MARINE GEOPHYSICAL MAPPING OF BRONZE-AGE HARBOR STRUCTURES, LIMAN TEPE, TURKEY

Liman Tepe, located on the Bay of Izmir, is one of the oldest known artificial harbors in the Aegean. Recent underwater excavations have revealed remnants of a constructed breakwater that forms an extension of an Early Bronze Age (EBA II - ca. 2700-2400 BCE) fortification wall on land. A marine geophysical survey, involving detailed single-beam bathymetry (200 kHz), side-scan swathing and marine magnetic mapping, was conducted over the inshore area to map the harbor remains and to identify sites for future excavation work. The survey results show that the structure is clearly a man-made rectangular mole (ca. 25 by 100 m in dimensions) enclosing a small harbor basin. The bathymetry data also provide a means of establishing the paleogeography of the coast and the location of the EBA shoreline. Survey work along the inshore areas of nearby Karantina Island also revealed other mole structures relating to later classical period harbors of the port city of Clazomenae. The results demonstrate that systematic geophysical mapping can provide important baseline information for planning marine excavation work and for interpreting archaeological data within their proper paleogeographic context.