THE EFFECTS OF COASTLINE CHANGES ON THE ANCIENT HABITATION PATTERNS OF TEL AKKO / ACRE, EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN

The layout of a coastal town or city, such as ancient Tel Akko, is dictated by the position of the shoreline and the river associated with it. The anchorages or harbors – lifelines of ancient coastal sites – may change and/or evolve overtime depending on the accretion or regression of the shore, leading to corresponding adaptations of habitation patterns and axis of an extended living site. With new understanding based on geomorphological, geological, geochronological and geophysical studies, possible locales of anchorages, landlocked harbors, and artificial harbors were investigated around Tel Akko. Dating of not only the geological setting, but also the settlement patterns associated with it, contributes to further understanding of the positioning of the anchorages and harbors associated with the river and sea, and their relationship to the habitat dynamics.

A geophysical survey (Ground Penetrating Radar – GPR – and Electric Resistivity Tomography – ERT –) and a sediment core campaign around the tell’s vicinity was carried out. The surveys’ results coupled with archaeological investigations, an extensive analysis of historical cartography, sedimentological and petrophysical analyses, and Optically Stimulated Luminescence – OSL – dating contribute greatly to the understanding of the layout of the site vis-à-vis the ancient coastline. This in turn, illuminates the possible positions of the Middle and Late Bronze anchorages and the Phoenician/Persian anchorage / proto-harbor of the Iron Age.