EGU General Assembly 2013, 7-12 April, Vienna, Austria
Absolute dating and palaeoenvironmental evolution in Palaeolithic Mani, SW Peloponnesus
John Christodoulakis, Yannis Bassiakos, and Constantin Athanassas
Section of Materials Science, IAMFPNM, National Center for Scientific Research “Demokritos”,
Aghia Paraskevi, 15310, Greece
ABSTRACT
Data derived from palaeoenvironmental indicators are considered the most reliable in back casting former environmental contexts and also, where possible, in forecasting future trends in the
environment. The peninsula of Mani, southern Peloponnesus, southwestern Greece, is a challenging area for studying past environmental changes of the Upper Quaternary, because of its nodal position
between three continents, its long and multifarious coastal zone, as well as its active local tectonic regime. A great deal of sea level oscillations and palaeoclimatic and palaeoanthropological evidence
have been well-documented in the terrestrial and coastal sedimentary deposits of the peninsula, particularly for the later part of the Quaternary (Kelletat und Gassert, 1975, Imperatori, 1966). That
evidence mostly comes from palaeoenvironmental indicators such as raised marine notches and marine terraces, as well as from other indicators, and is frequently associated with sites of
palaeoanthropological significance. An important parameter of those sedimentary deposits is their chronology.
To date, the chronological framework of those processes is only loosely constrained. A first effort to produce chronological data for this area was made about twenty years ago by applying electron spin
resonance (ESR) dating to speleothems from the local subsurface caverns system and other karst formations. Here, by engaging luminescence dating, we aimed to further control former ESR
chronology as well as to extend numeric dating on sedimentary formations previously non-datable through ESR alone (i.e. fluvial/deltaic sediments occurring in the area as well as anthropogenic
composite deposits usually including burnt bones and fragments of stone tools). Specifically, optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating, combined with the single-aliquot regenerative dose (SAR)
protocol, produced a number of indicative ages that are in fair agreement with the previous ESR chronology. Current data allowed us to comprehend the chronological framework of humanpalaeoenvironment interactions over the later part of the Pleistocene with higher resolution than that attained formerly by ESR. A report about the progress of this effort is here presented. This study is
funded by the NARNIA/FP7 Marie Curie Initial Training Network project.
INTRODUCTION
The peninsula of Mani (Fig. 1) is the central peninsula of the three which extend southwards
from the Peloponnesus, southwestern Greece. It ends at Cape Tainaron. The tectonic regime of
the wider area is notably active due to movements along the boundaries of the Aegean
microplate (Mariolakos et al., 1985, Bassiakos, 1993). Moreover, palaeoclimatic and eustatic
changes have been recorded in sedimentary deposits; terrestrial and coastal. These
characteristics render Mani a challenging area for studying past environmental changes
especially during the Upper Quaternary.
Apart from its palaeoenvironmental importance Mani also has a great palaeoanthropological
significance. Specifically, skeletal remains and lithics retrieved from the nearby caves have been
associated with Homo Neanderthalensis (Pitsios and Liebhaber, 1995, Harvati et al., 2009, 2011,
2013). That evidence underlines the palaeoanthropological importance of further research at
peninsula of Mani.
Former research (Bassiakos, 1993) deduced a chronological framework for the above mentioned
changes of Mani based on ESR dating constraining the palaeoenvironmentals events recorded to
the Mid- Late Pleistocene.
Hereby, we intend to revisit former chronology by employing conventional optically stimulated
luminescence (OSL) dating methods anticipating to attain higher resolution/precision. Our
dating efforts focus on coastal and palaeosol deposits from archaeological sites in the vicinity of
Diros’ Caves and the Diro’s cone (Fig. 2). A typical sequence of palaeosol deposits encountered
in this study are shown in figure 3.
Figure 2 General view of the area of interest.
Figure 4 Typical natural decay curve (a) and its corresponding growth curve (b).
Figure 1. Map of Peloponnesus. The area of interest is marked within the ellipse.
CURRENT RESULTS/CONCLUSIONS
OSL dating of the sampled deposits was carried out on the basis of the Single-Aliquot
Regenerated (SAR) dose protocol on fine (4-11μm) quartz. A typical natural decay curve and its
corresponding growth curve are presented in figure 4. Natural signals are characterized by a
dominant fast component while the growth curves are characterized by sublinearity for the
majority of the aliquots. Preliminary luminescence measurements yielded ages that cluster around
50 ka, tentatively suggesting a period of cooler climatic conditions within the Late Pleistocene
(last glacial cycle).
In that palaeoenvironmental framework the peninsula simultaneously constitutes a terrestrial
barrier and a natural impasse, preventing any further movement to the South, of faunas or human
populations, seeking for better living conditions and new lands, due to worse environmental
conditions which prevailed in central Europe during the last glaciers. The progress of the glaciers
to the southern in central Europe had as a result, in the North the worse climatological conditions
and a decrease in valuable land. At the same time in the South the land was increasing, because of
the lowering of the sea level, while the climatic conditions were more favorable for faunas and
man installation. In this aspect, the numerous depositions bearing fossils animal bones and proof
of human occupation (developing in two successive strata) has been explained.
A number of sites, underground and open air, have been located for further investigation (with
excavations, followed by bio-stratigraphic, archaeological and anthropological orientation), due to
the accumulation of corresponding features and other indications.
Finally, several points of interest are indicated for expansion of the basic OSL research, according
to the results of the present study.
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Figure 3 Stratigraphic profile of Diros’ Cone
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