A submerged 7000-year-old village and seawall demonstrate earliest known coastal defence against sea-level rise.

Autor: Ehud Galili, Jonathan Benjamin, Vered Eshed, Baruch Rosen, John McCarthy, Liora Kolska Horwitz
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2019
Předmět:
Zdroj: PLoS ONE, Vol 14, Iss 12, p e0222560 (2019)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1932-6203
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0222560
Popis: We report the results of underwater archaeological investigations at the submerged Neolithic settlement of Tel Hreiz (7500 - 7000 BP), off the Carmel coast of Israel. The underwater archaeological site has yielded well-preserved architectural, artefactual, faunal and human remains. We examine and discuss the notable recent discovery of a linear, boulder-built feature >100m long, located seaward of the settlement. Based on archaeological context, mode of construction and radiometric dating, we demonstrate the feature was contemporary with the inundated Neolithic settlement and conclude that it served as a seawall, built to protect the village against Mediterranean Sea-level rise. The seawall is unique for the period and is the oldest known coastal defence worldwide. Its length, use of large non-local boulders and specific arrangement in the landscape reflect the extensive effort invested by the Neolithic villagers in its conception, organisation and construction. However, this distinct social action and display of resilience proved a temporary solution and ultimately the village was inundated and abandoned.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals
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