeology correction of Ralph and others (1973), 1n order to closest approximate calendar years and to relate better to archaeologist-historian potential users of data herein.

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since Mycenaean time,1 Wright (1968, ment, and that tectonic movements in the tween Osmanaga Lagoon and the Bay of p. 126) said, "It may be a fair conclusion basin are predominantly downward. Navarino. Pritchett (1965) noted that the from the pollen studies in Greece that no Flemming's "stable sea theory" allows for a mosaic was not constructed to withstand vegetational changes may be attributed ±0.5-m deviation during this period. In a wave conditions and that this was an indi- with any certainty to climatic change. The study of the Laconia area in the southeast- cation of subsequent relative rise in sea same may be said for geomorphic features ern Peloponnese, Flemming (1968) showed level. In the lagoon and embayment at which are poorly dated but which show few that there has been variable change in rela- Navarino-Sphakteria and Osmanaga, near characteristics assignable to this time tive sea level and he attributed it to local Pylos, Loy (1967) noted that "a Hellenistic range." tectonism. cemetery occurs on the northern shore of In the eastern Mediterranean, the Archaeologists and geologists tend to the sand spit at Osmanaga," and that "the geomorphic setting may owe more of its place much faith in various hypotheses of tops of Hellenistic tombs are 20 centimeters present character to pre-Holocene events rise of eustatic sea level. As a result, many below sea level." Thus, if Loy's and others' than to later climates. Loy (1967) and Loy archaeologists tend to "force-fit" their ob- estimates of a sea-level rise of 1 to 1.5 m and Wright (1972) attempted to relate the servations and data into a single idea about since Hellenistic time are correct, the present geomorphic setting of the south- fluctuation of eustatic sea level. In some tombs would have extended into the salt- western Peloponnese to past geologic events cases, relatively little consideration has water zone at the time of burial; this is un- and to the climate of the middle to late part been given to extremely complex geologic likely. We doubt that the foundations of a of the Holocene Epoch. Starkel (1966, factors that could have created very differ- Roman building were constructed within p. 15, 19) stated, "European relief in the ent individual situations. the wave zone, particularly on a spit. It is Early Holocene was inherited from the last For example, a Roman mosaic has been improbable that the Hellenistic inhabitants glaciation which had impressed a specific found near present sea level on the spit be- would have set their tombs into the moist stamp upon the landscape, both of the glacial zone and of the extensive peri-glacial and extra-glacial zones . .. relief in the Holocene was shaped under the direct influence of the changing climatic factors and the influence of factors indirectly conditioned by climate and those indepen- dent of it." Vita-Finzi (1969) developed the thesis that a combination of climatic events and the intrusion of man have led to cycles of valley fill and erosion, proceeding from major deposition during the Wisconsin-Würm glacial period to erosion through1 the early-middle and most of late Holocene time to the end of Roman time, minor deposition during Medieval time (450 to 1453 A.D.), and the present cycle of erosion, which started about 600 yr ago. However, he did point out that local factors can cause exceptions. Questions remain about whether absolute sea level was rising or falling, and if so, at what rate through late Holocene time. To solve local problems, however, it is es- sential to develop information regarding local relative rise of sea level. The superpo- sition of a global eustatic system on a local geologic setting is untenable as long as local tectonic and climatic, erosional, and depositional effects have not been delineated. Flemming (1969), having analyzed 179 habitation sites in the western Mediterra- nean, concluded that there has been no eustatic change in the past 2,000 yr, that all submerged sites are results of earth move-

1 The Greek archaeological periods and their approximate dates are Paleolithic — before 10,000 B.C.; Figure 3. Holocene fluvial-coastal sedimentary environments at head of Gulf of Messenia (depth Mesolithic — 10,000 to 6000 B.C.; Neolithic — 6000 in metres). Major river, Pamisos, has filled in lesser embayment, and its alluvial plain is now building to 3000 B.C.; Early Helladic — 3000 to 2300 B.C.; upward and seaward, providing sediment to littoral drift stream, which redistributes it along entire Middle Helladic —2300 to 1600 B.C.; Late Helladic — 1600 to 1100 B.C.; Geometric— 1100 to 750 B.C.; Ar- head of gulf. Lesser rivers to east and west have their own alluvial and coastal depositional plains. We chaic — 750 to 500 B.C.; Classical — 500 to 323 B.C.; have attempted to show possible accretion and erosion elements of past 100 yr, on the basis of U.S. Hellenistic — 323 to 146 B.C.; Roman — 146 B.C. to Navy hydrographic charts, modified from British admiralty charts of mid-nineteenth century. Topog- 330 A.D. The Helladic periods compose the Bronze Age. raphy based on topographic contour map of Nomos Messenias (Institute for Geology and Subsurface Mycenaean is another term for Late Helladic. Research, 1970) and U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office Chart No. 4097.

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lower parts of the spit, where the bodies rates, sea level variations, and epeirogenetic the sea-level rise in the Holocene Epoch is would have been in direct contact with salt coastal changes seem endless. There have not yet known. For further material, the water. Almost no modern civilization does been too many variations in rates of denu- reader is referred to the extensive bibliog- this; why assume that ancient ones did? dation, alluviation and coastal movement raphy in Flemming (1969). Higgins (1969) Local tectonic factors may be more im- in both time and place to allow the strict and Flint (1971) have examined in detail portant than eustatic effects in determining application of alleged world-wide sea level the causes of fluctuation of absolute sea change of relative sea level. Loy (1967, fluctuations to any place in Greece. Each level. p. 57) summarized the problem well: "The problem must be solved, if it is to be solved, Several ancient writers were aware of possibilities of geomorphic explanation of- locally with local evidence." continuing environmental or geographic fered by the general theories of denudation Certainly the full story of the nature of change. Bury (1959) and Philippson (1950) discussed in some detail the more famous documented cases of paleogeographic change. Coastal changes at Thermopylae, in the Copais Basin, and in the valleys of the Little Meander and Great Meander Rivers in Anatolia are the most notable. Many historians have noted that hills now joined to the mainland once were islands and vice versa. This has occurred where rocky Figure 4. Northwestern promontories in the lower parts of the coastal area of Gulf of grabenlike estuaries are linked to the main- Messenia, showing present land by alluvial silt or coastal sand of tom- erosional-depositional bolos. Examples are Munychia in the shoreline elements related Piraeus (Bury, 1959) and Lade in the es- to coastal plain of the Five tuary of the Great Meander River (Russell, Rivers. Times: MH = 1954). The possibility exists that there are Middle Helladic, LH = many other buried or "surrounded" islands Late Helladic, G = Geo- in the Greek coastal plains. Russell (1954, metric, A = Archaic, C = Classical, H = Hellenistic, 1967) discussed in detail alterations to the R = Roman. lower valley and estuary of the Little Meander and Great Meander Rivers. He said (1954, p. 363), "though the gross features of the topography are structural in origin, one of the most impressive characteristics of Anatolian rivers is alluvial KILOMETERS drowning along their lower courses. Alluvi- PLIOCENE PI RIVER FLOOD PLAIN a ation, which has taken place during the last MARINE SEDIMENTS "—J BACKSWAMP general rise of sea level, accounts for flat COASTAL CHANGE AND (OHl BEACH ACCRETION floodplains that stand in abrupt topo- SEDIMENT TRANSPORT SANDS ft GRAVELS graphic unconformity with the bedrock faces of adjacent valley walls. Toward coasts where floodplains become deltas, iso- A' lated hills jut above the alluvium, which surrounds them at all sides. These are the EAST WEST tops of once much higher eminences which WALL OF FARMHOUSE ^K belong to a much rougher topography that FALLING INTO THE SEA RECENT-RAST CENTURY was created by denudation when sea level stood low, during glacial stages of the Pleis- tocene." We propose that the sandy coasts of Greece should be examined with this statement in mind. Vita-Finzi noted an example of the effects of man's intrusion: "The principle was familiar to Pausanias: 'that the Echinadian Islands have not yet been joined to the mainland by the Achelous is due to the Aetolians; for they have been driven out, and the whole country has been turned into a wilderness. Hence, Aetolia remaining un- tilled, the Achelous does not wash down so much mud on the Echinadian Islands as it would otherwise do. In proof of this, I can point to the Meander: flowing through the 'BEACH SECTION GREATLY lands of Phrygia and Caria, which are EXAGGERATED-4 METERS WIDE plowed every year. It has in a short time Figure 5. Geologic interpretation of relatively minor transgression ongoing in coastal plain south- turned the sea between Priene and Miletus west of Tsana River delta of northwest Gulf of Messenia (A-A' in Fig. 4). in to dry land' " (Vita-Finzi, 1969, p. 110,

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quoting Pausanias, writing in the 2nd lower coastal plain with the sea. Russell's historic sequence of events is imperative in century A.D.). studies (1954) of alluvial drowning of the order' to determine with precision the Many writers have commented on lateral lower valleys of the Anatolian rivers best paleogeography of a region and rates of sequences of sediments to be expected in describe the nature of the change in mor- coastal change. Figure 2 shows potential flood plains and lower flood-plain areas phology from the river—coastal-plain sys- elements of a marine transgression or re- and their relationship to possible coastal- tem to coastal units and thence to the shal- gression. The literature abounds with many delta situations (see, for example, Butzer, low marine shelf area. attempts to explain paleogeographic varia- 1971). Along the Greek coast, however, it is The study of sandy coastal areas of tion by one or more of the elements shown. the relationship of the lower alluvial valleys Greece must include an analysis of vertical However, very seldom have all of these and coastal plains to the marine area that is sequences of sedimentation in order to suc- elements been considered in a local setting most critical in reconstructing paleogeo- cessfully produce three-dimensional mod- in an attempt to determine with precision graphic settings. Most Holocene studies in els. Complete understanding of the nature coastal paleogeographic changes. the eastern Mediterranean have emphasized of change in a sandy depositional coast the alluvial valley systems, paying little at- cannot be reached by surficial geomorphic GEOLOGY OF COASTAL PLAIN tention to the nature of the merging of the means alone. An attempt to determine the AT HEAD OF GULF OF MESSENIA

To determine the nature of coastal change in Messenia and the relative sea level during a period of time, one must study the local sediment sequences and not rely on long-distance projection of studies made elsewhere, no matter how precise. This point is well illustrated by the scat- ter of radiocarbon dates for Messenia Figure 6. Schematic geo- (Table 1). morphic analysis of coastal In most cases, the material dated was plain and lower river valley, marsh grass assumed to be in or near deltas of Karya and Tsana growth position. The typical coastal plain Rivers at northwest corner of Greece is an alluvial plain of relatively of Gulf of Messenia (from CLIFF OR high angle with a terminal swamp area HIGH SLOPE air photos). Lines indicate separated from the sea by a sand and gravel cross sections shown in Pocl BACK SWAMP barrier. Damming by the barrier creates L J Figures 8, 9, and 10. " (INTERMITTENT) freshwater marshes that are nearly im- rTTTTm RIVER SILTS, L"**iiJ SANDS a GRAVELS penetrable mud in the rainy season but may (V71 BEACH ACCRETION become dry-land surfaces in drier seasons. SANDS 8 GRAVELS They have played a major role in the history BEACH FACE SANDS 8 GRAVELS of Greece, for they are obstacles to trans- P/^ PLIOCENE portation along coastal routes and they SEDIMENTS have served as important military traps, as at Marathon, where the Persians were backed into the swamps just west of the Kynosoura Promontory.

»UNDERLAIN a IN PART FLANKED W/SIMILAR The radiocarbon dates of Table 1 span ENVIRONMENT PLEISTOCENE AGE DEPOSITS METERS • ROMAN BATH-FLOOR 50 CENTIMETERS BENEATH FLOODPLAIN SURFACE the entire Holocene Epoch. An early -DRILL HOLES-THIS STUDY Holocene (Mesolithic) date was determined at —40 m in the Plain of Elos at the head of

Figure 7. Panorama of coastal plain below Minnesota Messenia Expedition House, showing abandoned sea cliff, coastal swamp (now a flat, silty flood plain), line of beach-accretion ridges, and present shore of Gulf of Messenia.

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the Gulf of Laconia (Fig. 1). However, this indicate positions of swamp environments lying the coastal plain at the head of the does not imply that the history of rise of in space and time. Our work in the Argolid, Gulf of Messenia are legacies of Mesozoic relative sea level of each embayment is the Laconia, and the Bay of Navarino clearly and early Tertiary marine sedimentation same, and many additional studies must be indicates that major problems of interpreta- (mostly limestone with some siliceous made before a true picture is obtained for tion exist in determining curves for the rise shale), followed by middle Tertiary Alpine the relative eustatic rise of sea level for the in relative sea level for the Greek shorelines; folding and uplift. Continuing tectonic ac- Greek coastal area. Furthermore, the question always exists tivity makes this region one of the most ac- Backswamp environments may be at about whether the dated organic material tive seismic areas in the world. The Mes- greatly differing positions relative to the sea has been transported, thus introducing er- senian embayment and plain is a tectonic level of their time. The radiocarbon dates of rors in dating for a particular locality. depression lying between the massive Table 1 do not locate sea levels, but they The rocks and geologic structures under- Taygetos Mountains on the east and the Messenian highlands on the west (Fig. 3). Major structural features and stratigraphic B boundaries trend north-northwest. The B' Messenian depression formed during a period of faulting following the main Al- SE pine folding in pre-Pliocene time, and it be- ABANDONED MIDDLE HOLOCENE came a basin of deposition during the SEA CLIFF (POSSIBLY REOCCUPIED Pliocene Epoch. Galanopoulos and De- PLEISTOCENE SEA CLIFF) libasis (1971) proposed tectonic activity s with renewed movement along the faults trending north-northwest during Pleis- tocene time. Ifloodplain Jsfj? BEACH ACCRETION VARICOLORED LITHIC Holocene activity in this region has been SANDS a GRAVELS dominated by eustatic rise of sea level and local tectonic movement. Flemming (1973) studied the known ancient settlements in the Peloponnese that are submerged below GULF OF MESSENIA present sea level, and he has attempted to separate the eustatic and tectonic contribu- tions to local changes in sea level. For the Peloponnese he proposed a doming with subsidence of the margins at 1 to 2 m/1,000 yr, combined with active uplift of a ridge stretching toward Crete. However, the work of Papazachos and Delibasis (1969) on the tectonic stress field and seismic faulting in this region indicates that the direction of the stress component is almost horizon- tal. These data seem to suggest that recent TOTAL ORGANIC CARBON tectonic movement has been mainly hori- zontal and thus has not contributed greatly to sea-level changes. Pleistocene outcrops are rare on the flanks of the valleys at the head of the Messenian embayment. These are usually highly oxidized sand, silt, and gravel, mainly fluvial. They occur along the flanks of the embayments now filled in by Holocene deposition. It may be hypothesized that with the oscillation of sea level during the Quaternary glaciation, sections of valley fill, including coastal—flood-plain sequences, may have been deposited in the interglacial epochs. During the glacial epochs, with sea level more than 100 m below present level, extensive erosion and multiple downcutting through the Pleisto- cene sections would have occurred, and in some areas the entire Pleistocene section may have been removed. However, in certain limited areas our drill-coring program has penetrated known Pleistocene 200 400 600 800 1000 sections. METERS Geologic mapping of other embayments, Figure 8. Geologic interpretation of subsurface elements of late Holocene Karya River coastal such as that of the Argolid, show major plain at northwest side of Gulf of Messenia (see Fig. 6). Pleistocene sections. The definitive work of

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Keraudren (1970, 1971) leads to an under- modify the sediments and redistribute them narrow and show some effects of late standing of earlier marine Quaternary as they enter the head of the gulf. In addi- Quaternary rejuvenation. Because our core deposition in the Greek area. Elsewhere in tion, in view of the very high slope to the holes have not yet penetrated the bottom of Greece, tectonic upwarp has exposed older deeper part of the Messenian embayment the valley sedimentary sequences, the extent Quaternary sections. Thus, continuing tec- (from 0 to —375 m in 5 km), most of the of the pre-Holocene Quaternary section is tonic processes may be used to delineate sediments are either redistributed in the lit- unknown. pre-Holocene paleogeography in some de- toral drift system or transported to the dep- Fytrolakis (1971) mapped an area ex- tail. ositional slope and into the deep embay- tending from approximately the Karya Well borings across the coastal plains of ment. River to south of the coastal town of Ko- the Gulf of Messenia show both Holocene The beaches are commonly composed of roni along the southwestern shore of the and Pleistocene sediment. Radiocarbon coarse sand and gravel with some boulders. Gulf of Messenia. Rapp has mapped the de- evidence, together with the sequence and For a short distance inland (0.5 km), coarse tailed Pliocene geology of Nichoria ridge type of sediment, show thick (as much as 90 sand dunes fringe the beach-accretion and its immediate environs. The Pliocene m) Holocene deposits in the Pamisos era- ridges parallel to the coastal area and thus shallow-marine sediment of the Nichoria- bayment. Similarly, at least 44 m of effect a coastal damming. The lower allu- Karya microregion was laid down on an Holocene sediment of highly varied lithol- vial plain of the Nedon River is also a silt undulating surface of upturned Mesozoic ogy has been identified in the subsurface of plain, with larger amounts of sand and cherty limestone and siliceous shale. This the Plain of Elos, and thinner sections of gravel than are found in the Pamisos region. Mesozoic surface has a topographic relief Holocene material are now under study in of as much as a few tens of metres and the plains of Argos, Navarino, Ther- COASTAL PLAIN AND slopes steadily toward the sea. mopylae, Elis, and Methone. ALLUVIAL VALLEYS OF THE In Pliocene time this surface received Figure 3 provides an index to the region FIVE RIVERS AREA shallow-water sediment from the surround- at the head of the Gulf of Messenia. The ing tectonically active region. In some areas Pamisos Valley appears to be a secondary The Five Rivers area — Lukermann's a basal conglomerate is present. Most or subsidiary grabenlike basin extending to (1972, p. 151) apt description — is in the Pliocene stratigraphic sections in this region the north, but distribution of Pliocene silt northwestern head of the Gulf of Messenia. cannot be correlated even when separated and carbonate at the head of the gulf tends Here, five smaller perennial streams, the by less than 1 km. This is, in part, the result to confirm the idea that the entire embay- Tsana, Karya, Velika, Tiflo, and Tzitzori, of shallow-marine clastic sedimentation in ment extended farther to the north in incise the plateaulike Pliocene sediment a variety of irregular depressions in the Pliocene time. (Fig. 4). Their deep valleys are extremely Mesozoic surface. Post-Pliocene erosion has The rivers at the head of the gulf are deeply incised into pre-Quaternary sediment and transport very large amounts of sedimentary debris to the coastal plain and c c marine area during the rainy seasons. NE High-slope rivers such as the Nedon, on the sw northeastern side of the gulf, carry many cobbles and boulders across the flood plain TAN SILT SOIL and into the sea. However, rivers such as the Pamisos also transport large particles, BROWN I0ANNIS and they have built broad flood plains with COARSE TROUPAKIS multiple channels, well-developed levee sys- LITHIC PIT a WELL tems, and deposits of silt across broad low- SAND lying plains. As the bedrock basement fring- COARSE-BROWN LITHIC LIMESTONE ing the flood plain is approached, the allu- HARD SANDSTONE COBBLE LAYER vial slope rises laterally at a high angle, but GRANULAR COARSE UNABRAIDED LITHIC SAND even here the alluvial deposits consist prin- w I - LATE ROMAN cipally of flood-plain silt. Older channels CERAMIC SHERDS LIMESTONE show that the Pamisos is not dominantly a LIMESTONE COBBLE LAYER COBBLE BED meandering river. Rather, it is a higher BRN-BLK SAND w/ HARD SANDSTONE angle stream that has had a semibraided PRESENT! PLANT S SHELL FRAG. IN DUG WELL SEA — DARK GRAY SILT LEVEL pattern throughout late Holocene time, and THINLY LAMINATED it occupied single channels for long periods. The very lowest part of the Pamisos alluvial plain is a backswamp caused by ephemeral damming by a sand bar of runoff during rainy seasons. Such a backswamp

becomes an extremely hard land surface SHALLOW MARINE during the dry season. Footprints of cattle PELECYPODS GASTROPODS and other animals, preserved into the dry FORAMINIFERA

season, clearly show depths of as much as DATE CORRECTED RE/MASCA 45 to 50 cm, indicating that the backswamp RCI4-I/Z LIFE 5568 DATE • 1955 has little bearing strength in the rainy season. With the shifting of the mouth of the Pamisos during late Holocene time, a small Figure 9. Geologic interpretation of two wells near base of cliff on Karya and Tsana Rivers coastal deltaic protrusion has developed. plain, Gulf of Messenia (see Fig. 6). MASCA = University of Pennsylvania Museum of Applied Sci- Strong littoral drift has continued to ence Center for Archaeology correction to 5730 half-life.

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removed enough of the Pliocene strata from area is the relatively narrow (450-m-wide) coastal area at the head of the Gulf of Mes- the topographic highs in this micro region to sandy coastal plain. It is a relatively recent senia contrasts sharply with the Pamisos further isolate the individual stratigraphic accretionary feature, for the formerly high River and Nedon River plains to the east. A sections. The Pliocene sections are domin- shoreline at the northwestern head of the high plain of Neogene siltstone, sandstone, antly coarse to fine sandstone and clayey Gulf of Messenia was marked by cliffs un- and limestone lies close to the shoreline siltstone with some clay lenses locally called dergoing active wave erosion. The highly area and is dissected by numerous relatively marl and marly clay. Thin boulder beds of varied sedimentary environments of deposi- small stream valleys (Fig. 4). Near the town limestone and chert are not infrequent in tion that may be seen at the head of the gulf of Petalidhi, several lower terraces are evi- the coarse sand facies. Cross-bedding oc- include deeper mud ranging to shallow- dent at the western limit of the sedimentary curs in many sections. Abundant fossils in marine coastal sand; sandy to gravelly coastal area. Here the deeply cut Pliocene some horizons allow assignment of these beach-accretion ridges; coastal dunes of sediment surface is very close to the deposits to the Pliocene (Astion) Epoch medium to coarse sand; backswamp silt shoreline and merges with the rocky cliffs (Fytrolakis, 1971). The presence of at least and clay with high organic content; higher of Cretaceous and older rocks that form the two lignite deposits within the Pliocene sec- slope fluvial deposits of the rivers with low western flank of the Gulf of Messenia. Tec- tion indicates emergence of the region for at natural levees; sandy and gravelly bedload tonically, this coastal area has been rela- least brief periods. of the streams with locally cobble-boulder tively active. The terraces were never well Uncomformably overlying the relatively debris; colluvial materials moving from the developed in the river valleys; they are rela- flat-lying Pliocene sedimentary deposits is deeply incised pre-Quaternary sedimentary tively narrow and lie only along the present Pleistocene conglomerate, probably deposits and now forming high-angle talus coast. They may be quite old and probably originating as river gravel. Composed of a slopes and colluvial fans; braided-stream originated through erosional-tectonic cycles broad range of boulders of older rocks, this sand and gravel, such as those of the Tsana totally unrelated to Holocene time. The conglomerate is locally well cemented. The River to the northwest; and limited areas of depth of dissection of the high Pliocene sur- matrix is a buff clay. Pleistocene and lagoonal silt, such as that found in the small face (terrace?) increases to the west, sug- Holocene alluvial deposits are also present. lagoons of the Karya and other rivers. gesting greater tectonic movement along An additional element of the Five Rivers The northwestern half of the sedimentary the northern continuation of the western flank of the gulf. The coastal plain from the Tsana River D' eastward to the Pamisos River valley is narrow but well developed and is clearly a product of redistribution of the sediment load carried into the area by the Five Riv- ers. Materials brought from the eroding highlands into the deltas are immediately moved in coastal processes and are re- sorted. No delta protrusions are evident east of the Five Rivers, whose mouths are diverted to the east by littoral drift. The Tsana River forms a deltaic bulge for 100 m along the depositional shoreline at the northwestern corner of the gulf. The river itself is a braided stream; its present delta is covered by a fertile medium-brown alluvial silt. The present river mouth is to- Figure 10. Geologic interpretation of subsurface ward the northeast on the delta. This elements of cross section braided stream system once flowed in a (Fig. 6) of lower Karya more southerly course toward the tip of the River plain at northwestern delta. Therefore, part of the delta is now corner of Gulf of Messenia, constructional, whereas the southwestern showing alluvial silt, barrier part is undergoing erosion. Of the five riv- sand and gravel, and marsh ers, however, the Tsana must be regarded grass fringing late Holocene as the greatest supplier of sediment to the lagoonal silt. shallow-marine area and to the littoral drift system. Indeed, sediment the size of boulders 0.5 m in diameter has been observed in the coastal zone in this region. The Tsana contributes a large mass of pebbles and cobbles to the coastal area, so a relatively high-angle beach face has formed. These sedimentary boulders are moved by the north-directed littoral drift system as far as the mouth of the Karya River. During the past 2,500 yr, the shape and dimensions of this coastal plain between the Petalidhi promontory and the Tsana delta seem to have been significantly reworked twice. From Classical through Roman time 800 (5th century B.C. to 3rd century A.D.) there

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were extensive settlements at Petalidhi, with a medium to fine sandy matrix and no a product of gradual accretion of the with estates or suburban extensions along silt. This is interpreted as coastal or shoreline coastal plain, resulting from in- the coastal plain. As evidence, remains of a shoreline sand, for it is very similar to the termittent occupancy from Roman time late Roman bath complex lie on the plain at sand of the shoreline area to the northeast. onward. Continued accretion of flood-plain the southern extremity of the Tsana delta. Much of this material is now well-cemented silt built the plain upward as the coast re- Its mosaic floor, now covered by 50 cm of beach rock. treated seaward, covering many Roman alluvium, provides a date and indication of The historical sequence revealed in this and post-Roman silt deposits. Intermittent the extent of the delta at that time (see Fig. section begins with a shoreline on which construction of moles or jetties at the har- 4). Farther south of the bath toward were deposited the alluvial cobbles and bor of Petalidhi could have played an im- Petalidhi, where the land surface rises more pebbles bearing the Classical-Roman portant part in shifting loci of erosion and sharply from the shoreline area in a series of sherds. Alluvial deposition continued up- deposition to the north. Other factors, such narrow terraces, the coastal plain is very ward and seaward to build the plain, as as local tectonism, could also have had an narrow and is now eroding rapidly. A cross projected in Figure 5. Finally, rapid erosion effect on shoreline movement, for the area section of the eroding cliff (Fig. 5) provides by the sea has cut the shore back to the lies precisely in line with the west flank of evidence of the changes that have occurred. farmhouse. the Messenian embayment (graben), The farmhouse wall that is falling into the The town of Petalidhi lies along the end The Karya and Velika Rivers enter the sea rests on 1 m of brown sandy alluvial of an embayed coast at the northernmost coastal plain at the mouths of valleys deeply silt. Reports from local people, as well as extension of the rocky cliff on the western incised into Pliocene siltstone; they flow to the tumbling wall and an adjacent well, shore of the Gulf of Messenia. Waves re- the sea in braided, slightly meandering now half-breached by the transgressing sea, fract around the rocky prominence of channels ending in deep lagoons formed at warrant projecting the flood-plain surface Petalidhi, and possibly this jetty effect em- the edge of the sea by coastal barriers 150 m seaward, probably out to the shoal. phasizes wave erosion from the town formed by the littoral drift (Fig. 4). Underlying the alluvial silt is a bed, 0.75 m northward. It is noteworthy that a mole has The lower parts of the Karya and Tsana thick, composed of silt and gravel, probably again been built off the promontory at River valleys, as well as the relatively nar- also of alluvial origin. Large amounts of Petalidhi, and that a cycle of mole construc- row (400-m-wide) plain between the two pottery sherds are eroding out of this bed. tion and destruction has occurred several rivers, has been studied in some détail (Fig. Most are badly worn and thus lack the times in the historic past. Concurrent with 6). The lower part of the Karya Valley in- diagnostic features required for a precise such changes in the mole are shifts in rates cludes an older valley surface of unknown and certain dating, but observable charac- of erosion and in the areas affected. Possi- age, thus indicating that in the past the river teristics suggest a Classical to Roman bly man's intrusion into the coastal envi- may have been significantly greater in size range, which is what would be assumed ronment at the promontory has triggered and velocity. Although the older valley sur- from the known history of the settlement. coastal events that have upset the balance face may be a product of an earlier Thus, the evidence is clear that the overly- of sediment supply, distributional process- Holocene event, it is more likely a Pleis- ing alluvial flood plain was deposited in es, and erosion. The observed sequence of tocene remnant from an earlier high sea post-Roman time. Beneath the cobble bed events on the narrow coastal plain between stand. The merging of the Karya plain with and its sherds is a coarse lithic sandstone Petalidhi and the Tsana River delta may be the adjacent coastal plain is sharply delineated by seaward-facing bluffs or cliffs. They are rounded and heavily covered with vegetation. Loy (1967) suggested that these bluffs were the remnants of a Sangamon (Riss-Wiirm) sea cliff. He concluded this because he did not believe that Holocene seas were necessarily in contact with the cliff area and because the time involved during the Holocene Epoch was not long enough for the coast to be carved. We agree with Loy in part. However, the bluffs were Figure 11. Schematic clearly also sea cliffs incised into Pliocene geomorphic reconstruction sedimentary strata in late Holocene time showing paleogeography of before the formation of the adjacent coastal Tsana and Karya Rivers plain. The effects of the frequent floods of delta-shoreline area during the Karya River are apparent in the area early Roman Imperial time, approximately 0 A.D. where it merges with the coastal plain and Compare with Figure 9 for empties into the Gulf of Messenia. In recent modern coastal environ- years the channel was artificially deepened ments in same area. and levees constructed. Previously, winter and spring floods deposited tremendous sediment loads on the coastal plain. There- fore, sedimentary features adjacent to the point at which the Karya River emerges from the hills are predominantly cobble and sand beds of the river bed itself. Detailed studies of air photos taken near the mouth of the Karya River show that its channel has frequently changed location. An abandoned L-shaped lagoon lies slightly west of R .ROMAN BATH-FLOOR 50 CENTIMETERS BENEATH FLOODPIAIN SURFACE the modern lagoon channel into the Gulf of •-DRILL HOLES-THIS STUDY

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Messenia. These coastal back-of-barrier around the Tsana delta. The normal littoral the Troupakis core holes is a series of fos- lagoons occupy the relatively narrow, drift stream during relatively calm summer siliferous Pleistocene silt and Pliocene silt- deeply cut channels of the Karya River in weather is only a modest current flowing stone, the upper part of which dates to flood stage. Littoral drift annually moves toward the north and east. However, dur- 29,960 ± 2,800 radiocarbon yr B.P. (Fig. sediment eastward along the shoreline and ing storms, intense wave action is capable 8). This silt- and siltstone may be evidence seals off the mouth of the Karya shortly of moving boulders. For instance, at the of a mid-Wisconsin high sea stand along the after the rainy season. Accordingly, narrow mole or jetty at Petalidhi, a storm in Feb- same sea cliffs, for these sediments are linear lagoons are constantly being formed ruary 1972 is known to have moved blocks commonly gray to tan silt and sand with a and reformed during flood stage. of limestone larger than a man. calcareous pelecypod fauna in addition to Figure 7 is a panorama of the coastal The shallow borings made on the Karya relatively porous artesian aquifers. Indeed, plain at the mouth of the Karya River. The coastal plain clearly indicate the regressive both deep borings of Figure 8 penetrated a low-lying, rounded bluffs on the left are the nature of the late Holocene sedimentary horizon with sufficient water flow to yield abandoned late Holocene sea cliff, and the infill. As can be seen from the Troupakis an artesian system now in use. flat cultivated area in the center is that of nos. 1, 2, and 3 core holes (Fig. 8), the plain Figure 9 shows an environmental in- the backswamp, now drained and tilled. starts with a nonconformity and is com- terpretation of wells dug in the backswamp Toward the gulf, parallel rows of trees posed of a sequence of shallow-marine sed- region on the coastal plain between the reflect an older beach-accretion ridge sys- iments followed by beach-accretion sands Karya and Tsana Rivers. The vertical sec- tem. Profiles based on drill-core data have and gravel, which are overlain in part by tion first encountered is a thin soil 0.5 m been constructed for this coastal plain (Fig. flood-plain silt. Pits dug in the plain and thick and composed of tan silt. Beach accre- 8). The major sediment infusion to this area trenches in the present beach surface clearly tion sand and gravel 0.5 to 1.0 m thick is by littoral drift from the delta of the show the area to be a typical beach- form the major section penetrated. The Tsana River, forming a constructional accretion surface formed by sediment flow coarse to granular lithic sand forms a ma- beach. The so-called backswamp is a thin into the area by the mechanism of littoral trix for many limestone cobbles and boul- soil zone deposited from flood waters of drift. The beds of coarse sand and gravel ders. At one point, approximately 0.5 m both riverine and surface runoff from the have a very low-angle tilt toward the gulf. below present sea level, a thin (10-cm), pos- hills and held behind the beach-accretion In the very shallow nearshore area of the sible beach-rock surface of hard sandstone ridge. Older beach-accretion ridges were gulf, the dominant sediment is fine to with calcareous cement was encountered. encountered in drill holes closer to the medium light-gray sand. A very similar In the Grigorios Zervas well there are two abandoned sea cliff. They were formed of sand with a marine fauna of pelecypods, horizons: sherds of the second century the same coarse sand and gravel sequence gastropods, and foraminiferids was found A.D., known as "African red slip ware," that may be observed in the currently ac- in the three Troupakis core holes under the and the brown-black sand with plant and creting shoreline. beach-accretion sand and gravel (Fig. 8). shell fragments encountered at 3 to 3.3 m, 14 Although the Mediterranean Sea is rela- The fauna indicates that the marine envi- yielding a C date of 50 A.D. ± 85. These tively quiet, observations made in August ronment extended to the foot of the cliff in strata are interpreted as transgression sur- and March for three years show that wave the very recent past. The Mollusca and face debris overlying the unconformity on trains of less than 0.33-m amplitude move Foraminiferida retain their mother-of-pearl Pliocene siltstone. up the Gulf of Messenia with great consis- and are modern in aspect. Evidence (pre- Figure 10 is a geologic cross section of tency, supported by afternoon winds. They sented below) indicates a late Holocene age the lower Karya River plain and valley. The continuously mold and re-form the sandy for this section, thus allowing a paleogeo- valley flanks are incised into Pliocene silt- gravel strand from Petalidhi on the west to graphic projection of the shoreline back to stone in the lower part of the valley system. Kalamata on the east. Wave patterns tend the now-rounded Pliocene bluffs. This siltstone is marine and contains the to break and refract in an easterly direction Underlying the late Holocene section in mollusk Pecten sp. In some zones, the Pliocene sediment is well-developed clay that has long been the source of materials for a local ceramic industry. Remains of seven kilns dot the plain on both sides of the river. The surface of the lower Karya Valley includes faint natural levees and silt-covered flood plains. However, in view of the narrowness of the valley and the mi- Figure 12. Present grating nature of the river as it flows across geomorphic elements of the plain, topographic elements are ex- Pamisos River flood plain tremely subdued. The river bed itself is and coastal area at northern formed of coarse gravel; therefore it is edge of Gulf of Messenia. Dots and lines show core- slightly perched above the adjacent silt hole and cross-section loca- flood plain. As may be seen from the wells tions for Figures 13, 14, 15, Nikos Zervas and Avgouleas no. 2 (Fig. and 17. Geology based on 10), the late Holocene section that was Institute for Geology and penetrated includes tan to brown Subsurface Research (1970) flood-plain silt with a terrestrial gastropod map. fauna. Avgouleas no. 2, located toward the center of the valley, penetrated a brown- gray silt in a slightly sandy section with a calcareous serpulid fauna, interpreted as representing a shallow-lagoon environment. The adjacent well, Nikos Zervas, lies more toward the mouth of the valley and

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toward the area of beach-accretion ridges. the embayment contained silt beneath the and into the Medieval period (450 to 1453 Most of the material from this well is com- river alluvium. This likewise suggests a A.D.), a few scattered settlements are posed of a coarse sand and gravel, which lagoonal embayment into the coast and known (see Figs. 4, 6, 11 for the location underlies the flood-plain silt. This is in di- lower Karya Valley. Rapp (McDonald and and relative cultural period). The debris rect continuity and proper position to have Rapp, 1972, p. 278) also projected a small from these settlements bequeath to the ar- originated as a beach-accretion ridge. It lagoon into the valley mouth in a prelimi- chaeologist some of the key chronological overlies a very thin section of yellow-brown nary paleogeographic reconstruction. markers with which to. date associated fossiliferous silt, which is interpreted as the coastal features and processes. This evi- deposit of a coastal lagoon in the lower val- PALEOGEOGRAPHY OF dence, especially for the earlier part of the ley of the Karya River. In the Avgouleas no. FIVE RIVERS AREA time interval, seldom comes to us through 2 well, the fossiliferous silt is additional systematic archaeological excavations but evidence of a long-term lagoonal system in One of the major reasons for making a rather as concentrations of broken pottery the lower part of the Karya River plain detailed analysis of the surface and subsur- on the surface at the sites. Archaeologists (Fig. 10). face geology of the Karya River region was such as McDonald and Hope-Simpson Yassoglou and Nobeli (1972) reported a to arrive at paleogeographic interpreta- (1969, 1972) have located and diagnosed sharp drop-off into an embayment of the tions. In making such interpretations, we these finds in terms of date and size of set- Karya River valley from a colluvial plain have sought both to utilize and relate to the tlement. underlain by Pliocene sedimentary deposits. settlement history revealed by archaeology. From 1958 to 1968, the Minnesota Mes- Yassoglou noted Roman tiles and sherds at Evidence of human settlement along the senia Expedition carried out a wide-ranging the colluvium-Pliocene contact surrounding coast at the head of the Gulf of Messenia program of surface exploration in the his projection of a former lagoon in the dates from late Neolithic time or 3000 B.C. southwestern Peloponnese. Results of this lower Karya Valley, and further noted that From the succeeding Bronze and Iron Ages program, covering disciplines ranging from

EAST

Figure 13. Geologic cross section (Fig. 12) of central Pamisos River alluvial flood plain, based on well logs provided by Thomas Frountzas, driller.

2000 4000 6000 8000 METERS

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archaeology and agricultural economics and Geometric settlement on the Nichoria ing a Bronze Age or Helladic reconstruction through geography and geology to photo- ridge. An examination of the hills surround- for the Five Rivers area. However, present grammetry and philology, have been pub- ing the Karya River valley and adjacent Five lack of adequate dates for key horizons pre- lished (McDonald and Rapp, 1972). The Rivers valleys, specifically in the Kar- cludes the complete reconstruction of the expedition located and described 329 an- pophora area and the area of the Nichoria Bronze Age coastal environment. Neverthe- cient habitation sites in the area that in- excavation, suggests that intensive gulley- less, we believe that the geomorphology of cludes the modern province of Messenia ing or headward erosion of the bluffs has that time was fairly similar to that of the and the southernmost county of Elis. been occurring for a considerable time (Fig. later Roman era, for which we have more The second phase of the overall program 4). Present deep V-shaped valleys indicate adequate data in the coastal area. Major was a five-year intensive excavation that the process continues. Preliminary in- Classical to Roman settlements occur along (1969-1973) of a single habitation site terpretation of the archaeological remains the coastal plain and foothills southwest- called Nichoria. Excavation uncovered re- on the Nichoria ridge suggests that at least ward toward Petalidhi, then a major town. latively well preserved remains of occupa- one Bronze Age village street terminated at Our geologic subsurface studies clearly tion extending from the Middle Bronze Age a sharp erosional bluff. This might be evi- indicate that coastal-zone environments (beginning perhaps about 2300 B.C.) to late dence of a different shape of the bluffs in have been migrating seaward and upward Geometric time (about 700 B.C.) and again the Nichoria ridge area in Bronze Age time at least since Roman time. A radiocarbon in the Medieval period (about 1000 to 1200 or may indicate a geomorphic control on date from the Grigorios Zervas well (Fig. 9) A.D.). McDonald (1972) summarized the street locations. On the other hand, the shows that the shoreline was at the foot of results of the first three excavation seasons. long history of Turkish occupation and a the cliffs in early Roman imperial time. To The present investigation was undertaken Turkish or pre-Turkish road that winds up date, no additional radiocarbon dates from to determine the paleogeographic setting of the valley to the north of the Nichoria site the Holocene Epoch have been obtained in the Nichoria site, particularly its relation to suggests some long-term stability of the the Karya River coastal-plain area. How- the sea coast and any possible protected present valleys. The steep, clifflike location ever, the microfauna of clams, snails, and harbor area. of retaining walls constructed in a low-lying foraminiferids found in the marine units According to archaeological data, the saddle suggests that they at one time sup- near the late Holocene sea cliff and under surrounding hills show a long history of set- ported an acropolis in Geometric and the present coastal plain are clearly modern tlement. About 2 km up the Karya River Medieval time. This has long since been in aspect. valley on a large bluff near the modern muted by erosion and sedimentary infill. Archaeological settings on the coastal town of Karpophora lies the major Helladic Our initial efforts were aimed at produc- plain give some chronological limits. The Fl 1 showing elements of flood plain from Mesolithic time until present, with marine tongue extending into area in Neolithic time. EAST

201 AGIOS MESSINI PANDILIMON DRAINED FLOOD PLAIN SWAMP MESSINI NICOLAS ICE PAMISOS KOZAKOS

2000 4000 6000 8000 10,000 METERS

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present limiting factor on age of the coastal from the sea. On the other hand, barring view of this, the lagoon in the lower Karya plain is the fact that an old Turkish path or catastrophic events, the shoreline processes Valley might have formed a harbor or port road follows the inner edge of the beach- of the Karya and entire northern shoreline site for ships in Roman and pre-Roman accretion ridge area from the village and area of the Gulf of Messenia appear to be times (Fig. 11). This supports Yassoglou's valley of Velika in the east through the fairly constant in rate of change. Nonethe- (Yassoglou and Nobeli, 1972) and Rapp's Karya River region across the coastal plain less, a paleogeographic reconstruction for (McDonald and Rapp, 1972) theory re- to Petalidhi. Thus, the coastal plain was in Roman time is feasible (Fig. 11). We have garding a lagoonlike indentation into the its present position at least 300 yr ago. Un- seen that the late Holocene (Roman) Gulf lower Karya Valley. In addition, fortunately, at present none of the ar- of Messenia occupied a position im- Yassoglou's discovery of Roman and later chaeological assemblages on the Karya mediately adjacent to the sea cliffs, with a sherds and pottery around the edge of this coastal plain are well dated. As previously sand-cobble strandline at their foot. Lit- feature tends to support the hypothesis of a stated, the adjacent Tsana River delta plain toral drift moving a barrier or bar across harbor in the lower Karya Valley. Further has considerably older elements and in- the mouth of the lower Karya River formed work is required to clearly define the limits cludes a Roman bath complex. a small lagoon. The silt sequence with a of the lower Karya Valley lagoon. The ser- We have attempted to utilize British ad- serpulid fauna is a clear indicator of a pulid fauna indicates a lagoon of variable miralty charts of the area and to compare shallow-lagoon condition. The lagoon itself salinity. At times during the summer, the them with the modern shoreline. These would probably have been formed similarly Karya flow is greatly reduced, and the charts indicate that beach accretion of ap- to the present ones. During heavy winter- lagoon could have high salinity. At other proximately 100 m has apparently occurred spring runoff, the Karya incises a deep times, the salinity could drop to very low during the past 150 yr opposite the Velika channel into the shallow-marine area. Im- brackish or freshwater conditions because River to the east of the area of intensive mediate littoral drift repair of the lagoon- of surface runoff. We are doing further study. However, although these charts are mouth barrier extends a sand and gravel drilling in the lagoonal area in an attempt exceptionally well documented for depths beach-accretion ridge or spit across the to gain sufficient material for radiocarbon in the offshore area, they are possibly poor mouth of the incised lower Karya and re- dating to verify the length of time that the delineators of precise shoreline shapes. forms a coastal lagoon. Depths of present hypothesized lagoon was extant in the Rarely was precision surveying involved. coastal lagoons are as much as 3 m, lower Karya River region. Rather, drawings were based on sightings sufficient to hold shallow-draft ships. In Slight variations of coastal configuration,

,1 Figure 15. Longitudinal cross section (Fig. 12) of Pamisos River plain, showing northerly extent of marine transgression in late Neolithic time and its relationship to Helladic-post-Helladic coastal regression to present position.

FLOODPLAIN- COASTAL DRAINED BACKSWAMP DUNES GULF BEACH OF ACCRETION MESSENIA

0000 12000

METERS

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sediment input, wave climate, or high- PAMISOS RIVER PLAIN northern sedimentary coast of the gulf. The intensity storms may be sufficient to change AND ADJACENT AREAS Pamisos delta is a complex of three rela- the nature of short segments of the coast tively large river plains, which merge at the from depositional to erosional status. In The Gulf of Messenia is the major tec- head of a broad coastal-alluvial plain. Here view of the great potential for short-term tonic embayment into the southwestern the coast forms very smooth arcuate sand- and long-term change, we believe that Peloponnese, with parts more than 1,000 gravel beaches with typical washover and paleogeographic studies of this type would fm deep. The western shoreline is the Mes- coastal-dune features (Fig. 12). At present be useful in making projections into the fu- senia peninsula, and the eastern shoreline, the Pamisos River system and its shoreline ture in the coastal region of the Five Rivers formed by the Taygetos Mountains, has area appear to be roughly in balance, with area. Specificially, an understanding of the sharply rising continuous cliffs. On the the shoreline area accreting slowly seaward. paleogeography of the past several other hand, at the head of the embayment, The broad Pamisos delta is now mostly thousand years should enable us to under- a major deltaic system has been developed drained and cultivated. However, in the re- stand the variations possible in the coastal by the Pamisos River, which, with its plain, cent past, it is known to have consisted of configuration over the short-term future. dominates approximately 50 percent of the widespread coastal malarial swamps, in addition to the more fertile and better drained areas of natural levee. Coarser sediments supplied to the coastal area by the winter-spring floods include sand and gravel with a large element of cobbles, which are contributed by both the Pamisos River and the Nedon River at the city of Kalamata. The sediments are redistributed by littoral drift and wave processes along the head of the gulf. Until very recently, fine sediment or mud in the system was distrib- uted across the flood-plain swamp and led to a continual accretion of the alluvial surface, keeping pace with late Holocene relative rise in sea level. In addition, the mud sediment at the bottom of the deeper waters indicate that silt and clay particles are moved into the gulf during the flood season. The pre-Quaternary sedimentary deposits surrounding the Pamisos plain (Fig. 12) are mainly Pliocene silt deposited in a proto-Gulf of Messenia. Farther east, older pre-Pliocene sedimentary rock, including harder carbonate, forms the Taygetos Figure 16. Early Helladic "palace" of 2500-2200 B.C. at Akovitika, now buried by backswamp. Mountains, one of the main spines of the Note low-lying ridge at edge of swamp, which is beginning of Pliocene bed rock at edge of Pamisos Peloponnese. The land surface rises rapidly River flood plain. Higher elements along skyline include pre-Pliocene carbonate rocks and other from the edge of the Pamisos plain to eleva- sedimentary rocks. tions of more than 800 m 5 to 6 km to the east. Holocene sedimentary environments in the Pamisos Valley area include the relatively higher angle alluvial-plain silt of the upper valley area (Fig. 12). The lower river plain is formed of natural-levee systems along the present Pamisos River channel and older channels. Broad areas of flood-plain silt occur laterally with this natural-levee system. The damming effect of the beach-accretion ridge system has caused the formation of low-lying coastal freshwater swamps which, in the recent historic past, were impenetrable or impas- sable, particularly in the rainy season. Ac- cordingly, the lower valley is an area that was avoided by travelers during much of the past several thousand years. The present shoreline area of the gulf is a beach- accretion ridge system growing seaward and upward. The oldest evident beach- accretion system is breached frequently by Figure 17. Interpretation of geomorphic and depositional elements as related to archaeological set- the Pamisos and its older channels. The ting of Early Helladic "palace" and Geometric walls, now located in backswamp but projected to have modern system is a continuous, relatively been in back-barrier position when constructed. Akovitika (see Fig. 12). high beach-accretion ridge with a fairly

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high-angle beach face. A sand-gravel Pamisos no. 4 is a particularly important 1). Beneath the thin backswamp section is shoreline lies at the head of the Gulf of test hole. The surficial sedimentary deposits nearly 10 m of shallow-marine sand con- Messenia in the Pamisos delta region, include flood-plain silt, which contains ter- taining a foraminiferid, pelecypod, gas- whereas the upthrown flank of the Mes- restrial gastropods, ostracodes, and tropod, scaphopod, and echinoid fauna. senia graben, the Taygetos Mountains, lies charophytes. Underlying this is a thin back- These shallow-marine shells are well pre- to the east. The city of Kalamata was built swamp section of plant debris, radiocarbon served, including fresh-appearing mother- on the delta of the Nedon River. The dated true time 5,310 ± 95 yr B.P. (Table of-pearl surfaces, and they seem to be mod- Nedon torrent drops rapidly from the Taygetos Mountains to the Gulf of Mes- senia and has deposited a thick sequence of cobbles and boulders. The flood plain adjacent to the man-made section of the river channel is covered with silt and sand-gravel deposited during the long period when the Nedon flowed unchecked (Fig. 12). Most of the river plain of the Pamisos Figure 18. Paléographie and Nedon Rivers has been drained, and reconstruction of Pamisos agriculture is common throughout the area. Valley in late Neolithic time Some of the more poorly drained areas to (approximately 3500 B.C.). the north of Mikromani and east of the G = Geometric, A = Ar- town of Aris still contain swamps, indica- chaic, EH = Early Helladic, tive of what much of the Pamisos region MH = Middle Helladic, LH might have been in the recent past. Drain- = Late Helladic. Nos. 1 to 9 = drill holes by Thomas ing and channelizing of the Pamisos plain, Frountzas; nos. PI to P4 = and other man-made alterations, have led drill holes for this study. to a disruption of the natural system of littoral drift and an alteration in the amount of sediment being supplied to the coastal area. Following these changes, the eastern part of the shoreline has begun to erode rapidly. This is in part a jetty effect caused by the construction of breakwaters around the mouth of the Aris Canal and at the port of Kalamata. 7000 BC 6000 BC 5000 BC 4000 BC 3000BC 2000 BC 1000 BC BCJAD 10,00 AD 1950 AD In order to understand the geology of the late Holocene sedimentary-environment TRUE TIME - CALENDAR YEARS 1 - > > ^ lithosomes of the Pamisos Valley area, we MESOLITHIC , NEOLITHIC have made a series of cross-sectional in- , PRESENT SEA terpretations. The locations of the core LEVEL holes yielding data for these sections are shown in Figure 12. Well-log data were -4 used to construct a section across the center j-8 of the Pamisos River alluvial plain (Fig. 13). The well logs clearly show the deeply in- 1-12 cised nature of the ancestral Pamisos Valley 16 and its relationship to the underlying and I" adjacent Pliocene and older sedimentary 1-20 deposits. The eastern flank of the Pamisos River is in part formed by a fault system. "M «. û: Because of lack of samples, we were unable u -28 t to determine whether or not the red and Z orange oxidized silt underlying the A - BACKSWAMP - PAMISOS KARYA RIVER FL00DPLAIN - 6ULF -32 Holocene section were Pleistocene or 0F MESSENIA 9 BACKSWAMP-0THER COASTAL Pliocene. Possibly, both periods of geologic | -36 time are represented. The well drilled near PLAINS - SOUTHERN PELOPONNESE the oil factory penetrated nearly 90 tn of -40 terrestrial flood-plain silt and sand. Wells drilled in the eastern side of the valley -44 penetrated much thinner Holocene sections before encountering the subsurface Pleis- Figure 19. Schematic presentation of radiocarbon data from head of Gulf of Messenia. We have tocene or Pliocene sedimentary strata. attempted to show local variants on relative sea level in Messenia contrasted with data from other embayments we are now studying. Curves shown are maximum relative sea-level positions; possible Figure 14 shows a geologic cross- lower positions cannot be calculated from radiocarbon data alone. Radiocarbon data has been cor- sectional interpretation of the lower rected to calendar years using University of Pennsylvania Museum of Applied Science Center for Ar- Pamisos River seaward from the area chaeology correction of Ralph and others (1973). Data indicate that separate relative sea-level curves shown in Figure 13. The shallow borings probably should be developed for each local tectonic setting. Large dots indicate dates derived from Pamisos nos. 1, 2, and 4 show the sedimen- similar swamp-grass materials, but these dates clearly lie in separate time-depth framework from data tary record of middle-late Holocene time. from Messenia. See Table 1 for detailed information on radiocarbon dates.

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em. The marine section is underlain by However, to date, no test holes have pene- proximately 3500 B.C., with important ar- another flood-plain-backswamp grass sec- trated this section. chaeological sites indicated for reference. tion dated as 5,660 ± 95 yr B.P. The dates Along the eastern flank of the Pamisos Although the time represented is late shown on the cross section have been cor- plain is a low-lying scarp of Pliocene sedi- Neolithic, the shoreline configuration and rected by the Museum of Applied Science ment. Immediately adjacent to this scarp, coastal environments would have been very Center for Archaeology (MASCA) method near the chapel of Agios Pandilimon, lies similar in Helladic time. Thus, it can be said (Ralph and others, 1973) to show true time. the important archaeological site of with some certainty that not only the Early These dates are late Neolithic in terms of Akovitika (Fig. 16). Excavations have re- Helladic building at Akovitika but also the occupancy of the coastal zone in southern vealed ruins of large Early Helladic (2500 contemporary site near Bouka beach on the Greece. Accordingly, the dates and the to 2200 B.C.) buildings and a Geometric western side of the Pamisos embayment marine transgression represented become (900 to 700 B.C.) sanctuary, and pottery was constructed in a shoreline position. The extremely important in the paleogeographic and small artifacts from subsequent periods smoothly rounded erosional edge of the reconstruction of the lower Pamisos region. through Roman time. All this is now sur- Pliocene outcrop (Fig. 18) at Bouka also in- Farther east along the section shown in Fig- rounded and overlain by flood-plain and dicates a possible shoreline configuration. ure 14, Pamisos nos. 1 and 2 penetrated backswamp sediments. Sea level at the time represented in Figure flood-plain-backswamp silt with os- Figure 17 is a geologic cross section of 18 was 7 to 16 m below the present level. tracodes and charophytes. The bottoms of the site at Akovitika. The Nicolas Kozakos Variations in the amount of sediment these test holes penetrated the shallow- well at Agios Pandilimon clearly shows the versus the rates of relative rise of sea level to marine sand section better observed in nature of the Miocene siltstone or basement Neolithic time could have caused the Pamisos no. 4 to the west. In summary, rock at the scarp. A shallow boring at coastal environmental configuration shown Figure 14 shows a cross-sectional interpre- Pamisos no. 3, 200 m to the west of the site, in Figure 18. Precise determination of the tation of the landward edge of a shallow- shows flood-plain silt and backswamp ma- reasons for the paleogeography of late marine wedge that represents a transgres- terial to approximately —2 m. At that Neolithic time remain for further study. sion into the area in late Neolithic time point, shoreline sand and gravel are en- However, it must be recognized that a tec- (middle Holocene). countered. The backswamp grasses at the tonic event (earthquake) or rapid subsi- Figure 15 shows a longitudinal section of base of the section in Pamisos no. 3 were dence of the area could lead to the same the Pamisos plain that better illustrates the dated at 2,760 ± 90 yr B.P. Thus, in 810 shoreline configuration. The transgression extent of the shallow-marine transgression B.C. a backswamp had just begun to trans- of the sea into the Pamisos embayment in late Neolithic time. In addition, it shows gress across shoreline or beach accretion 5,660 yr ago and subsequent regression the higher alluvial slope to the flood-plain sedimentary deposits in this area. This 5,310 yr B.P. may well have been a catas- silt formed toward the fringe of the Pamisos places the Early Helladic and Geometric trophic event caused by a tectonic down- River basin. The low-lying backswamps constructions at Akovitika at the back bar- warp followed by sediment infill. behind the zone of coastal dunes and rier beach. Radiocarbon date plots (Fig. 19) show a beach-accretion ridges are clearly illus- These cross sections may be used to make sudden steepening of slope. However, it trated. It is evident from Figure 15 that detailed paleogeographic interpretations of must be acknowledged that some geologists similar marine transgressions in middle and the lower Pamisos Valley area at the head hypothesize similar sudden changes in eus- earlier Holocene time may have occurred in of the Gulf of Messenia. Figure 18 shows tatic sea level from 6,000 yr B.P. to the the seaward part of the sedimentary wedge such a reconstruction for the northeastern present. The problem remains unresolved; at the head of the Messenian embayment. corner of the gulf in late Neolithic time, ap- however, the accurate depiction of paleogeography is not affected. Figure 20 shows a paleogeographic reconstruction of the Pamisos Valley region in Hellenistic-Roman time. Pausanias's ac- count indicates that at least the lower part of the Pamisos River was navigable during part of the year and that the valley might have been widely cultivated (Levi, 1971). The reconstruction shown in Figure 20 is, of course, schematic. Yet it is reasonable to Figure 20. Paleogeo- graphic reconstruction of assume that parallel backswamp areas oc- Pamisos River valley during curred behind the beach-accretion ridges Hellenistic-Roman time, even as they exist at present, despite wide- based partly on geographic spread drainage projects. Relative sea level interpretation and partly on for Roman time in the area shown in Figure quote from Pausanias (see 20 was possibly as much as 2 m below pres- Levi, 1971), an early ent sea level. traveler. M = Medieval, R The two paleogeographic interpretations = Roman, H = Hellenistic, C = Classical. of the Pamisos Valley present a continuum from middle Holocene time to the present of upward building of the valley surface sedimentary environments, while at the same time the shoreline migrated seaward

"THE PAMISOS FLOWS THROUGH PLOUGHED LAND, and upward, with a relatively slow late THE WATER IS PURE, AND SHIPS SAIL UP IT FROM Holocene rise in sea level. In view of the THE SEA ABOUT A MILE AND 1/4 INLAND; SEA LIVING FISH RUN UP IT AS WELL" fact that the Pamisos Valley is at the head of PAUSANIAS - 2nd CENTURY A D a major tectonic embayment, uplift or downwarp of the region must be consid-

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ered. However, the preliminary evidence clude exciting concepts. However, most still and erodibility are unclear, but the pollen obtained in this study is not precise enough ignore the subsurface dimension of coastal record suggests minimal rather than maxi- to show specific differentiation between tec- environmental interpretation, and accord- mal effect. In part, observed relative tonic, sedimentary, and eustatic effects. All ingly they fail to explain properly the changes in sea level must be eustatic. On the of the conditions shown in Figure 2 must be coastal processes, rates of coastal change, other hand, clear evidence in the Pamisos considered in determining the cause-and- and effects of man. no. 4 well could suggest a high-intensity effect relationships leading to the One of the major reasons we are studying downwarp. Relative sea level changed paleogeographic patterns shown. the coasts of the Peloponnese and eastern sharply upward 5,000 yr B.P., possibly to Figure 21 is a schematic block diagram Greece is to determine the feasibility of an extreme of 9 m in 350 yr. Why? The showing the relationship of the Holocene making precise paleogeographic studies. answer cannot be determined from the data (and Pleistocene?) sedimentary section at These are useful in analyzing the rate of on hand. However, newer results from simi- the head of the Gulf of Messenia to the rela- change of coasts and the coastal processes lar basins of deposition nearby in the tively deep tectonic embayment and the involved and in forming models of coastal Peloponnese are now available. Perhaps a flanking Taygetos Mountains. Little is geologic sedimentary units. In addition, synthesis in the coming years will lead to a known about the basement and bed rock areal geologic studies are critical to ar- better and more positive statement on rela- from the bottom of the gulf and extending chaeologists working in and interpreting tive change in sea level. In the interim, under the Pamisos plain. However, from the coastal zone. Apparently, very little use paleogeographic studies presented here our drill-core data it can be hypothesized has been made of paleogeographic tech- show some shifting strandlines laterally up that a relatively thick (greater than 90 m) niques based on modern sedimentological to 4 km in Messenia 5,500 yr ago. At the Holocene sedimentary section is present, analysis, study of coastal sedimentary envi- same time, some cliff coastal areas have re- and study of it would show details of ronments, and analysis of coastal processes. mained unchanged through time, whereas geologic and climatologie history of the It appears that a relatively new area of other cliff coasts have become low rounded northern end of the Gulf of Messenia em- study may be developed at the interface be- hills inland. The uses of such interpretation bayment. tween the study of sedimentation processes, are obvious to the geologist, the ar- coastal geology, and archaeology. chaeologist, and the coastal planner. PALEOGEOGRAPHIC Middle to late Holocene erosional, The ancient writers called our attention RECONSTRUCTIONS AND THEIR transportational, and depositional process- to a few of what must have been hundreds USES: CONCLUSIONS es were the same as at present. In addition, of examples of coastal change. Extensive tectonic activity probably acted in its cur- coastal change of the form noted at Ther- Many studies have been made of Greek rent high-intensity sporadic form. Evi- mopylae and in the valleys of the Great topography. Some of the newer ones in- dences for changes in climate, vegetation, Meander and Little Meander Rivers are not unique; they should be found along the rest of the Greek coasts in other valley systems with similar geologic settings. Nearly all of the normal coastal erosion-deposition (sediment-infill) problems of sandy coasts were observed by us in coastal Greece. Raphael (1969) noted that most of the shoreline of the northwest Peloponnese was retreating (coast of Elis north of Chlemutsi). However, he also described in great detail the historic evidences for shift of the mouth of the Peneus River from the north side of the Chlemutsi head- land to the south. This major shift has probably led to a sediment-starved shoreline on the northwestern plain of Elis. Accordingly, a cycle of coastal erosion has begun in an area that might normally be one of marine regression; one can see this in the geomorphic forms evident on the low- lying coastal plain. Is it possible that the river diversion was deliberate? Many of the coastal problems we observed during our studies in Greece were man-made. These include the intrusion of moles or jetties and resultant erosion by refraction, as well as the location of houses and other structures on what was clearly an eroding shoreline probably from the start. Just as elsewhere, it is probably man's intrusion into the area that is causing the problem.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Figure 21. Schematic block diagram showing relationships of sedimentary units at head of Gulf of This paper is based on our work during Messenia in Pamisos River flood plain to tectonic setting at head of gulf. 1971-1975 in the coastal area of Greece.

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The Minnesota Messenian Expedition, Wil- nean Sea; a natural sedimentation labora- Peloponnese 1964-68: Am. Jour. Ar- liam McDonald, director, has provided tory: Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, Dowden, chaeology, v. 73, p. 128-177. some of the field support necessary for our Hutchinson & Ross, Inc., p. 189-201. 1972, Archaeological exploration, in work in the southwestern corner of the Flint, R. F., 1971, Glacial and Quaternary geol- McDonald, W. A., and Rapp, G. R., Jr., Peloponnese. The Hellenic Institute for ogy: New York, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., eds., The Minnesota Messenia Expedition: Oceanographic and Fisheries Research 892 p. Reconstructing a Bronze Age regional envi- Fytrolakis, N., 1971, Geological investigation of ronment: Minneapolis, Univ. Minnesota (IOKAE) of Greece, Admiral Constantine the county of Pylias (Messenia): Annales Press, p. 117-147. Skiadopoulos,' president, and Athanasios Geol. Pays Helleniques, v. 23, p. 57-122 (in Papazachos, B. C., and Delibasis, N. D., 1969, Hatzikakidis, general director, has pro- Greek). Tectonic stress field and seismic faulting in vided major support to the field program. Galanopoulos, A., and Delibasis, N. D., 1971, the area of Greece: Tectonophysics, v. 7, p. Geologists from IOKAE and support per- Seismotectonic map of Greece: Athens, Inst. 231-255. sonnel from the Greek Nuclear Research Geology and Subsurface Research, scale Philippson, A., 1950, Die Griechischen Land- Center Democritus have kindly assisted in 1:1,000,000, 1 sheet. schaften (1950-1959 ed.): Frankfurt am the field drilling program. Initial support Higgins, C. G., 1969, Causes of relative sea level Main, Vittorio Klostermann, 4 vols., 2715 p. for the project came from Office of Naval changes: Am. Scientist, v. 53, p. 464-476. Pritchett, W. K., 1965, Studies in ancient Greek Research Contract No. N00014-69- Institute for Geology and Subsurface Research, topography, Pt. I: Berkeley and Los 1970, Geological map of Greece — Angeles, Univ. California Press, 261 p. A0407 (Kraft, 1972). Rapp was a senior Kalamata sheet: Athens, E.0.I.r.M.E., scale Ralph, E. K., Michael, H. N., and Han, M. C., Fulbright research scholar in Greece for 1:50,000. 1973, Radiocarbon dates and reality: the period September 1972-June 1973. Keraudren, B., 1970, Les formations quater- MASCA Newsletter (Univ. Pennsylvania Members of the American Embassy in naires marine de la Grèce: Mus. Mus. Appi. Sci. Center Archaeology), v. 9, Athens helped with the necessary liaison d'Anthropologie préhistorique Monaco no. 1, 20 p. work required to make this project a suc- Bull. 16, 154 p. Raphael, C. N., 1969, The plain of Elis, Greece cess. In addition, we thank Thomas Frount- 1971, Les formations quaternaires marine — An archaeological approach: Michigan zas, driller, Plati, Greece, for his assistance de la Grèce: Mus. d'Anthropologie Academician, v. 1, no. 1 and 2, p. 73-74. in drilling and his very useful discussions of préhistorique Monaco Bull. 17, p. 87-169. Russell, R. J., 1954, Alluvial morphology of subsurface stratigraphic units of the Kraft, J. C., 1972, A reconnaissance of the geol- Anatolian rivers: Assoc. Am. Geographers Pamisos Valley. Roger Howell, ar- ogy of the sandy coastal areas of eastern Annals, v. 44, p. 363-391. Greece and the Peloponnese: Univ. Dela- chaeologist of the Minnesota Messenia Ex- 1967, River plains and sea coasts: Berkeley ware College of Marine Studies Tech. Rept. and Los Angeles, Univ. California Press, p. pedition, kindly accompanied us in our ini- 9, 156 p. 173. tial reconnaissance of the shorelines of Levi, P., 1971, Pausanias (second century A.D.) 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