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Newsletter di Archeologia CISA, Volume 6, 2015, pp. 279-294 ADULIS IN ITS REGIONAL MARITIME CONTEXT. A PRELIMINARY REPORT OF THE 2015 FIELD SEASON Alfredo Carannante Clément Flaux (CNRS, Ecolab UMR 5245, Toulouse) Christophe Morhange (Université Aix-Marseille) Chiara Zazzaro (Università di Napoli “L’Orientale”) Introduction evidence, to reconstruct the history of the fluvial The site of Adulis, hub of the Mediterranean- activity and to assess flood risk for the site. Indian Ocean trade, is located on the western shore of the gulf of Zula, circa 5km from the Coastal geomorphology fieldwork at the western coast. According to literary sources the town gulf of Zula: stratigraphy and geo-archaelogical was served by landing places and harbours issues dislocated on the western coast of the gulf of (C. Flaux and Ch. Morhange) Zula and on the islands. The site of Adulis lies within a delta fan, Earliest investigations in the Adulis region drained and deposited by the Alighede and were started in 2004-5 by an Eritro-British team Haddas rivers and numerous tributaries (Fig. 1). of the Asmara and Massawa museums and of As noted by previous research, while historical the Southampton University. They had the merit accounts from Antiquity testified that the city to have provided a preliminary archaeological was at this time ca. 3,3km distant from the and geo-archaeological assessment of the area, shore, Adulis lies today some 5km from the identifying the Galala hills, 5km to the south of coastline, indicating a great alluvial activity the site, and the island of Dissei, outside the gulf since the last 2000 years (Peacock and Blue, of Zula, as the two main landing places serving 2007; Alemseged, 2011). This horizontal Adulis in antiquity (Peacock and Blue 2008). progradation is expressed vertically in Adulis, They also identified two sites 5-6 km to the where excavated archaeological remains, mostly north of Adulis as the ancient Samidi depicted in dated from the 5th-7th century AD (Zazzaro et the 6th century Christian Topography of Cosmas alii, 2014), have been buried below ca. 2 m of Indicopleustes. fluvial silts and sands. By contrast, the modern In February 2015 a joint team of configuration of the site and of the delta shows archaeologist, geo-archaeologists and that important fluvial incision has taken place in geomorphologist from Massawa and Asmara recent times, up to 4 m depth, which in part museums and the “L’Orientale” and Aix- threats the ancient remains of Adulis. In Marseille universities, resumed these addition, given the tectonic context of the investigations in the Adulis region1. region, lying north of the Afar-Danakil The survey focused on the hills/paleo-islands depression, the triple junction zone where the of Galala and in the Irafalo bay with the aim to Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and the East African rifts identify archaeological evidence and to meet (Ghebreab et alii, 2000), crustal mobility reconstruct the history of the vegetation and may be another factor of geomorphological coastal paleo-geography since 6000 years. Other changes in the area and could have impacted investigations focused to the north of Adulis and occupation history of ancient Adulis. Seismicity along the Haddas river bed, from Adulis to the has been recorded in the port city of Massawa, coast, with the aim to assess archeological ca. 40 km north of Adulis, both in modern (Ogubazghi et alii, 2004) and ancient times (Ambraseys et alii, 2008). 1 The fieldwork took place with the financial support of These observations show that the sector of UNO (departmental research grant 2014, grant for the Adulis has been proned to important research activities in Asia and Africa, and grant of CISA), geomorphological changes, both in ancient and of the MIUR Giovani Ricercatori Rita Levi Montalcini program, of the Aix-Marseille University, of the Institut modern times. The environmental history of the Universitaire de France (IUF) the Eritrean Government and area thus may have greatly interacted with the Gruppo Piccini. The research activities of the expedition occupation's geography and trajectory of ancient are also contributing to the Futuro in Ricerca 2012 project Adulis. code RBFR12N6WD and GEOMED project granted by A*MIDEX. 280 | C. Zazzaro et alii, Adulis in Its Regional Maritime Context. A Preliminary Report of the 2015 Field Season The authors have conducted a survey and be analysed along available mid-to-late holocene coring investigations of the coastal stratigraphy coastal sequences. and geomorphology, at some sites along the We have identified three main issues: (1) western and southern bay of Zula (21 sequences History of the vegetation since 6000 years, (2) were recorded, Tab. 1). Our main topic was to Coastal palaeo-geography since 6000 years and describe and sample sedimentary archives, in (3) History of the fluvial acttivity in Adulis. order to assess, in a geo-archaeological perspective, the mosst relevant proxies that could Tab 1 - List and locations of cores and sections studies Topic 1: History of the vegetation since 6000 the late Holocene history of natural climatic years variability in coastal Eritrea for the first time, Massor beach, south of Irafalo village, at the the history of pluviometry, summer monsoon southern edge of the Gulf of Zula, is a typical activity (e.g. Camberlin, 1997) and availability pocket beach delimited byy two rocky of water resources in the area of Adulis. promontories. Main sediments sources are two small wadi systems. The geomorphological Topic 2: Coastal paleo-geeography since 6000 setting of this site is extremely interesting (Fig. years 2). A kilometer long sand spit protects a tidal The geomorphological setting of Adulis is lagoon characterized by mud deposits and characterized byy the presence of the delta fan of mangrove vegetation. We decided to core in this Alighede river (Fig. 1). Haddas river, presently sector for paleo-climatic and biogeographic dammed and dyked, is a secondary branch of purposes. We were able to extract 4 cores down this important arid fluvial ccomplex. It is likely to 6 m depth (core AD-XVIII to ADXIX; Fig. that below this fan were previously deposited 3). High-resolution sampling of 2 to 5 cm and sediment within a marine environment, because laboratory analyses will allow to progress on the coastal landform translates a classic two main topics: (1) Palynological research will progradation process, with aan associated marine give us the possibility to describe and quantify, recession, due to the relative sea-level for the first time in the Adulis area, the stabilization and a positivee sedimentary budget evolution of the vegetation since ca. 6000 years during the last six millenniaa. (e.g. stabilization of relative sea-level rise). (2) According to this scenarriio, the Galala hills in This sedimentary research will help us establish the southern part of Alighedde delta fan (Fig. 4), C. Zazzaro et alii, Adulis in Its Regional Maritime Context. A Preliminary Report of the 2015 Field Season | 281 a series of three hills composed of pyroclastic The site of Adulis site is located on the deposits and vesicular basalt (Alemseged, 2011), Northern side of the Haddas river in a isolated within the flat floodplain, would have topographical position of an interfluve, probably been islands in more ancient times. This of anthropogenic origin (i.e. a tell). It is hypothesis was first suggested by Peacock and important to note that the majority of the Blue (2008), based on preliminary sedimentary archaeological structures, dating back to the evidences. Further interpretation led these Roman period, are overlain by at least two authors to consider the Galala hills area as a meters of fluvial deposits since the abandonment possible harbor area of Adulis in Antiquity. of the site in the 7th century AD (e.g. section To further document this hypothesis, we AD-XII, Fig. 6). This means that the principal made four cores between Galala hills 3 and 2 geomorphological forcing agent was running (Fig. 4). Cores AD-III, -II, -I and -VII provide a fluvial waters (e.g. sheet and rill floods) by S-N sedimentary transect across the river episodic flooding events during the winter and channel that separated the two hills (Fig. 5). summer (active monsoon). We have studied two From south to north, the volcanic substrate was sections along the western bank of the incised found in cores at 1.5, 2.7, 2.3, and 3.1 m below Haddas river (AD-XX and -XXI ; Fig. 7 and 8). the surface, respectively. Preliminary field Both sections have revealed ca. 4 meters of observations from sediments deposited above fluvial sediment accumulation. The detailed the substrate indicate the presence of description of section AD-XX shows at the base possible marine shells fragments within a 1.1 m of homogeneous medium and coarse medium sands matrix. Upper sedimentation is sands deposits. Such a coarse load is likely to characterized by fluvial sands. Further bio- have been deposited within the river bed, by sedimentology analysis of the base of the cores analogy with sedimentation in the modern are currently in progress, in order (1) to confirm Haddas stream. Upper layers are floodplain the presence of marine or coastal sediments deposits, characterized by alternations of silts close to the palaeo-islands, and (2) found and fine sands dominated strata, as well as small suitable material for radiocarbon datings which erosional truncations. The change in will draw geoarchaeological issue about harbor depositional conditions from river stream to potentialities of the area in ancient times. floodplain translates the lateral shifting of the Cores AD-IV and AD-V were made at the river bed, a very classic process in river delta. north-eastern edge of Galala hill 2, at the foothill Further examination and comparison of fluvial of a palaeo-cliff.