The Geoarchaeology of Northern Pieria

In this book, Athanasia Krahtopoulou integrates palaeoenvironmental, archaeological and historical data with her own detailed research on geomorphology, alluvial stratigraphy and soils, geochronology and sea level changes as a means to understand late Quaternary, and especially Holocene, landscape change and the related preservation and visibility of the rich archeological record of northern Pieria, Macedonia, Greece. The landscape of northern Pieria has experienced long periods of stability and pedogenesis, interrupted by infrequent intervals of valley aggradation and occasional stream incision and lateral migration. Erosion has truncated soils and archeological deposits resulting in very poor preservation of the surface archeological record. Moreover, coastal erosion has resulted in almost total destruction of sites situated on the northern coast of the region. The discovery of many exceptionally well- preserved suballuvial sites, ranging in date from the Paleolithic to the Byzantine period, has changed the archeological map and underlines the importance and preservation potential of buried archaeology in the landscape of northern Pieria. The first detailed geoarcaeological account of the landscape history of northern Pieria offers basis for further geomorphologcial and future archeological and palaeoenvironmental research, reinforces attempts to integrate effectively these related datasets and for archaeologists working in the area provides a framework for assessment, prospection and management of both the surface and buried archeological record of northern Pieria.