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L'histoire des fleuves, dynamiques paléoenvironnementales et géoarchéologiques et des milieux continentaux

Human societies and environmental changes since the Neolithic in Greece and Albania

Sociétés humaines et changements environnementaux depuis le néolithique en Grèce et en Albanie
Éric Fouache et Matthieu Ghilardi
p. 35-43

Résumés

Au cours des dernières décennies, de nombreuses études géoarchéologiques et paléoclimatiques se sont focalisées sur la péninsule balkanique, en particulier sur la Grèce et l’Albanie. Les recherches se sont particulièrement intéressées aux relations entre l’évolution des paléoenvironnements et l’adaptation des sociétés à la mobilité des paysages au cours des 10 000 dernières années. Dans un contexte climatique méditerranéen contrasté, il est incontestable que des phases d’aridité très bien enregistrées par les archives sédimentaires lacustres et deltaïques de la région, celles de 8200 BP ou de 4000 BP notamment, ont eu un impact réel sur les sociétés humaines, tout comme la mise en valeur agricole à partir du Néolithique a engendré des dynamiques environnementales spécifiques. Des constantes régionales se dessinent quant à l’évolution des littoraux, des rythmes de progradation deltaïque ou des lits fluviaux par exemple surtout durant la première moitié de l’Holocène. L’objectif principal de cet article est d’insister sur le fait que notamment depuis la fin de l’Antiquité les dynamiques géomorphologiques que nous avons pu étudier en Grèce comme en Albanie, débouchent, sur des crises d’érosion ou d’alluvionnement dont l’originalité est de résulter d’une combinaison de facteurs naturels et humains. L’aléa sismique et volcanique a également joué un rôle que ce soit à l’échelle régionale, comme l’éruption du volcan de Santorin, l’éruption du volcan de Méthana ou à l’échelle locale, avec la disparition de la cité d’Héliké. Les exemples que nous développons montrent que l’extension spatiale de ces dynamiques est fréquemment régionale, comme la construction de la « terrasse d’Olympie », limitée au cours moyen de l’Alphée, ou la progradation accélérée des deltas de la façade Occidentale grecque et albanaise sur les cinq cents dernières années, voire locale, comme la crise d’érosion du bassin de Gortys en Arcadie. L’inventaire de ces dynamiques locales et régionales se poursuit à des pas de temps différents et nous semble indispensable pour éviter toute simplification déterministe dans la lecture de l’évolution des paysages.

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1The first Neolithic sites appeared in Greece around 9000 cal. yr BP (Perlès, 2001). At that time, the hunting territories and trade networks were extensive due to the fact that postglacial sea-level rise, which began after 15,000 yr BP was still far from being completed (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1

Fig. 1

Location map of the sites

Cartographie : J. Robert, É. Fouache, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, 2011

2Neolithic people coming from the Near East, settled in dry Mediterranean environments like Beotia and Thessaly (Perlès, 2001; Kotsakis, 2001). For example, the limited number of Neolithic sites, and their fragmentary distribution, identified in central and western Greece and around the Gulf of Corinth could be explained by the subsequent submersion, sometimes to the point of drowning, of coastal zones. This is well evidenced in the Gulf of Corinth where a palaeolake was very quickly submerged starting at 13,000 cal. BP (80 meters below present sea-level; Moretti et al., 2004) and in Central Macedonia where the Neolithic site of Nea Nikomideia was primarily settled on the margin of a former shallow fresh water lake around 8400 cal. BP (Ghilardi, 2007; Ghilardi et al., 2008) and later inundated by the sea ca. 7850 cal. BP (Ghilardi et al., 2011). The first human settlers inherited a landscape that had been profoundly changed over last hundred thousand years by the deep-seated processes of plate tectonics – still manifested by earthquakes and volcanic activity in the region – by the steady workings of the erosional cycles at the surface, and by the cover of vegetation that evolved in concert with climatic changes at the end of the last glacial period. All of these changes formed the landscape that dominated the lives of its human inhabitants from the beginning of the Holocene, until agriculture began to transform Homo sapiens into a geomorphological agent (Fouache, 1999; Lespez, 1999). After demonstrating the influence of Holocene climatic variability and agricultural practices on the environment, through a series of specific examples, we will show the consequences of natural disasters at different time scales, the influence of climatic changes on alluvial dynamics and the impact of socioeconomic and historical changes on geomorphological dynamics.

1 - Development of agriculture and its impact on slope dynamics

3Agricultural practices were introduced into the peninsula from Anatolia, about 9000 years ago. The existing Mesolithic populations, living as hunters and gatherers, had only a small ecological footprint compared to the Neolithic farmers who followed them. The latter first settled in lowlands and riverine sites, with humid and easily worked soils. Later, possibly as a result of population pressure, they expanded into the hills. By about 4500 years ago, expansion of agriculture in the peninsula was accelerated. Gradual transition towards dryer conditions, in particular in summer, is recorded after 5000 yr BP in the north of the Mediterranean basin (Harrison and Digerfeld, 1993): at that time, we observe climatic conditions similar to the present day conditions. The fact that the impact of the anthropogenic land clearings is not evident in the pollen diagrams before 4500 yr BP (Huntley and Prentice, 1989) indicates that the Neolithic agricultural diffusion and the beginning of land clearings were not contemporaneous. This has led various authors (Willis, 1994) to suggest that Neolithization initially took place in the east of the Pindus region in limited naturally-open spaces including forest clearings or lake borders. Two good examples are the Sovjan site and Lake Maliq in the Korçë Basin (Fouache et al., 2001 ; Fouache et al., 2010a). It is only during the Bronze Age that significant land clearings occurred. Between 2500 BC and 1900 BC (end of the Early Bronze Age and beginning of the Middle Bronze Age) vegetation changes were still moderate. The growth of garrigue scrubland composed of evergreen species of Mediterranean affinity, probably marks the first significant anthropogenic transformations of the vegetation cover in an environment of dry summers. The first clear signs of vegetation change by human activities occurred between 1900 BC and 1300  BC, attested by the cultivation of olive trees in the region. After 1300 BC and up to the end of Roman times, periods of forest retreat alternated with those of recovery, whereas the still-elevated percentages of arborescent (inter-forest ground cover) species suggest an environment with secondary formations becoming increasingly important. Today, in the southern Balkans, with the exception of Albania, the shrubland is being re-established. This is due to the massive rural depopulation and quasi-disappearance of extensive pasturelands. The Albanian exception is explained by high rural densities and persistent auto-subsistence practices, such as pasturing of small family herds and the felling of trees for firewood.

2 - Holocene climatic variability

4The palaeoclimatic reconstructions over the past 15,000 years (Fig. 2a and 2b) drawn from palynological data from Lake Maliq in the Korçë Basin (Denèfle et al., 2000; Bordon et al., 2009) show some, but not extreme, variations in Holocene climate, the most important being a distinct cooling accompanied by dryness between 8300 and 8100 cal yr BP. This event is coeval with the so-called ‘8.2 ka event’, widely recorded in ice cores and marine and terrestrial archives in the Northern Hemisphere (Rohling et al., 2002; Mayewski et al., 2004; Weninger et al., 2009).

Fig. 2 - A

Fig. 2 - A

Pollen-inferred quantitative climate reconstruction of Lake Maliq pollen using MAT with biome constraint of temperature parameters: mean annual temperature (TANN), mean temperature of the coldest month (MTCO) and the warmest month (MTWA), annual growing degree days above 5° C (GDD5). Mean values are plotted (line) together with the error bars which are plotted in grey. The major Holocene and Lateglacial events (8.2 ka, Younger Dryas, Oldest Dryas) are indicated. The modern climate values are indicated with a black star. Values of air temperature estimated at NorthGRIP from delta 18O measurements of Johnsen et al. (2001) are given at the top of the figure

after Bordon et al., 2009

Fig. 2 – B

Fig. 2 – B

Pollen-inferred quantitative climate reconstruction at Lake Maliq pollen using MAT with biome constraint of hydrological parameters: summer precipitations (Psummer) calculated as the mean of the precipitations during June–September; winter precipitations (Pwinter) calculated as the mean of the precipitations during October–May, annual precipitation (PANN). The Euclidian distances calculated between the eight modern pollen assemblages considered as the best analogues and the fossil assemblage (nearest and furthest) are indicated at the top of the figure as Distmin 1 and 2

after Bordon et al., 2009

5These reconstructions suggest cold and dry conditions especially in wintertime (a prominent characteristic of the Mediterranean biome) and are consistent with previous observations in the northern hemisphere. Magny et al. (2003) have shown that drier conditions occurred in both northern and southern Europe in response to the 8.2 ka cooling. In contrast, the climate of central Europe was wetter. Reconstruction of the precipitation history at Lake Maliq supports this result. The cooling recorded at Lake Maliq (-2°C for mean annual temperature) is similar to the cooling of -2°C in central Europe from the Ammersee 180 record and a simulated cooling between -1° and 0°C in the Balkans, from ECBilt‑CLIO model results (Wiersma and Renssen, 2006). Climatic variations in time and space that have occurred seem primarily related to the distribution of precipitation between summer and winter. This factor is of extreme importance for agriculture and perhaps the principal cause of the large variations observed in lake levels at different periods.

6The best way to remain protected from exceptional climatic events was to stay near a permanent lake area. This explains why not all environments played roles of equal importance in regards to the appearance of new dynamics in the landscape, as with the case of the development of agriculture. Intermountain basins in the south of the Balkan peninsula, which have lake areas and swamplands, as in the case of the Poljes of Thessaly (Kopais Lake notably) and Boetia, played a considerable role in sheltering and promoting re-established forest growth during the first half of the Holocene as well as the process of Neolithisation, as a whole.

7Wood clearance and overgrazing led very rapidly to the disappearance of the original forests dating back to the Holocene Climatic Optimum. It is unlikely that any natural landscape, uninfluenced by human activities, persisted in the Peloponnesus after the Bronze Age. At the same time, alluvial deposits in valley bottoms and deltas demonstrate that soil weathering never ceased to intensify, with complete erosion of forest palaeosols from limestone slopes. Large volumes of sediment also reached the sea between Bronze Age and Roman times. This led to the siltation of some coastal areas and harbours, such as in the Thessaloniki coastal plain in north-central Greece (Fouache et al., 2008, Ghilardi et al., 2008). Evidence of all these events is present throughout Greece. Harbours were silted up and enclosed in the middle of the plain far away from the sea. It was the case of the ancient harbours of Apollonia located in the Seman delta, Albania, (Fouache et al., 2010b), other cases studies were provided in Greece, such as Oeniades in the delta of the Acheloos (Fouache et al., 2005; Vött et al., 2007) and Pella in the delta of Aliakmon-Axios Rivers (Ghilardi et al., 2008; Fouache et al., 2008).

3 - Catastrophic events

8In addition to the relatively uniformitarian geomorphological dynamics of the Holocene, there are a number of catastrophic elements of marginal but spectacular nature that need to be taken into account. These include environmental alteration due to rapid sea level rise (e.g. the Neolithic site of Nea Nikomideia, Northern Greece was abandoned by its inhabitants after a conjunction of natural parameters), volcanic eruptions, tsunamis resulting from submarine earthquakes, and particularly the direct and indirect effects of earthquakes.

9Although, they might be impressive, one should be careful about privileging catastrophic phenomena to explain major historical changes (Helly, 1987). A good example in this regard is the current reinterpretation of the hypothesis of Marinatos (1939), according to which, the demise of the Minoan civilization resulted from the catastrophic caldera-type volcanic eruption of Santorini in the Aegean. The chronologies established by archaeologists and by radiometric datings, support a different hypothesis. The destruction of Minoan palaces is placed around 1450 BC whereas the youngest Santorini explosion dates to between 1635 BC and 1625 BC (Michael, 1980; Aitken, 1988; Baillie, 1989). Similarly, earthquakes are no longer considered as responsible for the abandonment of the Minoan palaces (Poursoulis, 1999; Poursoulis et al., 2000), which were instead destroyed by fires or abandoned during periods of troubles.

10Nevertheless, the entire region considered in this chapter, is situated within a tectonically active area (Fig. 3). It is therefore prone to a high degree of volcanic and earthquake activities.

Fig. 3

Fig. 3

Holocene erosion and sedimentation at the Asclepieion (healing temple) of Gortys (Arcadia)

after Fouache, 1999

11The distribution of volcanoes is limited to the inner volcanic arc situated in the Aegean Sea. Two volcanoes have had periods of activity during the Holocene, the Methana Volcano (Mee and Forbes, 1997) and, more famously, the aforementioned Santorini (Thera) Volcano. Locally, volcanic eruptions may have had disastrous effects, but they also triggered other damaging effects such as tsunamis generated by collapse of volcanic structures such as that of the Santorini caldera or by undersea slumps or volcanic related undersea earthquakes such as the earthquake that caused the 365 AD tsunami (Papazachos and Dimitriu 1991; Stiros, 2001). Low frequency of local volcanic eruptions, though, is not sufficient to permanently modify the geomorphological dynamics of a region. Seismic activity, instead, is widespread in the study region, and is frequent and may have had a significant influence on the landscape. Seismic events act on geomorphological dynamics in two ways, the instantaneous manifestations of an earthquake and deferred effects. The latter often lead to a substitution of rapid processes by slow ones particularly on mountainsides (Dufaure, 1984).

12The closest zones to the epicentres are the most affected by seismic events. These are located along fault lines and, depending on the type of substrate, can generate a variety of landscape modifications. For example, fissures are opened, fault-scarps formed, rock and sediment slumps are generated in steeper slopes, and mudflows can also develop in relatively flat areas. Locally this greatly enhances erosion from mountain sides leading to siltation of streams and alluvial valleys. Furthermore, some spectacular but rare variations in the landscape have also occurred, such as the deflection of water courses as was the case in 426 BC for the Sperchios, or the sudden sinking of the city of ancient Helike in 373 BC near the Gulf of Corinth (Dufaure, 1976a). Local rapid tectonic movements have also occurred, such as the uplift or collapse by about one meter along submerged fault scarps in Perachora (Pirazzoli et al., 1994). Thus, the two harbours of ancient Corinthia lie in very different situations (Fouache and Pavlopoulos, 2005). The ancient harbour of Lechaeon, the western harbour of ancient Corinth, was uplifted out of water between 500 and 200 BC. The port of Kenchreai located on the Saronic Gulf was submerged after a series of earthquakes (including those of 77 BC, 365 BC, and during the 6th century AD). In all the known harbours, such tectonic displacements, which caused harbour structures to become unusable, result from a progressive damaging environment or took place after the sites were abandoned.

13On the whole, however, the effects of punctuated catastrophic phenomena associated with volcanism and earthquakes remain relatively limited compared with those induced by climatic effects and human activities. Nevertheless, the combined effect of all these mechanisms has led to much erosion and numerous landslides throughout Greece.

4 - Climatic changes and their consequences on alluvial dynamics

14Climate affects erosion through changes in temperature and precipitation. Climatic conditions favoured post-Pliocene reforestation after 8000 yrs BP. The slopes became protected against wholesale erosion and predominantly fine sediments were removed from the slopes and transported seaward. Only after 5000 yrs BP did summer dryness become clearly evident, and this favoured natural fires that led to temporary openings of the forest and to local intense erosion during the autumnal precipitations that followed. The loss of protective vegetation from the slope continued and increased significantly starting in the Bronze Age on account of human activities. Deforestation resulted in a reduced strength of the slope sediments and increased the number of landslides, less retention of water by the soils with increased mass flows and overland flow erosion, and greater production of coarse-grained sediments. Increased seasonal runoff also led to greater but variable stream flows and the alternate development of braided and meandering channels in the same river systems. The increased erosional power of streams is well illustrated by the terraces of the Gortynios River, a tributary of the Alpheios River, in Arcadia (Dufaure, 1975; Bousquet et al., 1983; Fouache, 1999). There, the river has entrenched into a bedrock channel cutting through the uppermost Pleistocene alluvial and colluvial deposits and an early Holocene alluvial terrace (Fig. 4).

Fig. 4

Fig. 4

Changes in streambed pattern of the Pinios River near the site of Elia between antiquity and 19th century

after Fouache, 1999

15Other significant case studies highlighting the important sediment accumulation in Northern Greece is shown in Central Macedonia. The Neolithic site of Nea Nikomideia today lies 35 km inland but was located on the western margin of a fresh water lake during the mid‑7th millennium BC (Fig. 5) and some kilometres away from a palaeo-shoreline.

Fig. 5

Fig. 5

Palaeogeographic reconstruction of the most western part of the Thessaloniki Plain for the last 10,000 years, this includes the area of Nea Nikomideia. The scenario is inferred after combining the results from the palaeoenvironmental studies. The black and white dashed line corresponds to coastal barriers/spits.

The landscape evolution for the period 2000/400 cal. BC is interpreted after Ghilardi et al., 2008

16Gradually, due to arid climate conditions and the sea incursion during the last maximum sea level rise, the lake turned into brackish and lagoon environments. Locals were obliged to leave the site, probably until Late Neolithic Times but the lack of archaeological evidence force us to consider a total abandon after 5900 BC. The joint progradation of the Axios and Aliakmon ivers since the middle Holocene resulted in the outgrowth of the largest deltaic complex in Greece, spanning an area of circa 2200 km². Another casualty of the rapid outbuilding of the plain is Pella, the former capital of the Macedonian Realm. Indeed, during the Hellenistic period the city was completely landlocked and its harbour-city status lost. Thessaloniki plain is probably one of the most complete and significant case studies of the relationships between rapid landscape changes and human adaptation over the last ten millennia (Ghilardi, 2007).

17The Pineios (Fig. 6) and Alpheios rivers (Fig. 6) in the Elia prefecture, record a transition from a meandering to a braided course during the Holocene.

Fig. 6 - Geomorphic map showing fluvial and sediment patterns at Olympia, Greece

Fig. 6 - Geomorphic map showing fluvial and sediment patterns at Olympia, Greece

1 Pliocene hill, 2 Olympia terrace, 3 post Byzantine colluviations, 4 Post Byzantie paleochannels of the Kladeos River, 5 Lt of archeological excavations, 6 Archaeological excavation (Olympie), 7 Kladeos wall (artificial levee), 8 Kladeos River during Greek and Roman times, 9 Channels of the Alpheios River, 10 Present times floodplain, 11 Floodplain during the Little Ice Age, 12 Preset times levee, 13 Bridge on the Kladeos River, 14 Area artificially filled with sediments, 11 Elevation point in m asl, 16 Ancient bridge (2nd century BC), 7 Section A.
Pa : Palestre, Z : Temple of Zeus.

after Fouache, 1999

18This has been reported from other rivers across Greece and adjacent Albania (Fouache, 1999). Conversely, nowadays in these two rivers and everywhere else in the piedmont zone, active riverbeds are located in the middle of ancient braided systems. We interpret the formation of these braided river systems to have primarily occurred, as in other places such as in the French Alpine region, during the Little Ice Age (1550‑1850 AD) (Grove, 1988; Bravard, 1989). The braiding was not exclusively due to a surge of exceptional rainfall events, but rather to a higher frequency of flooding.

19A consequence of these dynamic changes was that a number of ancient structures along waterways were destroyed during the Little Ice Age. The hippodrome at Olympia was destroyed at this time.

5 - Consequences of socioeconomic and historical change

20In the southern Balkans, most of the populated sites were abandoned because of the collapse/downfall of the Roman Empire. Byzantine society reorganized by retreating to major urban centres while Slavic populations settled in the area between the 6th and the 9th centuries AD. The agro‑pastoral practices of the Slavic people in regions with a lithology that is sensitive to weathering such as the Olympia area, caused unprecedented erosion which was buried under 6 meters of alluvium. The conquest of the Peloponnesus by Villehardouin in 1204 as well as the later Ottoman conquest further increased erosion by pushing populations that were reluctant to accept the conqueror’s authority. Orthodox monasteries, for instance, retreated further inland into refuge areas like Arcadia in the Peloponnesus.

21Similarly there has been strong progradation of the deltas of the Acheloos and Arachtos rivers on the western coast of Greece during the 19th century (Fouache, 1999). The same thing has occurred on deltas of the Albanian coast, in particular on the delta of the Seman and Vjosa rivers. There are of course climatic reasons, especially during the Little Ice Age, but also, in Epirus, the systematic clearing of forest promoted by Ali Pacha of Janina to supply timber for shipbuilding to the French and English arsenals of Toulon and Malta, as well as for providing wood and charcoal for the cities that were developing at this time (McNeill, 1992).

22The terrace of Olympia is another interesting example (Figure 6; Dufaure, 1976b; Fouache, 1999). During all of Greco-Roman Antiquity, games were held at Olympia and many monuments were built at the site. Olympia is located on a mid Holocene alluvial terrace at the confluence of the Alpheios River and a small affluent from the right bank, the Kladeos. The left bank of the Kladeos River had been equipped with a small levee for protection against floods, however levees were rare and did not protect the central part of the Altis, which housed the temple of Zeus at Olympia, while the site was occupied. However, after the area was abandoned in the 7th century AD, remains were buried under a loamy alluvial 6 m high terrace formed by the Kladeos River throughout the 8th and 12th centuries. Similar terraces developed along several other tributaries of the middle course of the Alpheios River, an area underlain by easily erodible Plio-Calabrian marine sands and conglomerates. The siltation and development of the terraces chronologically corresponds with the arrival of Slavic shepherds in the region (Fouache, 1999). It is thus tempting to blame pastoral practices, such as the deliberate burning of vegetation for regenerative purposes and land clearance, for the increased erosion and local sedimentation.

23Another example of the impact of human activities on increased erosion and siltation is the ancient site of Asclepieion at Gortys, erected on the bank of the Gortynios River, a tributary of the upstream reaches of the Alpheios River in Arcadia (Figure 3; Bousquet et al., 1983; Fouache, 1999). Agricultural cultivation and extensive livestock farming during the 12th and 13th centuries resulted in some clearings on the mountainside near the ancient site of Gortys. The area is underlain by readily erodible flysch and the formation of badlands and a large volume of colluvium were a consequence. This led to the burial under several metres of sediments of the antique thermal baths of the city, which had been abandoned at the end of Antiquity, in addition to the partial burial of a small Byzantine church (Figure 3). The settling of an Orthodox monastery in the 13th century, at the origin of the foundation of a village, was the cause of an erosive crisis and of the formation of badlands.

24Conversely, there are many examples of anthropogenic works that have been beneficial to human societies while being minimally disruptive to the environment. This is the case of hydraulic control practiced during the Mycenaean period, around 1600-1200 BC, predominantly in the poljes of Arcadia and Boetia (Knauss, 1990) and in the dolines of Crete (Siart et al., 2009). In these karstic dissolution forms, thick tracts of potentially very fertile clay have accumulated. If small Mycenaean settlements were able to develop on the hums and in very enclosed dolines, limestone pinnacles in a naturally defensive location safe from flooding, the agricultural development of the plains or poljes would have had to overcome three inter-related difficulties in order to succeed. To start, it would have been necessary to maintain the ponors, as is still the case to this day, in order to ensure that they did not become blocked or obstructed and thereby form a lake of significant depth. This happened with the polje of Feneos, in the north of Peloponnesus, where the careful maintenance of the underground drainage channels had been assured during the Ottoman period but soon lapsed following disturbances of the Great War of Independence of 1821 and 1829. In a few years the abandonment led to the formation of a lake some 40 m deep, which eventually drained when the system finally managed to unblock itself in 1892 (Dufaure, 1975). The second problem requiring solution was that of winter flooding provoked by water from the saturated deep karst systems, which would rise back up through the same underground channels. On the other hand, in summer, it was necessary to find a way to gain access to the water for irrigation. The Mycenaean civilization was able to develop an unconventional system of maintenance of the karstic orifices and of control of the network of floodwater channels by constructing a series of low walls. In winter these functioned as levees and in summer as dams. The water was thus available for irrigation, but it was also channeled into artificial canals to power mills. All of these adjustments were done by exploiting the topography in the most advantageous way, in the manner in which the Romans would later excel with their hydraulic systems of aqueducts. The Roman aqueduct of Nicopolis, located in Epirus, was constructed primarily by digging trenches and locally by building tunnels in such a way that it did not significantly destabilize the mountainsides (Doukellis et al., 1995).

Conclusion

25The hunters and gatherers of Mesolithic societies had little impact on the vegetation of the southern Balkans. Conversely, from 9000 BP, and within less than 5000 years, the Neolithisation process led to massive woodland clearance generating significant soil erosion that continued to increase until the present day. Numerous bays silted up and deltas rapidly developed landlocking numerous ancient settlements and coastal harbours. In the meantime, valley bottoms experienced intense alluviation. From the Bronze Age to 4500 yrs BP, the erosion dynamics were mainly driven by a combination of climatic, political, and socio-economic factors that explains why each main basin has its own geomorphological history. In terms of soil erosion, rural exodus after World War II was a positive factor in the sense that it encouraged the renewal of vegetation. However, today, this natural vegetation recovery is interrupted and threatened by catastrophic events such as the forest fire that broke out in Peloponnesus in the summer of 2007. The inventory of regional and local examples is being carried out. It is a necessary preamble to provide archaeologists, historians and geographers with concrete, reliable data so that they can reconstruct the history of landscapes in Greece and Albania.

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Table des illustrations

Titre Fig. 1
Légende Location map of the sites
Crédits Cartographie : J. Robert, É. Fouache, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, 2011
URL http://journals.openedition.org/mediterranee/docannexe/image/5887/img-1.png
Fichier image/png, 172k
Titre Fig. 2 - A
Légende Pollen-inferred quantitative climate reconstruction of Lake Maliq pollen using MAT with biome constraint of temperature parameters: mean annual temperature (TANN), mean temperature of the coldest month (MTCO) and the warmest month (MTWA), annual growing degree days above 5° C (GDD5). Mean values are plotted (line) together with the error bars which are plotted in grey. The major Holocene and Lateglacial events (8.2 ka, Younger Dryas, Oldest Dryas) are indicated. The modern climate values are indicated with a black star. Values of air temperature estimated at NorthGRIP from delta 18O measurements of Johnsen et al. (2001) are given at the top of the figure
Crédits after Bordon et al., 2009
URL http://journals.openedition.org/mediterranee/docannexe/image/5887/img-2.png
Fichier image/png, 42k
Titre Fig. 2 – B
Légende Pollen-inferred quantitative climate reconstruction at Lake Maliq pollen using MAT with biome constraint of hydrological parameters: summer precipitations (Psummer) calculated as the mean of the precipitations during June–September; winter precipitations (Pwinter) calculated as the mean of the precipitations during October–May, annual precipitation (PANN). The Euclidian distances calculated between the eight modern pollen assemblages considered as the best analogues and the fossil assemblage (nearest and furthest) are indicated at the top of the figure as Distmin 1 and 2
Crédits after Bordon et al., 2009
URL http://journals.openedition.org/mediterranee/docannexe/image/5887/img-3.png
Fichier image/png, 47k
Titre Fig. 3
Légende Holocene erosion and sedimentation at the Asclepieion (healing temple) of Gortys (Arcadia)
Crédits after Fouache, 1999
URL http://journals.openedition.org/mediterranee/docannexe/image/5887/img-4.png
Fichier image/png, 24k
Titre Fig. 4
Légende Changes in streambed pattern of the Pinios River near the site of Elia between antiquity and 19th century
Crédits after Fouache, 1999
URL http://journals.openedition.org/mediterranee/docannexe/image/5887/img-5.png
Fichier image/png, 34k
Titre Fig. 5
Légende Palaeogeographic reconstruction of the most western part of the Thessaloniki Plain for the last 10,000 years, this includes the area of Nea Nikomideia. The scenario is inferred after combining the results from the palaeoenvironmental studies. The black and white dashed line corresponds to coastal barriers/spits.
Crédits The landscape evolution for the period 2000/400 cal. BC is interpreted after Ghilardi et al., 2008
URL http://journals.openedition.org/mediterranee/docannexe/image/5887/img-6.png
Fichier image/png, 661k
Titre Fig. 6 - Geomorphic map showing fluvial and sediment patterns at Olympia, Greece
Légende 1 Pliocene hill, 2 Olympia terrace, 3 post Byzantine colluviations, 4 Post Byzantie paleochannels of the Kladeos River, 5 Lt of archeological excavations, 6 Archaeological excavation (Olympie), 7 Kladeos wall (artificial levee), 8 Kladeos River during Greek and Roman times, 9 Channels of the Alpheios River, 10 Present times floodplain, 11 Floodplain during the Little Ice Age, 12 Preset times levee, 13 Bridge on the Kladeos River, 14 Area artificially filled with sediments, 11 Elevation point in m asl, 16 Ancient bridge (2nd century BC), 7 Section A.Pa : Palestre, Z : Temple of Zeus.
URL http://journals.openedition.org/mediterranee/docannexe/image/5887/img-7.png
Fichier image/png, 110k
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Référence papier

Éric Fouache et Matthieu Ghilardi, « Human societies and environmental changes since the Neolithic in Greece and Albania »Méditerranée, 117 | 2011, 35-43.

Référence électronique

Éric Fouache et Matthieu Ghilardi, « Human societies and environmental changes since the Neolithic in Greece and Albania »Méditerranée [En ligne], 117 | 2011, mis en ligne le 31 décembre 2013, consulté le 28 mars 2024. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/mediterranee/5887 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/mediterranee.5887

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Auteurs

Éric Fouache

UFR de géographie et d’aménagement, Université de Paris Sorbonne(Paris IV), IUF, UMR 8385 ENeC, Paris, France, eric.g.fouache@wanadoo.fr

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Matthieu Ghilardi

CNRS, UMR 7330 CEREGE, Europôle méditerranéen de l’Arbois, Aix-en-Provence, France, ghilardi@cerege.fr

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Le texte et les autres éléments (illustrations, fichiers annexes importés), sont « Tous droits réservés », sauf mention contraire.

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