Natural Hazards Research and Geoarchaeology working group investigates coastal development in western Greece over the last 11,600 years

11.01.2023

Around 2,000 years ago, the Greek historian Strabo made reference to a sanctuary on the west coast of the Peloponnese. Now the remains of an archaic temple have been uncovered near the coast at Kleidi-Samikon, which presumably belonged to the temple district of Poseidon. Researchers from the Austrian Archaeological Institute (ÖAI), with the participation of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and Kiel University, together with the Monuments Authority for Classical Antiquities of the Elis region, have found building remains that indicate an archaic temple that was located on the site of the sanctuary of Poseidon and may even have been dedicated to the god himself. Prof. Dr. Andreas Vött’s team from JGU’s Institute of Geography was involved in the explorations with direct-push soundings and drillings.location of Kleidi-Samikon characterized by special coastal configuration

The site at Kleidi-Samikon belongs to a very special coastal region in the west of the Peloponnese: on the sweeping Gulf of Kyparissia lies a group of hills consisting of three hard rock hills surrounded by coastal alluvium in a landscape otherwise dominated by lagoons and coastal marshes. Not least due to its exposed and secure location, a settlement was established here as early as the Mycenaean period, which lasted for several centuries and had contacts to the north and south along the coast. Since 2018, Prof. Dr. Andreas Vött has been carrying out geoarchaeological investigations at this site to clarify how this extraordinary situation came about and what coastal changes took place in the area around Kleidi-Samikon. To this end, he collaborated on several campaigns with Dr. Birgitta Eder, Director of the Athens branch of the Austrian Archaeological Institute, and Dr. Erofili-Iris Kolia, Director of the regional heritage protection authority.

“In the course of these studies, it has become clear that the group of hills was washed by the open Ionian Sea until the 5th millennium BC. After that, an extensive beach wall system formed on the sea side, which separated several lagoons from the sea in the surrounding area,” says Vött, Professor of Geomorphology, describing the development. According to the research, the coastal region was repeatedly hit by major tsunami events – both in prehistoric and historical times, most recently in the 6th century and in the 14th century. This coincides with known tsunamis that have been historically recorded for the years 551 and 1303. “In ancient times, the hill situation was a fundamentally important elevation in order to be able to move along the coast from north to south and vice versa on dry ground,” says Vött.

In autumn 2021, the geophysicist Dr. Dennis Wilken from the University of Kiel, who was called in to investigate, found evidence of building structures at a location at the eastern foot of the group of hills that had been conspicuous on the basis of preliminary investigations. Based on initial excavations by Dr. Birgitta Eder in autumn 2022, these building structures turned out to be the foundations of an archaic temple, which could be the long-sought temple of Poseidon. “The location of the sanctuary found corresponds in every detail with textual traditions and descriptions by Strabon,” says Dr. Birgitta Eder from the Austrian Archaeological Institute.

As part of a multi-year program, a detailed archaeological, geoarchaeological and geophysical investigation of the structure is now to be carried out and the question of its exact integration into a coastal landscape with extremely lively change is to be clarified. Against the background of the repeated tsunami events that have already been proven geomorphologically and sedimentologically, the geomythological question of whether the choice of location for the Poseidon sanctuary should be seen in the context of such extreme events will also be investigated – after all, Poseidon, the “earth shaker”, is held responsible for earthquakes and tsunamis in ancient times.AG Natural Risk Research and Geoarchaeology investigates coastal changes and extreme wave events

Under the direction of Prof. Dr. Andreas Vött, the Natural Hazards Research and Geoarchaeology working group has been studying the coastal development of Greece over the past 11,600 years for over 20 years. The investigations take place in particular in western Greece from the Albanian coast near Corfu to the other Ionian Islands, the Ambracian Gulf, the west coast of Greece with the mainland and the Peloponnese to Crete. This involves recording relative sea level changes and the associated coastal changes. Another focus is research into so-called extreme wave events – mainly tsunamis in the Mediterranean – and their effects on the coasts and the societies living there.innovative direct-push soundings – new in geoarchaeology

To this end, the working group uses drill cores to record the vertical and horizontal changes in sediment types and uses this as a basis for developing scenarios of coastal and landscape change. The working group’s drill core archive now comprises around 2,000 drill cores, mainly from Europe. In terms of methodology, the group has been pursuing an innovative approach in Germany since 2016 by using the technique of direct-push soundings in the field. This involves hydraulically pushing various sensors into the subsurface, allowing sedimentological, geochemical and hydraulic conclusions to be drawn. The Institute of Geography in Mainz is the only geographical institute in Germany to have such equipment.