| dc.description.abstract | Deteriorating climate in the period leading up to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM)
20,000 years ago caused global sea levels to fall to a lowstand of 125m below
modern levels. This resulted in the recession of the Sicilian palaeoshoreline by up to
150km and the emergence of vast tracts of coastal lowland. Following climate
amelioration and deglaciation, rising sea levels inundated these formerly exposed
areas. The earliest indication of a modern human presence on Sicily comes from
Fontana Nuova, in the southeast of the island. The timing of this occupation, on the
basis of cross-dating of Aurignacian lithic typology, is about 37,000 BP – a time
when sea levels around the Sicilian coastline were some 40-80m lower than at
present. The oldest scientifically-dated human remains come from Addaura Caprara,
dated to 15,643–15,177 cal BP. Some archaeologists interpret the evidence as
suggesting a brief, solitary visit to the island at around 37,000 BP followed by a gap
of some 20,000 years before the establishment of a permanent presence during the
16th millennium BP. Others dismiss the veracity of the evidence from Fontana
Nuova and hold that Sicily was never settled until some considerable time after the
LGM.
Until late 20th-century studies demonstrated the attractions of coastal ecotones,
absence of evidence was sometimes interpreted as a rejection of coastal landscapes
by Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic hunter-gatherers. My thesis will argue that
Sicily was not uninhabited for 20,000 years or more but that any evidence for human
coastal presence throughout prehistory is potentially submerged. I consider the
attractions of coastlands for early modern humans. I discuss the physical background
to glaciation and deglaciation resulting in sea-level change. By combining data on
absolute sea-level change with evidence for terrestrial displacement resulting from
tectonic forces, I have determined relative sea-level change affecting the coastlines
of Sicily from 37,000 BP until the Iron Age (ending c750 BC). The results have
been combined with digital bathymetric data within an ESRI ArcMap GIS program
to produce a series of maps at archaeologically-significant dates. The very areas that
are now recognised as being attractive to modern humans will be shown to be
submerged today. With reference to modern scientific techniques and their
application by specialists in a variety of locations, I shall demonstrate that the
successful recovery of submerged archaeological evidence is achievable.
I shall also consider a number of phenomena revealed by my field observations that
have conspired to conceal or destroy the coastal archaeological record, the absence of
such evidence being used illegitimately to support claims for an unpopulated island.
These phenomena include natural catastrophes such as earthquakes and related
tsunamis, volcanic activity and landslides. Additionally, coastline modification
resulting from river estuary migration, and anthropogenic impacts will be considered. | en |
