ScienceDaily (July 26, 2007) — Our modern western civilization traces its roots to the Mediterranean region, and determining exactly when and where civilizations took hold remains an ongoing quest.

For example, the armies of Alexander the Great swept across the region, leading to the establishment of the city of Alexandria on the shores of the Mediterranean in BC 332. But what came before Alexander?

 Was there a settlement that preceded Alexandria, and if so, what can we learn about the people who lived and died there?

 These are some of the questions addressed by Jean-Daniel Stanley of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., and his co-workers in a paper in the August GSA Today.

By applying a multidisciplinary approach, involving archeology, sedimentology and geochemistry, to the study of sediment cores collected from Alexandria's Eastern Harbor, Stanley and his colleagues have demonstrated that a settlement occupied the region for at least seven centuries prior to the arrival of Alexander.

Ceramic shards, high lead levels, and the use of building stones imported from other regions all attest to a once flourishing urban center as far back as BC 1000. These discoveries indicate that much is still to be learned about the early development of western civilization, and an effective means of achieving this is by integrating geologic and archaeological methodologies.

Reference: "Alexandria, Egypt, before Alexander the Great: A multidisciplinary approach yields rich discoveries" Jean-Daniel Stanley et al., Geoarchaeology Program, Rm. E-206, Paleobiology, Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History,GSA Today, August 2007.

Related Stories

Rare Discovery: Engraved Gemstone Carrying A Portrait Of Alexander The Great (Sep. 22, 2009) — A gemstone engraved with the portrait of Alexander the Great was uncovered during excavations by an archaeological team in ...  > read more

Hot And Cold: Circulation Of Atmosphere Affected Mediterranean Climate During Last Ice Age (Aug. 27, 2008) — A new study in Science reveals the circulation of the atmosphere over the Mediterranean during the last ice age, 23,000 to 19,000 years ago, and how this affected the local ...  > read more

Loggerhead Turtle Territories Defined By Salinity of Sea Water In Western Mediterranean (Dec. 17, 2008) — Researchers have shown that the salinity of sea water could act as a "barrier", preventing the turtles from moving between the areas of the Western Mediterranean. This is why loggerhead turtles from ...  > read more

Tsunami Waves Reasonably Likely To Strike Israel, Geo-archaeological Research Suggests (Oct. 26, 2009) — There is a likely chance of tsunami waves reaching the shores of Israel, says one researcher, following geoarchaeological research at the port of Caesarea. Tsunami events in the Mediterranean occur ...  > read more

Search ScienceDaily

First Stars In The Universe