Piraeus, the ancient island of Athens: Evidence from Holocene sediments and historical archives

Abstract

Research Article| June 01, 2011 Piraeus, the ancient island of Athens: Evidence from Holocene sediments and historical archives Jean-Philippe Goiran; Jean-Philippe Goiran * 1Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 5133-Archéorient, MOM, 7 rue Raulin, 69007 Lyon, France *E-mail: [e-mail]. Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Kosmas P. Pavlopoulos; Kosmas P. Pavlopoulos 2Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 5133, France, and Geography Department, Harokopion University, 70 El Venizelou Street, 17671 Athens, Greece Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Eric Fouache; Eric Fouache 3Université de Paris Ouest Nanterre la Défense, IUF, EA 375 GECKO and UMR 8591, 200 Avenue de la République, 92001 Nanterre, France Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Maria Triantaphyllou; Maria Triantaphyllou 4University of Athens, Faculty of Geology and Geoenvironment, Department of Historical Geology-Paleontology, Panepistimiopolis, 157 84 Athens, Greece Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Roland Etienne Roland Etienne 5Université Paris 1-Panthéon Sorbonne, UMR ArScan, UFR d'Histoire de l'Art et d'archéologie, 3 Rue Michelet, 75005 Paris, France Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Jean-Philippe Goiran * 1Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 5133-Archéorient, MOM, 7 rue Raulin, 69007 Lyon, France Kosmas P. Pavlopoulos 2Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 5133, France, and Geography Department, Harokopion University, 70 El Venizelou Street, 17671 Athens, Greece Eric Fouache 3Université de Paris Ouest Nanterre la Défense, IUF, EA 375 GECKO and UMR 8591, 200 Avenue de la République, 92001 Nanterre, France Maria Triantaphyllou 4University of Athens, Faculty of Geology and Geoenvironment, Department of Historical Geology-Paleontology, Panepistimiopolis, 157 84 Athens, Greece Roland Etienne 5Université Paris 1-Panthéon Sorbonne, UMR ArScan, UFR d'Histoire de l'Art et d'archéologie, 3 Rue Michelet, 75005 Paris, France *E-mail: [e-mail]. Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 13 Oct 2010 Revision Received: 19 Jan 2011 Accepted: 23 Jan 2011 First Online: 09 Mar 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2682 Print ISSN: 0091-7613 © 2011 Geological Society of America Geology (2011) 39 (6): 531–534. https://doi.org/10.1130/G31818.1 Article history Received: 13 Oct 2010 Revision Received: 19 Jan 2011 Accepted: 23 Jan 2011 First Online: 09 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Permissions Search Site Citation Jean-Philippe Goiran, Kosmas P. Pavlopoulos, Eric Fouache, Maria Triantaphyllou, Roland Etienne; Piraeus, the ancient island of Athens: Evidence from Holocene sediments and historical archives. Geology 2011;; 39 (6): 531–534. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/G31818.1 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract The famous Greek geographer Strabo wrote in the first century A.D., that Piraeus was formerly an island and lay 'over against' the mainland, from which it got its name. To validate Strabo's hypothesis, cartographic and historical data were compiled with multiproxy paleoenvironmental analyses and radiocarbon dating from a series of boreholes drilled in the Cephissus coastal plain, southwest of Athens, Greece. The results of this interdisciplinary geoarchaeological research demonstrate the reliability of Strabo's text by revealing that Piraeus was indeed an island. In early Holocene time, the rocky hill of Piraeus was linked to the mainland of Attica. During the late to final Neolithic Period (4850–3450 B.C.), Piraeus became an island in a shallow marine bay, due to sea-level rise in the Holocene. Between 2850 and 1550 B.C., in the Early and Middle Bronze Age, Piraeus was separated from the mainland by a wide lagoon. In the fifth century B.C., Themistocles, Cimon, and then Pericles connected Athens to Piraeus by building two "long walls" partly built on a residual coastal marsh called the Halipedon. This study reveals an impressive example of past landscape evolution. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.