Coastal Paleogeography of the Central and Western Mediterranean during the Last 125,000

Years and Its Archaeological Implications

Author(s): Judith C. Shackleton, Tjeerd H. van Andel and Curtis N. Runnels
Source: Journal of Field Archaeology, Vol. 11, No. 3 (Autumn, 1984), pp. 307-314
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.
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Coastal Paleogeography of the Central and Western

Mediterranean during the Last 125,000 Years and Its
Archaeological Implications

Judith C. Shackleton
Clare Hall, Cambridge University
Cambridge, England

Tjeerd H. van Andel

Curtis N. Runnels
Stanford University
Stanford, California

In this paper we present paleogeographic maps of the central and western

Mediterranean for 18,000 B.P. at the height of the last glacial maximum, and
for 9,000 B.P. near the end of the rapid phase of the postglacial rise of the
sea. Sea-level data for the past 125,000 years indicate that, in addition, the
18,000 B.P. map reasonably represents preceding cold stadials, while the
9,000 B.P. map depicts the configuration of intervening warm periods. The
presence of large coastal plains during low stands of the sea has long been
known, but their exact contours, sizes, and dates have not been widely available. Moreover, some of these coastal plains were well watered and formed
important environmental components at low sea level whose existence could
not have been inferred from the nature of the adjacent coasts today. Some
archaeological consequences of environmental reconstructions not evident
from present geography are indicated, though not elaborated, here.

Much modern archaeological thought has emphasized

been common knowledge, we define those plains more

the need to interpret prehistoric activity in terms of avail-

precisely in terms of size, shape, and age range in order

able resources. This implies an ability to reconstruct the

that they may be more readily assimilated into future

environments of the past. We believe that in this process

studies of resources, catchment areas, settlement pat-

the magnitude of the differences between present and

terns, and migration routes of the past 100,000 years.

past environments has often been seriously underesti-

Each of the glaciations of the last several million years

mated, and that thus the past has continued to be viewed

has caused sea level to drop as water was stored in ice-

through the present. The issue is illustrated by the late

caps on the continents. The fact itself is well known, but

Quaternary sea-level changes that altered the shores of

only for the last glacial maximum ca. 18,000 years ago

the world to a degree not always fully appreciated by

are we able to assess with some confidence the extent

archaeologists whose interpretations of prehistoric activ-

of the geographic change. Paleogeographic maps, even

ity frequently appear blinkered by present-day topo-

for this recent time, are still rare: those of the Gulf of

graphic constraints. We present here as a case in point

Mexico, of the eastern seaboard of the United States,

the late Quaternary coastal paleogeography of the central

the North Sea, and the Sunda-Sahul region constitute

and western Mediterranean. Although the presence of

exceptions. 1 Consequently, the extent of regional or lo-

large plains at low sea level along the coasts of Libya

and Tunisia, the west of Italy, and in the Adnatic has

1. J. R. Curray, "Sediments and History of Holocene Transgression,

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308 Coastal Paleogeography of the MediterraneanlShackleton, van Andel, and Runnels

Figure 1. The western Mediterranean during the maximum cold stage of the last glacial interval. Emerged
coastal plains are stippled. Small islands have been shown in black for clarity.

cal changes in coastal geography is often underestimated

shifting shores, of land bridges built or brokenX or of

in archaeological interpretations. Even less commonly is

islands joined or separated, but that the nature of the lost

it realized that the lands emerging or being inundated

lands also was worth careful consideration. Such a re-

were of a type a level coastal plain that may scarcely

alization may, in some cases, force a reassessment of

be represented in the present coastal zone.

interpretations given to prehistoric coastal sites which,

Recently we published paleogeographic coastal maps

for the late Quaternary of Greece and the Aegean Sea2

by themselves, now appear to have been parts of systems

without access to the resources of coastal plains.

with the intent of alerting archaeologists to the radically

Inspired by Cherry's paper3 on the problem of unequal

different geography of that region in late glacial and

exploitation of island resources in the Mediterranean and

early postglacial times. These maps showed that one

the role of paleogeography in this context, we present

should not think of sea-level changes merely in terms of

here reconstructions of the western Mediterranean from

the Straits of Gibraltar to the Ionian Sea that may serve
as more detailed amendments to his figure 1, even though

Continental Shelf, Northwest Gulf of Mexico," in F. P. Shepard, F.

B. Phleger and T. H. van Andel, eds., Recent Sediments, Northwest

our maps also are still quite general and do not provide
the detail necessary for the study of any specific smaller

Gulf of Mexico (American Association of Petroleum Geologists: Tulsa

area. An example of such detail was used in our Aegean

1960) 221-266. K. O. Emery and R. L. Edwards, "Archaeological

paper to demonstrate major archaeological implications

Potential of the Atlantic Continental Shelf," AmAnt 31 (1966) 733-

of changing resource availability. Here we draw atten-

737; J. G. Evans, The Environment of Early Man in the British Isles

tion instead to larger regional trends in order to display

(Elek Books: London 1976) 74. T. H. van Andel, G. R. Heath, T. C.

Moore, and D. M. McGeary, "Late Quaternary Climate and Oceanography of the Timor Sea," AmJS 265 (1967) 737-758.

the potential for archaeological use of coastal paleogeographic maps.

2. T. H. van Andel and J. C. Shackleton, "Late Paleolithic and

Neolithic Coastlines of Greece and the Aegean," JFA 9 (1982) 445-

3. J. F. Cherry, "Pattern and Process in the Earliest Colonization of

454.

the Mediterranean Islands," ProcPS 47 (1981) 41-68.

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Journal of Field ArchaeologylVol. 11, 1984 309

The last glacial maximum lasted from ca. 27,000 to

able one for most of this region which has so few major

15,000 B.P.,4 although the precise onset and end are still

nvers, and that vertical tectonic movements have been

being debated. Oxygen isotope ratios imply a rapid growffi

absent or negligible over the time involved. There is, of

of the ice volume, and the sea fell to a low level that

course, evidence for local uplift or subsidence,ll but long-

persisted from ca. 23,000 to 15,000 B.P.5 Our reconstruc-

term rates cannot exceed the few centimeters per century

tion in Figure 1 depicts the western Mediterranean at its

that are compatible with lateral mantle flow. Hence they

lowest level, ca. 18,000 years ago.

have little importance for the geologically bnef time span

The depth of lowenng can be estimated by several

we are dealing with, given the uncertainties of sea-level

means. Consideration of continental ice volumes yields

depth and honzontal position that are unavoidable with

a depth of ca. 100-120 m below present sea level.6 Dated

the simple approach we have chosen. Obviously, for

deepest shore deposits from various parts of the world

detailed local study, tectonic effects should not be so

range 100-130 m, if we exclude areas subject to tectonic

easily dismissed.

instability or to isostatic compensation for ice loading

The onset of the postglacial nse of the sea remains

and unloading. Lowest dated shores are at 95-105 m for

somewhat uncertain. A major influx of meltwater in the

the Roussillon,7 90-110 m for West Afnca,8 and 115-

Gulf of Mexico,l2 a variety of other oceanographic pa-

120 m for the SE Peloponnese.9 An estimate may also

rameters,l3 and dated submerged shores from many parts

be obtained from oxygen isotope ratios which reflect not

of the world14 suggest that the main nse began between

only water temperature but also the amount of water

15,000 and 14,000 years ago, although oxygen isotope

evaporated from the ocean and stored in icecaps. l Cor-

datals imply a slightly later date. After 9,000 B.P. the

recting for isostatic compensation one obtains ca. 120 m

nse of the sea began to slow and the paleogeography

approached the present configuration. Sea level at this

for the lowest sea level.

Accordingly, we have chosen the - 120 m contour to

time was about -35 m,l6 conveniently close to the 20

represent the late glacial shore of the central and western

fm contour found on many bathymetnc charts. Subse-

Mediterranean. At this depth the continental slope

quent changes in shore position were minor compared to

steepens and the honzontal position error for a depth

those induced by the migrations of 1-5 km/century dur-

uncertainty of + 10 m is of the same magnitude as the

ing the preceding millennia, and need not concern us

contouring error. The reconstruction rests on the as-

here.

sumption that postglacial sediments are thin, a reason-

The paleogeographic maps were initially constructed

on a scale of ca. 1:800,000, using U.S. Hydrographic

4. J. J. Morley and J. D. Hays, ''Towards a High-Resolution Global Deep-Sea Chronology for the Past 75,000 Years,"
EarthPlanetScLet 53 (1981) 279-295.

11. N. C. Flemming, "Archaeological Evidence for Eustatic Sea Level

Change and Earth Movements in the Western Mediterranean During

Thiede, "Late Quaternary Climate Changes in Western Tropical Af-

the Last 2000 Years," GSAspeopap. 109 (1969) 125; P. A. Pirazzoli,

"Sea Level Variations in the Northwest Mediterranean During Roman

rica Deduced from Deep-Sea Sedimentation off the Niger Delta,"

Times, " Science 194 (1976) 519-521.

5. L. Pastouret, H. Chamley, G. Delibrias, J. C. Duplessy, and J.

OceanolActa 1 (1978) 217-227.

12. J. P. Kennett and N. J. Shackleton, "Laurentide Ice Sheet Melt-

6. W. L. Donn, W. R. Farrand, and M. Ewing, "Pleistocene Ice

water Recorded in Gulf of Mexico Deep-Sea Cores," Science 188

Volumes and Sea Level Lowering, " JGeol 70 (1962) 206-214;

(1975) 147-150.

R. F. Flint, Glacial and Quaternary Geology (John Wiley: New York

1971) 84, 318.

13. W. H. Berger, "Deepsea Carbonate and the Deglaciation Preservation Spike," Nature 269 (1977) 301-304; idem, "Deglacial CO2
Buildup: Constraints on the Coral Reef Model," Palaeogeo-

7. J. Labeyrie, G. Lalou, A. Monaco, and J. Thommeret, "Chronologie des Niveaux Eustatiques sur la Cote du Roussillon de - 30,000

PalaeoclimPalaeoecol 40 (1983) 235-253; W. H. Berger and J. S.

Ans a nos Jours," CRAcSc 282 (1976) 349-352.

Killingley, "Box Cores from the Equatorial Pacific: 14C Sedimenta-

8. G. Delibrias, "Variations du Niveau de la Mer sur la Cote Ouest

Africaine depuis 26,000 Ans," in G. Labeyrie, ed., Me'thodes Quantitatives d' Etude des Variations du Climat au Cours du Pleistocene
(CNRS: Paris 1974) 127-134; L. Martin, "Variation du Niveau de
la Mer et du Climat en Cote d'Ivoire depuis 25,000 Ans," CahORSTROM ser. geol . 4 (1972) 93- 103.

9. T. H. van Andel and N. Lianos, "Prehistoric and Historic Shorelines of the Southern Argolid," IntJNautArch (in press).

tion Rates and Benthic Mixing," MarGeol 45 (1982) 92-125; R. J.

Delmas, J. M. Ascencio, and M. Lefand, "Polar Ice Evidence That
Atmospheric CO2 20,000 Years B.P. Was 50So of Present," Nature
284 (1980) 155-157; J. C. Duplessy, G. Delibrias, J. L. Turon, C.

Pujol, and J. Duprat, i'Deglacial Warrning of the North Atlantic Ocean:

Correlation With the Paleoclimatic Evolution of the European Continent," PalaeogeoPalaeoclimPalaeoecol 35 (1981) 121-145.
14. A. L. Bloom, "Atlas of Sea Level Curves," IntGeolCorrProgramme Project 61 (1977) passim.

10. N. J. Shackleton, "The Oxygen Isotope Stratigraphic Record of

the Late Pleistocene," PhilTransRoySocLondon B 280 (1977) 169-

15. Pastouret et al., op. cit. (in note 5).

182.

16. van Andel and Lianos, op. cit. (in note 9).

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310 Coastal Paleogeography of the MediterraneanlShackleton, van Andel, and Runnels

Charts 520()0, 52010, 52019, 53001, 53021, 54009, and
56021 as a base. Data from the plotting sheets from
which these charts were produced, as well as from more
detailed charts of the British Admiralty, were used to
obtain the -120 m (18,000 B.P.) and -35 m (9,000
B.P.) contours. Some late l9th-century British Admiralty
charts were especially useful because they display far
more depth information than later versions. In key areas,
such as straits, maximum depths were obtained mainly
from these charts. On the original plots the average uncertainty of the - 120 m contour is estimated to be less
than + 2 km, that of the-35 m contour less than + 1
km. For the detailed map of the Adriatic the Carta Batimetrica del Adriatico (E. Debrazzi and A.G. Segre,
1959) served as a source.

During the last glacial maximum the shape of the western Mediterranean was much different from that of today
(FIG. 1). Coastal plains existed off eastern Spain and between the Pyrenees and the Alpes Maritimes, being respectively 60 km and 80 km wide. Corsica and Sardinia,
each not much larger than today, formed a single island,

Figure 3. The Adnatic Sea at lowest sea level. Heavy dashed lines

its NE shore a mere 15 km away from a wide coastal

are nvers traversing the stippled coastal plain. Present Dalmation

plain that fringed the NW coast of Italy and included the

island of Elba. The central and southern west coast of

islands (in black) formed steep hills in this plain. The shore of
9,000 B.P. iS a lighter broken line.

Italy, however, differed little from that of today; the

shelf is narrow here and falls steeply away to the Tyr-

rhenian basin. The same is true for the eastern and NE

shores of Sicily and for the North African coast from the
Straits of Gibraltar to northern Tunisia.

East of Tunisia and north of Libya, however, a large

coastal plain had emerged, up to 200 km wide and extending a long way towards Sicily and Europe (FIG. 2).
On the opposite side two tongues of land, one of them
incorporating Malta, further reduced the distance between Africa and Europe to only about 60 km with several flat-topped islands in between.

A narrow land bridge closed the Straits of Messina.

This bridge, with a present depth of 90 m and only about
1 km wide, must have vanished shortly after the sea
began to rise, probably as early as 15,000-14,000 years
ago. The Straits of Gibraltar, on the other hand, remained open throughout, although reduced to ca. 8 km
at their narrowest point. Because at that time temperature
and salinity differed much less between the Atlantic and
the western Mediterranean than they do now,'7 there is
no reason to assume that surface currents were enhanced
to a degree that rendered this waterway a serious obstacle, even for very small craft.

Greatly changed was the Adriatic (FIG. 3). A vast coastal

plain occupied the northern half, traversed by many rivers carrying meltwater from the glaciers of the Swiss,
Figure 2. Sicily and North Africa at lowest sea level during the last
glacial maximum. Dashed line inside the stippled emerged coastal

17. J. Thiede, "A Glacial Mediterranean," Nature 276 (1978) 680-

plain represents the shoreline of 9,000 B.P.

683.

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Journal of Field ArchaeologylVol . 11 ^ 1984 31 1

Figure 4. The western Mediterranean near the end of the rapid rise of the post-glacial sea at 9,000 B.P. Remnants of the
late glacial coastal plain are stippled.

their resources should have been important to the late

Austrian, and Dinaric Alps, and from the northern ApenPaleolithic and Mesolithic hunter-gatherers, and they denines. Along the eastern, Dalmatian edge, steep-sided,
serve more attention from archaeologists than they have
elongate hills islands today-overlooked this wide, well
watered steppe. 18 The Italian margin of the southern Ad- hitherto received. 19
Just a few millennia of encroaching sea sufficed to
riatic was also fringed with a coastal plain facing east
alter
the geography most profoundly (FIG. 4). By 9,000
across a narrow gulf to the lowlands, streams, and isolated hills of coastal Yugoslavia and Albania. The Ad-

B.P. the broad coastal plains had largely vanished. Cor-

sica and Sardinia, the intervening straits being at-65 m,

riatic thus clearly illustrates the emergence during a glacial
were separated by a seaway 10 krn wide, and their dismaximum of a large environmental complex of which
but few traces remain in the present coastal landscape.
Plains and rivers, again no longer prominent in the modern coastal zone, also existed off Spain, France, and NW
Italy. Although less extensive than those of the Adriatic,

tance from Italy had increased to 60 km. The coastal

plain of eastern Tunisia, though still quite large, had
shrunk considerably, and the shortest distance between
Sicily and North Africa was now 200 km. Only a few
small islands remained between, soon to disappear ex-

18. G. C. Bortolami, J. Ch. Fontes, V. Markgraf, and J. F. Saliege,

"Land, Sea, and Climate in the Northern Adriatic Region During the
Late Pleistocene and Holocene," PalaeogeoPalaeoclimPalaeoecol 21

sulting from the flooding of the late glacial coastal plains see van

( 1977).

Andel and Shackleton, op. cit. (in note 2).

19. For a discussion of the large change in resource availability re-

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312 Coastal Paleogeography of the MediterraneanlShackleton, van Andel, and Runnels

cept for the volcano of Pantelleria. The once vast Ad-

deliberate water crossings for the late Paleolithic and

riatic coastal plain was no longer of much consequence.

Mesolithic times in the central and western Mediterra-

With justiElcation one may say that the present aspect of

nean. Thus, even though the islands of Corsica and Sar-

the western Mediterranean is about 9,000 years old.

dinia were never completely attached to the Italian shore,

The reconstructions presented above have applications

there seems to be no a pnon reason why the narrow

mainly in two areas of archaeology, the traditional con-

seaway at 18,000 B.P. could not have been repeatedly

templation of migration routes and migration barriers,

crossed, despite Conchon's disbelief.22 Nor does the 8

and the more recent interest in evaluating site patterns

km distance across the Straits of Gibraltar warrant com-

and excavation results in the context of the contempor-

ments such as: "Cette coquille est donc essentiellement

aneous resource base. Any consideration of hunter-gath-

repartie dans l'Algerie occidental. Mais cela ne suffit pas

erer activity in terms of size of territory, for example,

pour admettre son importation d'Espagne qui aurait ete

or the distirlction between home base and specialized

possible au Neolithique mais non durant l'Iberomauru-

sites such as extraction camps must rely on an accurate

sien puisque les relations maritimes entre l'Espagne et

and detailed perception of available resources. Our maps

l'Afrique n'ont ete possibles que plus tardivement."23

show that options were often available in the past that

Given the need commonly attributed to hunter-gath-

were radically different from those that might be inferred

erer groups to exploit large terntories, it would obviously

from the present geography, and which ought to be con-

be necessary to maintain extensive monitoring of re-

sidered when interpreting past behavior patterns from

sources in peripheral regions. Thus one would indeed,

known archaeological sites. Conversely, an ability to

as Cherry has suggested,24 expect periodic visits to out-

perceive as a three-dimensional reality the ancient land-

lying areas such as Sardinia, Corsica, Sicily, or the Bal-

scape at low sea level might well at times furnish clues

eanc Islands, even if they were neither permanently

to areas of archaeological potential not evident from con-

inhabited nor steadily utilized.

templation only of the present environmental setting.

Finally, we must examine what may be said regarding

The implications are clearly illustrated by Figure 3.

sea level and paleogeography of the more remote past,

From at least 22,000 to ca. 15,000 s.P.,20 the large, river-

earlier in the last glacial interval and dunng the preced-

crossed Adriatic plain should have provided abundant

ing interglacial. Oxygen isotope data25 show relatively

food for herds of herbivores, and thus for man as well.

cold conditions for isotopic stage 4 between 60,000 and

If we accept the possibility that it might have been the

70,000 years ago, and twice during stage 5 (F;IG. 5), at

largest and most accessible food resource of the region,

90,000-100,000 and around 115,000 B.P., using the

the Dalmatian islands, overlooking the steppe from the

chronology of Morley and Hays.26 Oxygen isotope val-

east, become prime candidates for late Paleolithic base

ues from abyssal benthic Foraminifera27 indicate that at

camp sites, rather than mere potential littoral extraction

each of those times an amount of water had been ex-

camps in a seasonal coast-to-high-mountain cycle. Any

tracted from the oceans and stored as continental ice that

hunting camps in the steppe have, of course, been sub-

was equivalent in volume to that of the last glacial max-

merged now, although one anticipates the possibility that

imum ca. 18,000 B.P. Sea level thus fell to about the

advanced techniques in underwater archaeology may

same depth of 110-120 m. A somewhat less extreme

someday render them accessible, provided they can be

lowering occurred around 45,000 B.P. The map of Figure

located. Sites of base camps on the island slopes, how-

1, therefore, adequately portrays the coastal paleogeog-

ever, can be found.

raphy for all cold stadia since the last interglacial.

Having discussed the role of sea-level change in the

Higher stands of the sea, although not as high as the

creation and destruction of entire environmental com-

present one, accompanied milder times during the last

plexes, we now add a few words on the more venerable

glacial interval. Data from raised beaches on Haiti, Bar-

subject of sea-level changes and migrations. With sufficient evidence from various parts of the world for early
seafaring skills,2l one finds little difElculty in accepting

22. O. Conchon, "The Human Settlement of Corsica: Palaeogeographic and Tectonic Considerations," JHumanEvol 5 (1976) 241248.

20. Bortolami et al., op. cit. (in note 18).

21. S. J. Hallam, "The Relevance of Old World Archaeology to the
First Entry of Man Into New Worlds," QuatRes 8 (1977) 124-148;
R. Jones, "The Fifth Continent: Problems Concerning the Human
Colonization of Australia," AnnRevAnthrop 8 (1977) 445-466; C.
Perles, "Des Navigateurs Mediterraneens il y a 10,000 Ans," La
Recherche 96 (1979) 82-83; Cherry, op. cit. (in note 3).

23. H. Camps-Fabrer, "Parures des Temps Prehistoriques," Lybica:

Anthropologie, Pre'histoire, Ethnologie, 9-221.

24. Cherry, op. cit. (in note 3) 47.

25. Shackleton, op. cit. (in note 10).
26. Morley and Hays, op. cit. (in note 4).
27. Shackleton, op. cit. (in note 10).

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.,-3

I , 8 * * i,. . I. . .I. .9. . .I. .,. . . , e

Journal of Field ArchaeologylVol. 11, 1984 313

%0

SEA

+4

separate parts of the world are consistent and thus give

LEVEL

100

\N'

>

-s 3* a
_
tv

confidence in the result: a shore position at-35 to-40

m for 30,000-40,000 B.P., 50,000-60,000 B.P., and near
80,000 and 105,000 B.P. (FIG. 5). Consequently, the paleogeography of warmer interstadials in the western
Mediterranean is fairly represented by Figure 4. With
sea level at + 6 m, the interglacial Mediterranean must
have appeared essentially as it does today.

>

Many of the major shifts in coastal geography roughly

\>\

11

parallel archaeological events. Given the present state of

our knowledge, and in view of the still large chronological uncertainties both of the sea level record and of the
archaeological one, we can only point out these coincidences between paleogeographic and major cultural events

<

==

''

without daring to call them correlations at this time.

The earliest low stand of the sea in Figure 5, imme-

_,

diately preceding the last interglacial, and the three subsequent ones as well coincide with ffie Middle Paleoliiic,

*e

the time when flake-tool industries (Mousterian s.l.) and

'

archaic Homo sapaens spread throughout North Africa,

'
-

>

often thought to be the work of H. sapaens neander-

'

thalensis. Dated fossils of Neanderthals remain rare,

,......

however, until the period beginning around 80,000-

,........

began to supersede the Acheulean tradition in the Mediterranean sometime after 130,000-120,000 B.P., and are

**
,

the Near East, and Europe. These flake-tool industries

_b:.:

70,000 s.P.,29 another low stand of the sea. Neanderthal

I

man was replaced in Europe by the anatomically modern

H. sapiens sapiens beginning ca. 35,000 B.P., a transition

that may have occurred somewhat earlier in south central

Figure 5. Sea-level changes of the past 130,000 years. Left: oxygen

Europe, and even earlier in the Near East.30 The Elnal

isotope curve based on abyssal benthic Foraminifera (see

disappearance of west European Neanderthals occurred

Shackleton, in note S) indicating removal (more 180) or addition

after 35,000 B.P., perhaps as late as 31,000 s p 31 which

(less 180) of water in the oceans. Right: corresponding sea level

changes. Data from raised beaches (see note 28) are marked with

stars. Dashed line indicates sea level. Finely dotted line is sea-level

3 (1973) 142-146; A. L. Bloom, W. S. Broecker, J. M. T. Chappell,

change computed from oxygen isotope ratios with isostatic

R. K. Matthews, and K. J. Mesolella, "Quaternary Sea Level Fluc-

colTections. Large numbers are oxygen isotope stages dated after

tuations on a Tectonic Coast: New 230Th/234U Dates from the Huon

Morley and Hays (see note 4).

Peninsula, New Guinea," QuatRes 4 (1974) 185-205; R. E. Dodge,

R. G. Fairbanks, L. K. Renninger, and F. Maurasse, "Pleistocene

Sea Levels from Raised Coral Reefs of Haiti," Science 219 (1983)
1423-1425; R. K. Matthews, "Relative Elevation of Late Pleistocene
High Sea Level Stands: Barbados Uplift Rates and Their Implica-

bados, and New Guinea28 permit us to estimate the position of sea level at such times, although the reasoning
is complex and involves several assumptions, including

tions, " QuatRes 3 (1973) 147- 153.

29. F. Bordes, The Old Stone Age (McGraw-Hill: New York 1968)
98-120; M. Wolpoff, Palueoanthropology (Random House: New York

the one that sea level was at + 6 m during the preceding

1980) 258-259; E. Trinkhaus and W. W. Howells, ''The Neander-

interglacial. Nevertheless, the data from such widely

thals," SAm 241 (1979) 118-133.

30. F. H. Smith, "Upper Pleistocene Hominid Evolution in South

28. J. M. T. Chappell, "Geology of Coral TelTaces, Huon Peninsula,

New Guinea: a Study of Quaternary Tectonic Movements and Sea
Level Change," BullGSA 85 (1974) 553-570; J. M. T. Chappell and
H. H. Veeh, ''Late Quaternary Movements and Sea Level Changes

at Timor and Atauro Islands," BullGSA 89 (1978) 356-368; M. L.

Central Europe: a Review of the Evidence and Analysis of Trends,"

CA 23 (1982) 667-703; A. J. Jelinek, "The Tabun Cave and Paleo-

lithic Man in the Levant," Science 216 (1982) 1369-1375; W. R.

Farrand, "Chronology and Palaeoenvironment of Levantine Prehis-

toric Sites as Seen from Sediment Studies," JAS 6 (1979) 369-392.

Bender, F. T. Taylor and R. K. Matthews, "Helium-uranium Dating

31. Wolpoff, op. cit. (in note 29) 298-318; Smith, op. cit. (in note

of Corals from Middle Pleistocene Barbados Reef Tracts," QuatRes

30) 670, 685.

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All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms

314 Coastal Paleogeography of the .blediterranean/Shackleton, van Andel, and Runnels

is close to the time of the last major drop in sea level,

rope. The mostly high sea levels between 90,000 and

and within the uncertainty limits of the sea-level chro-

50,000 B.P. may have served to isolate to a degree the

nology.

European Neanderthals because the most convenient mi-

The long-lasting low stand of the sea centered on ca.

gration routes, across the Anatolia-BaLkan land bridge

20,000 B.P. also coincides with an important archaeolog-

and over the emerged coastal plains of the Aegean and

ical event, the so-called "broad spectrum revolution."

Adriatic,37 disappeared during the higher stands of the

This revolution was a shift in economic behavior during

sea. Conversely, the rapid fall of the sea beginning ca.

the late Paleolithic towards enlarging the subsistence base

30,000 B.P. may have led to an influx of modern peoples

with resources that had hitherto been neglected, espe-

or at least to gene flow to the somewhat isolated Nean-

cially birds, small animals, fish and shellfish. This shift

derthal population of western Europe, perhaps contrib-

began before 20,000 B.P. in the Near East and may cor-

uting to their ultimate disappearance.

relate with the spread of remarkably uniform stone in-

These questions will not soon be resolved but they

dusties around the Mediterranean which were based upon

serve to illustrate our desire to invite the discussion of

backed bladelets and other small-scale tools.32

When considering the distribution of flake-tool indus-

tries and Neanderthals in North Africa and Europe it may

be significant that the Straits of Gibraltar were never

archaeological evidence and concepts in the light of the

late Pleistocene and early Holocene paleogeography.
37. van Andel and Shackleton, op. cit. (in note 2).

bridged, and that the Sicilian area remained separated

from the Tunisian plain at all times by a wide stretch of

water. However, the issue of the movement of human
populations and the role of land bridges and sea crossings

remain unresolved. Although it cannot be doubted that

man was able to cross the seas to colonize new lands as
early as 40,000 years ago in other parts of the world,33
it is also a fact that Neanderthals appear to have left no
remains on such islands as Corsica, Sardinia, Malta, or
Sicily, even though the last two must have been joined
to Italy at various times. Mousterian sites are common
in Italy,34 but Elba, definitely joined to the mainland at
low sea level, is the only island thus far reported to have
Mousterian tools.35 Perhaps crossing the 15 km to Corsica was beyond Neanderthal means, but this would not

Judith C. Shackleton is an Associate of Clare Hall,

Cambridge; a member of the excavation team of

Franchthi Cave in Greece; and a student of the role of

marine resources in prehistory.

Tjeerd H. van Andel is Professor of Oceanography

in the School of Earth Sciences of Stanford University

and co-director with Michael H. Jameson of the
Stanford University Archaeological and Environmental
Survey of the Argolid, Greece.

Curtis N. Runnels, Lecturer in the Program in

Values, Technology, Science, and Society at Stanford

University, is associate director of the same project.

explain why Sicily and Malta were not occupied. The

possibility remains then that the Neanderthals, unlike their

contemporaries who settled Australia, avoided open-water

travel, and that this skill did not become common until
after 30,000 B.P. If so, this circumstance would lend

weight to the hypothesis36 that such connections as existed between Africa and Europe prior to the final glacial

stage were through the Near East and south central Eu-

32. K. Flannery, "Ongins and Ecological Effects of Early Domes-

tication in Iran and the Near East," in P. J. Ucko and G. W. Dimbleby, eds., The Domestication and Exploitation of Plants and Animals

(Duckworth: London 1969) 73-100; C. Redman, TheRise of Civilization (W.H. Freeman: San Francisco 1978) 65-87.
33. Hallam, op. cit. (in note 21); Jones, op. cit. (in note 21).

34. Bordes, op. cit. (in note 29) 119; J. M Coles and E. S. Higgs,
The Archaeology of Early Man (Praeger: New York 1969) 311-322.
35. Cherry, op. cit. (in note 3) 44-45, 56-58

36. Wolpoff, op. cit (in note 29) 289-318; Smith, op. cit. (in note
30) 682-686.

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