The Geoarchaeology of Utica, Tunisia: The Paleogeography of the Mejerda Delta and Hypotheses Concerning the Location of the Ancient Harbor
Hugo Delile
(1, 2, 3)
,
Abdelhakim Abichou
(4)
,
Ahmed Gadhoum
(5)
,
Jean-Philippe Goiran
(3)
,
Elisa Pleuger
(6)
,
Jean-Yves Monchambert
(7)
,
Andrew Wilson
(8)
,
Elizabeth Fentress
(9)
,
Josephine Quinn
(10)
,
Imed Ben Jerbania
(5)
,
Faouzi Ghozzi
(5)
1
ENS de Lyon -
École normale supérieure de Lyon
2 EVS - Environnement, Ville, Société
3 Archéorient - ARCHEORIENT - Environnements et sociétés de l'Orient ancien
4 Laboratoire de cartographie géomorphologique des Milieux des Environnements et des Dynamiques (CGMEG)
5 Institut National du Patrimoine, Tunis
6 Université de Liège
7 OM - ORIENT ET MÉDITERRANÉE : Textes, Archéologie, Histoire
8 Institute of Archaeology
9 Chercheur indépendant
10 Worcester College
2 EVS - Environnement, Ville, Société
3 Archéorient - ARCHEORIENT - Environnements et sociétés de l'Orient ancien
4 Laboratoire de cartographie géomorphologique des Milieux des Environnements et des Dynamiques (CGMEG)
5 Institut National du Patrimoine, Tunis
6 Université de Liège
7 OM - ORIENT ET MÉDITERRANÉE : Textes, Archéologie, Histoire
8 Institute of Archaeology
9 Chercheur indépendant
10 Worcester College
Hugo Delile
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 1181103
- IdHAL : hugo-delile
- ORCID : 0000-0002-4711-035X
Jean-Philippe Goiran
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 1930
- IdHAL : jean-philippe-goiran
- ORCID : 0000-0003-4797-5799
- IdRef : 059908459
Jean-Yves Monchambert
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 1201946
- IdHAL : jean-yves-monchambert
Résumé
Although the ancient site of Utica has been studied since the 19th century, the location of its harbors remains unresolved as they were buried under sediments as the Mejerda delta prograded and left Utica 10 km inland. Using relief data and a coring survey with sedimentological analysis, we identify the dynamics of the delta's progradation, which produced a double system of alluvial fans. These show that the ancient bay of Utica silted up faster and earlier than was thought, probably before the end of the Punic period. Combined with the radiocarbon dates from coring, this suggests that the harbor lay on the northwestern side of the Utica promontory, communicating with the sea by a marine corridor west of the northern compartment of the delta. As the infilling of the ancient bay progressed, this corridor narrowed until it disappeared completely in the early 5th/mid-6th century A.D., when a peat bog developed on the northern side of the promontory, sealing the fate of Utica as a port. This relative environmental stability ended in the 9th–10th century A.D. when about 4 m of sediment, probably of fluvial origin, covered the peat bog, leaving the site more than 4.5 m above the local sea level. C 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Domaines
Archéologie et Préhistoire Géographie Etudes de l'environnement Environnement et Société Milieux et Changements globauxFormat du dépôt | Notice |
---|---|
Type de dépôt | Article dans une revue |
Titre |
en
The Geoarchaeology of Utica, Tunisia: The Paleogeography of the Mejerda Delta and Hypotheses Concerning the Location of the Ancient Harbor
|
Résumé |
en
Although the ancient site of Utica has been studied since the 19th century, the location of its harbors remains unresolved as they were buried under sediments as the Mejerda delta prograded and left Utica 10 km inland. Using relief data and a coring survey with sedimentological analysis, we identify the dynamics of the delta's progradation, which produced a double system of alluvial fans. These show that the ancient bay of Utica silted up faster and earlier than was thought, probably before the end of the Punic period. Combined with the radiocarbon dates from coring, this suggests that the harbor lay on the northwestern side of the Utica promontory, communicating with the sea by a marine corridor west of the northern compartment of the delta. As the infilling of the ancient bay progressed, this corridor narrowed until it disappeared completely in the early 5th/mid-6th century A.D., when a peat bog developed on the northern side of the promontory, sealing the fate of Utica as a port. This relative environmental stability ended in the 9th–10th century A.D. when about 4 m of sediment, probably of fluvial origin, covered the peat bog, leaving the site more than 4.5 m above the local sea level. C 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
|
Auteur(s) |
Hugo Delile
1, 2, 3
, Abdelhakim Abichou
4
, Ahmed Gadhoum
5
, Jean-Philippe Goiran
3
, Elisa Pleuger
6
, Jean-Yves Monchambert
7
, Andrew Wilson
8
, Elizabeth Fentress
9
, Josephine Quinn
10
, Imed Ben Jerbania
5
, Faouzi Ghozzi
5
1
ENS de Lyon -
École normale supérieure de Lyon
( 6818 )
- 15 parvis René Descartes - BP 7000 - 69342 Lyon Cedex 07
- France
2
EVS -
Environnement, Ville, Société
( 145345 )
- 18 Rue Chevreul
69362 LYON CEDEX 07
UMR 5600
- France
3
Archéorient -
ARCHEORIENT - Environnements et sociétés de l'Orient ancien
( 619 )
- Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée Jean-Pouilloux 7 rue Raulin 69365 LYON Cedex 07
- France
4
Laboratoire de cartographie géomorphologique des Milieux des Environnements et des Dynamiques (CGMEG)
( 410831 )
- Tunisie
5
Institut National du Patrimoine, Tunis
( 421989 )
- France
6
Université de Liège
( 93075 )
- Place du 20-Août, 7 4000 Liège
- Belgique
7
OM -
ORIENT ET MÉDITERRANÉE : Textes, Archéologie, Histoire
( 542221 )
- 27 rue Paul Bert 94204 IVRY SUR SEINE CEDEX
- France
8
Institute of Archaeology
( 106036 )
- Oxford OX1 2PG,
- Royaume-Uni
9
Chercheur indépendant
( 107396 )
- France
10
Worcester College
( 18325 )
- Royaume-Uni
|
Langue du document |
Anglais
|
Nom de la revue |
|
Vulgarisation |
Non
|
Comité de lecture |
Oui
|
Audience |
Internationale
|
Volume |
30
|
Date de publication |
2015-06-22
|
Page/Identifiant |
291–306
|
Numéro |
4
|
Domaine(s) |
|
Mots-clés |
en
ancient harbor, Geoarchaeology, Utica, Medjerda, delta, GIS
|
DOI | 10.1002/gea.21514 |
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