Physical Characteristics of the Continental Shelves of the East Mediterranean Basin, Submerged Settlements and Landscapes -Actual Finds and Potential Discoveries

This chapter reviews the main environmental factors which have controlled the evolution of the submerged prehistoric landscape and therefore influenced prehistoric human migration and activity, and discusses the potential for the survival of prehistoric cultural and natural remains on the sea floor of the continental shelf in the Aegean region. Under the term 'Aegean region', the authors consider the Aegean Sea including the Ionian, Libyan and Levantine side of the Hellenic Arc. They use the available paleomorphological reconstructions of the exposed landmasses during the major low sea-level periods of the Late Pleistocene to define target areas for submerged landscape surveys. The present overall wind and wave climate in the eastern Mediterranean and Aegean seas enables us to identify the coastal areas protected from or exposed to wave erosion, and to assess the potential survival of shallow submerged prehistoric remains.