MILLSTONES COASTAL QUARRIES AS INDICATOR OF RELATIVE SEA LEVEL CHANGES

Abstract

The Italian coasts shows numerous archaeological remains which reveals the activities that were carried out along the coast for thousands of years of history. In order to use archaeological structures for coastal studies, an accurate estimate of their relationship to the sea level at the time of construction is required (Lambeck et al 2004, Antonioli et al 2007, Auriemma & Solinas 2009). Millstone coastal quarries are only documented in southern Italy; they are carved on beachrock, calcarenites and other sedimentary rock easy to be exploited. Few archaeological information have been published about quarries for millstones extraction; they are documented since around 2500 yr BP (Amouretti, 1986; Amouretti, Brun, 1993; Brun, 1997). Millstone quarries carved within sandstone bedrocks and nowadays partially submerged was used as archaeological sea level marker for two sites in Calabria and Sicily by Scicchitano et al.(2011). In this study we analyzed 11 coastal sites of: Sicily (Capo d’Orlando, Letojanni, Giardini Naxos), Calabria (Soverato, Tropea, Capo dell’Armi, Crotone, Roccella Ionica), Campania (Palinuro, Scario) and Apulia (Polignano San Vito). Thanks to the discovery and dating of an iron wedge used as tool for carving, for the first time we can restrict the period of exploitation of this specific type of quarry (Ronchitelli, 1993). In addition, based on geological knowledge of each sector and on measures made on the quarries, we present considerations on functionality, geological uplift rate and reconstruction of possible ages of each studied archaeological sites.