ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE CORE, AND MORE: HOW THE HOLOCENE MARINE TRANSGRESSION AFFECTED POPULATIONS
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 2020-11-25

This paper will provide an archaeological perspective for the climatic changes that occurred after the LGM, focusing on a case study in Zambratija Bay, Croatia. The site was initially recognised in 2008 as hundreds of wooden piles protruding out of the seabed, and a peat platform, both of which lay 3m below MSL on the ridges of a submerged sinkhole. Prehistoric pottery, stone artefacts, zoological and botanical remains were found scattered around the area, making it evident that the site represents a unique opportunity for investigating the part of Mediterranean Prehistory “lost” due to the Holocene marine transgression and landscape evolution. Between 2008 and 2014, a few investigations were performed on site, including a bathymetric survey as well as underwater archaeological excavations. The presence of wooden piles, one of which revealed a radiocarbon age of 4230–3980 cal BC, together with peat and Prehistoric finds typologically attributed to the Copper Age, indicated a connection to the well-known Prehistoric pile-dwellings of the Alpine lakes. In 2017, a series of collaborative investigations were conducted on site, for the purposes of the author’s PhD research project in underwater archaeology at Flinders University in Adelaide, South Australia. The methods used in this campaign

(geological coring and underwater archaeological research) were chosen to contribute to the understanding of the chronology, pal-aeoenvironment, and cultural connections in the post-Neolithic Mediterranean, through the theoretical lens of Climate Change Archaeology. In this paper, the author will explain how these methods contributed to the understanding of the adaptive pathways of the Prehistoric population in preserving sustainability in the time of rapid environmental changes, endorsing archaeology into being an equal contributor in modern climate change debates. The research was done in collaboration with the local community, supported by the local Archaeological Museum in Pula, and other Croatian and international institutions.


Author(s): Jerbic, Katarina (Flinders University, Adelaide)