Archaeology and Heinrich Schliemann 2012

A physical and human geographic approach to the environment 139their beds; so an equilibrium regime is maintainedeven with heavy rainfalls, although strong evidenceof intense grazing since the Palaeolithic has beendocumented by Jacobsen (1973) and it is suspected tohave inflicted severe soil erosion at that time. Theonset of the recent alluviation can either be related tohuman-caused deforestation, or to deforestation dueto goats’ grazing, or even to climatic fluctuations ofthe past. As for land use, olive trees, vines, cereal cultivationsand tree crops have traditionally been cultivatedin the Argive plain, but it can not be verifiedwhether these constituted the main crops and plantationsin the antiquity also.3. Physical-Geographic explanations appliedto archaeological problemsGeomorphological investigations have much tooffer to archaeological research, as they can unveil theinteractions between prehistoric humans and theirenvironment. As stated earlier, the geomorphologicalexamination of past shoreline shifts in relation withthe possible existence of an ancient port close toTiryns in the Bronze Age consists an archaeologicalproblem, which can be studied by Physical Geography.The causes of alternate stability-instability cyclesof the landscape of that region is a related (althoughdifferent) problem, to which Geography can alsocontribute.Beginning with the problem of the precise identificationof past shorelines of the port of Tiryns, wehave evidence from past surveys of the area by Schliemann(1885), that shoreline shifts had occurred in lateQuaternary. In the modern era however, we can beaided by the discovery that large volumes of gypsumwere transported by boat from Crete to Argolis forthe various needs of the Argive cities (Mylonas 1957).Further, after a series of results from borings reportedby Kraft (1977), from the Tiryns fortification up tothe seashore, marine sediments were identified supportingthe conjecture that Tiryns was indeed a portto the Argive bay during the Middle Helladic phase.Kilian (1978) had also suggested that ancient Tirynshad a port. After radio-dating of Mycenaean palaces’gypsum, Gale et al. (1988) pointed out that the Pleistocenicgypsum from Crete which had supplied Tirynswas in fact brought from either the Ionian Islands orCrete or from the mainland. The problem of gypsumsupply of the ancient Argive cities is thus closelyrelated to the marine transport of gypsum. Yet, gypsumwas used as an interior building material in theBronze Age palaces, so there should exist a port nearthe cities to facilitate the unloading of voluminousgypsum chunks needed for the construction.Though a full-depth study of sea-level changesand related eustatic changes is beyond the scope ofthis paper, an outline of eustatic changes shouldnevertheless be taken into account in order to addressthe “Tiryns port” problem: As the post-glacial regressionmarked the onset of the Holocene, the 18.000years B.P. shoreline should be expected to lie as far as10 km seawards, due to the low sea-level of the Pleistoceneglaciers. Yet, following Flemming (1968),Tiryns was unlikely to have a port, as he supposed arate of elevation of sea-level equivalent to 0,5m/200years.Besides climatic eustatic changes, it is reasonableto assume that tectonic activity has also played animportant role in the evolution of the region’s landscape.Western Argolid is vertically tectonized, whileTiryns seems to be a non-tectonized area. Consequently,a synergetic approach should most likely beadopted, incorporating both structural geological factorsand eustatic changes (e.g. as advocated by Kraft,1977).4. Stability-Instability cycles of the ArgivelandscapeWhether due to geodynamics or eustatic movements,it is true that the Argive landscape has experiencedseveral “cycles” of environmental stabilityand instability, which have seriously affected itsinhabitants through the ages. Even though it is mostlikely that these instabilities have been due to theinterplay between various interdependent factors,the prevailing causes of these instabilities are not preciselyknown yet.The decline of the Mycenaean civilization at theEnd of the Bronze Age (13 th -12 th century b.C.) has traditionallybeen attributed to invaders, but witharchaeological research being still unclear as to theexact origin and characteristics of the alleged “newcomers”-invaders,our attention may also be drawn toother possible causes of landscape instability, such asearthquakes, abrupt climatic change and change inthe use of land.