Recent Holocene paleo-environmental evolution and coastline changes of Kition, Larnaca, Cyprus, Mediterranean Sea

Sedimentological, paleontological analysis and ¹⁴C dating of 17 cores obtained in the vicinity of the Phoenician military harbor (VIII-IV BC) of Kition Bamboula (Cyprus) provide new paleo-environmental information for the reconstruction of shoreline changes for Kition and Larnaca Bay over the last 4000 years. We propose that a communication existed between the inner harbor of Bamboula (presently 400 m inland) and the northern district of Lichines, which was a marine embayment. Our core data led us to revisit the previous hypothesis of a direct east-west channel between the harbor and the open sea (Nicolaou, K., 1976. The historical topography of Kition. Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology, Goteborg, vol. 153, pp. 1-373; Gifford, J.A., 1978. Paleogeography of archaelogical sites of the Larnaca lowlands, southeastern Cyprus. PhD Thesis, University of Minnesota, pp. 1-192). We propose instead that a spit of coarse material isolated the lagoon from the open sea from 2600 to 1600 years BP. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V.