Next Article in Journal
Fragility of Highway Embankments Exposed to Permanent Deformations Due to Underlying Fault Rupture
Previous Article in Journal
Determining the Boundaries of Overlying Strata Collapse Above Mined-Out Panels of Zhomart Mine Using Seismic Data
 
 
Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
Journals
Geosciences
Volume 14
Issue 11
10.3390/geosciences14110311
geosciences-logo
Submit to this Journal Review for this Journal Propose a Special Issue
► Article Menu

Article Menu

share Share announcement Help format_quote Cite question_answer Discuss in SciProfiles thumb_up
...
Endorse textsms
...
Comment
first_page
settings
Order Article Reprints
Font Type:
Arial Georgia Verdana
Font Size:
Aa Aa Aa
Line Spacing:
Column Width:
Background:
Article

Earthquake Environmental Effects: The Case of Late Classical-Hellenistic Helike, Gulf of Corinth, Greece

by
Dora Katsonopoulou
1 and
Ioannis Koukouvelas
2,*
1
The Helike Society and the Helike Project, 106 82 Athens, Greece
2
Department of Geology, University of Patras, 265 04 Patras, Greece
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Geosciences 2024, 14(11), 311; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences14110311
Submission received: 12 October 2024 / Revised: 4 November 2024 / Accepted: 8 November 2024 / Published: 15 November 2024
(This article belongs to the Section Natural Hazards)
Browse Figures
Versions Notes

Abstract

:
Human habitat is much controlled by the landscape and its ongoing processes overtime. Some of these processes occur instantaneously and are often triggered by seismic events with a major destructive impact on the human-built environment. Helike, on the southwest shore of the Gulf of Corinth, is a characteristic case of an ancient habitation site bearing witness to repetitious natural disasters from the Early Bronze Age to the Late Antiquity. The Late Classical-Hellenistic site, revived in the Helike plain after the 373 BC earthquake, has been systematically investigated thanks to the multidisciplinary research and excavations of the Helike Project in the last 35 years. This work has significantly enriched the historical seismicity of the region and shed light on past human-environment relationships. The study of the architectural remains excavated by the Helike Project, coupled with geological and soil micromorphological analysis on archaeological soils and sediments of the settlement, demonstrates a constant effort of the Helike people to reconcile with the elements of nature. Our results underline the destruction of a flourishing textile dyeworks operated at the settlement, due to a strong earthquake which triggered extensive morphological changes in a broader area. These changes include co-seismic liquefaction and lateral spreading, and post-seismic changes in the gradient of river channels. The former changes attest to an uplift in the headwater area and subsidence in the lowland plain of the ravine flowing near the ancient site.

1. Introduction

On the southwest shore of the Gulf of Corinth in northern Peloponnese, deposits from three rivers have coalesced to form a broad delta plain. Here was located Helike, the principal city of ancient Achaea, which was founded in Mycenaean times and destroyed by an earthquake and tsunami in 373 BC. The catastrophic event made a great impression in antiquity and has been reported by many ancient sources both contemporary and later [1]. The Helike Project began to search for the lost site in 1988, first surveying 8 km2 of seafloor southeast of Aigion with side-scan and sub-bottom sonar (Figure 1). The survey showed no evidence of a ruined city on or under the seafloor, thus the search was shifted to the adjacent coastal plain [2]. From 1991 to 2002, the Helike Project drilled 99 boreholes in an area of about 2 km2 in the delta, and discovered pottery fragments and other evidence of ancient occupation ranging in date from Neolithic to Late Byzantine times [3]. Since 2000, the Helike Project has conducted 12 years of systematic excavations between the rivers Selinous and Kerynites, and has brought to light architectural remains dating from the Early Bronze Age (EBA), Mycenaean, Geometric, Classical, Hellenistic, Roman, and Late Byzantine periods [4,5,6]. Among the most unexpected finds in the investigated Helike area was the discovery of an unknown settlement, revived a few decades after the catastrophic earthquake of 373 BC, which soon became a thriving town in the Late Classical-Hellenistic period [6]. Life in Helike continued well into the following Roman period when another earthquake hit the area in the 5th century AD and destroyed Roman Helike [7]. It appears that Helike suffered by strong earthquakes through its long life. Earthquakes can cause various environmental changes which are well known from this part of the western Gulf of Corinth due to seismicity, as presented in Figure 1c. Environmental changes during earthquakes are described both worldwide and, in the area [8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15].
This paper focuses on past human-environment relationships in the Helike Delta in the light of palaeoseismology and archaeology. It aims to synthesize and interpret peoples’ reactions and efforts to reconcile with living in a complex geological environment. In particular, this study provides new data on the environmental effects of a previously unknown Hellenistic earthquake, which took place at a distance of 1.5 km away from the Helike fault, and also geoarchaeological data regarding this fault. These environmental effects include consequences observed on the architecture of the site and landscape uplift or subsidence in the major Helike area.

2. Materials and Methods

Archaeological research in areas prone to natural hazards provides data both on natural catastrophes and the consequent societal responses, investigating the nature of the disruption if human-caused or natural, and if it occurred abruptly or gradually [16,17,18,19,20,21]. This study builds upon archaeological excavation results, geological and palaeoseismological data, and soil micromorphology analysis of the Helike site. Geoarchaeological data from a series of 99 boreholes drilled by the Helike Project in the Helike plain, led to the discovery of buried ancient occupation horizons covering a long chronological range from prehistoric times to Late Antiquity [2,3]. Geological analyses of this material aiming at unraveling the environmental conditions over the late Holocene around the Helike area were further supported by intensive soil sampling from both boreholes and archaeological trenches [2,3,22] and by radiocarbon dating [23]. In addition, palaeoseismological trenching conducted in the study area, confirmed the seismic activity of faults in the Late Pleistocene to Holocene, thus providing data on the location, timing, and magnitude of destructive prehistoric and historical earthquakes [8,9]. Furthermore, worldwide data indicate that strong earthquakes of magnitudes above 6, cause traceable surfaces to offset near active faults [24,25]. In contrast, moderate events of magnitudes 5.5, attest to soil deformation features, called soft-sediment deformation structures (SSDS) at the epicentral area [24,25,26,27,28,29,30]. These two landform modifications help unravel the earthquake history in areas prone to seismicity and highlight the destruction of occupation sites during the recent past. Techniques to address these modifications include palaeoseismology and soil micromorphology applications for strong and moderate earthquakes, respectively. A key location to review the societal responses during and after one or more earthquake events, is the post-373 BC Helike settlement (Figure 1, V).

3. Geological and Tectonic Settings

The 120 km long Gulf of Corinth is an active intra-continental rift zone trending almost perpendicular to the structural grain of the Greek orogenic belt (Figure 1). The Corinth rift includes a basin-and-range morphology [31,32,33,34]. Current deformation in the Corinth rift is evident on spectacularly exposed fault scarps, faulted colluvial wedges, shoreline uplift, historical to recent seismic activity, and earthquake-triggered onshore and offshore landslides [9,35,36].
The role of faults in the rift is evident since these control sediment accumulations and the depocenter’s location across the rift zone. The rift, based on the dating of uplifted syn-rift sediments on the northern Peloponnese, was initiated ≈4 Ma ago and prograde from east to west [31,36,37,38]. Since the lower Pleistocene (1.8–1.5 Ma), the deformation and the sediment accumulation in the Corinth rift migrate northward, in parallel with an increase in the extension rate [32,35,39,40,41]. An almost N-S trending extension within the rift is accommodated by a series of >10 km long active normal faults. Analytically, from east to west, the fault array orientation progressively changes from ENE to WNW- [34] (Figure 1). These faults dissect the area of the Corinth rift and its surroundings controlling the north Peloponnese morphology [8,9,41,42,43].
The seismicity in the western Corinth rift, where Helike was located, is expressed by strong historical events and short-lived swarms of events that outlast one to two years in well-defined clusters [33,44,45] (see Figure 1c). The area between the Diakopton and Rion-Antirrion straights, based on seismic reflection data and onshore mapping is crossed by a complex array of offshore and onshore faults [8,9,34,46,47,48,49,50,51,52] (Figure 1a). These studies have highlighted a complex basin structure characterized by significant along-strike variations associated with changes in the inherited basement fabric [49,50]. In particular, the deformation concentrates on en-echelon north-dipping normal faults delimiting the southern coastline and dissecting the offshore zone of the Corinth rift. Two active faults appear to play a significant role in understanding the evolution of the Helike plain, the Aigion and Helike Faults (Figure 1a). Based on the analysis of a series of palaeoseismological trenches, the northern Peloponnese coastal faults show high slip rates ranging from 0.3–11 mm yr−1. The slip rate on the Helike Fault is estimated between 0.5 and 2 mm/year in different segments and at different time intervals, with mean slip per event in the order of 1 m, and recurrence interval between 400–700 years. Maximum expected earthquakes are in the order of 6.7 [8,9]. Palaeoseismological analysis of the Aigion Fault ranges from 1.6–11 mm yr−1. Further, to the west of Aigion, slip rates range from 1.9–2.7 mm yr−1 for Selianitika and Rodini Faults [8,9,53,54].

3.1. Historical Earthquakes Discovered in the Helike Area

Combined geoarchaeological work and excavations of the Helike Project in the Helike delta plain, showed that ancient people chose to live almost uninterruptedly for many millennia in a place bearing witness to repetitious earthquakes that occurred from the Early Bronze Age to Late Antiquity.

3.1.1. The Early Helladic (EH) Helike Earthquake

The earliest occupation in the central part of the Helike plain between the Selinous and Kerynites rivers dates back at least to the third millennium BC. In this area (Figure 1, R), our excavations brought to light the impressive remains of an EH coastal settlement and rich associated pottery corresponding to the EH II-III periods (2600/2500-2150/2100 BC) [5,55]. The settlement lay only a few hundred meters from the sea, on the seaward side of an intermittent lagoon that existed in this part of the plain since the Late Neolithic period [5]. Archaeological evidence suggests that the settlement was destroyed ca. 2150/2100 BC by an earthquake, most probably accompanied by extensive fire [5]. In addition to the destruction layers discovered inside and outside the excavated buildings, the walls of two of the buildings show an abrupt offset by what appears to be a seismic discontinuity due to liquefaction (Figure 2). The ruins were, then, submerged in a coastal lagoon under sediments containing a mixture of freshwater, brackish and marine microfossils [3]. The lagoon later silted over, thus keeping the settlement buildings and their contents protected from any subsequent human interventions.

3.1.2. The Geometric Helike Earthquake

Excavations of the Helike Project in the eastern part of the Helike plain in the village of Nikolaiika near the Kerynites River (Figure 1, N) brought to light a very interesting complex of walls of the Geometric period, which belongs to a large edifice with interior division. The excavation yielded important evidence for the geological history of the area and the occurrence of an unknown earthquake during the Geometric period, recognized for the first time in this location. On the basis of the rich pottery assemblage recovered from the building, the earthquake should be dated ca. 700/680 BC. The site was thereafter abandoned and silted up by a thick accumulation of torrential and fluvial river-borne sediments.

3.1.3. The 373 BC Earthquake

The earthquake and tsunami event, which occurred in Helike in 373 BC, is reckoned among the most impressive ancient catastrophes. A great number of writers both contemporary and later down to the Middle Byzantine period (10th c. AD), refer to this event and its disastrous effects on the physical environment and the population of the thriving Classical city. The earthquake and its mechanism have been the subject of many studies by modern researchers, see [1,2,3].
Furthermore, the systematic geoarchaeological work and excavations of the Helike Project in the Helike plain in the last 35 years, have provided significant data with regard to the catastrophic phenomenon and its effects on peoples’ life in the post-373 BC period [6]. The study and analysis of these data suggest that the famous 373 catastrophic event was probably the result of an exceptional cascade disaster, triggered by a strong earthquake and accompanied tsunami as described by ancient sources [1,9].
Remains of destroyed Classical walls and associated pottery discovered in two excavated trenches in modern Rizomylos (Figure 1, R), were found buried under lagoonal sediments at a depth of 3 m below ground. In particular, in one of the trenches, the corner of a destroyed Classical building bears evidence of a possible wave action. It has been observed that one of the walls of the building, parallel to the shore, was thrown down in a way consistent with a wave backwash whereas the other wall, perpendicular to the shore and parallel to the tsunami direction, was less damaged [4].

3.1.4. The Hellenistic Helike Earthquake

The Late Classical-Hellenistic Helike settlement (Figure 1, V), revived in the western part of the coastal plain few decades after the famous 373 BC earthquake, became a flourishing town in the Early-Middle Hellenistic times and held a strategic commercial position in the southern part of the Gulf of Corinth as indicated by the discovery of a large scale textile industry included in its territory among a network of other similar textile workshops around the Gulf [6,56]. Archaeological evidence from the excavated site suggests that this thriving settlement was destroyed by an earthquake ca. 90/80 BC and was abandoned afterward [6].

3.1.5. The Roman Helike Earthquake

Following the destruction and abandonment of the Hellenistic site in the western part of the Helike area, the activities of the Helike people were transferred primarily in the central-eastern part of the plain toward the Kerynites River as suggested by the results of the Helike Project excavations in the area of modern Rizomylos-Nikolaiika (Figure 1, R and N). The life of the settlement continued well into the Roman era for at least another four hundred years until another destructive earthquake in the first half of the 5th c. AD, brought upon its sudden and violent end [7].

4. The Post 373 BC Helike Settlement

4.1. The Settlement Site: The Specialized Helike Dyeworks

The post-373 BC Helike settlement occupies a large territory in the contemporary Eliki-Valimitika region (Figure 1, V), as shown by residential areas and a cemetery site discovered by the Helike Project in recent years. The major area of the settlement seems to have extended even farther to the south, near the foothills of the mountains surrounding the plain, as suggested by excavated walls, which belong to a complex building discovered in this location [6].
Among the most significant finds of the settlement, a large scale dyeworks complex stands out. The main unit of the installations consists of two large shallow pebble-floor rectangular tanks and two deep pebble-floor cisterns (Figure 3 and Figure 4), connected via an admirable system of plastered channels serving for emptying liquid from the shallow into the deep tanks, all surrounded by well-made stone walls. A third shallow pebble-floor tank of smaller size was unearthed near the main four-tank unit. A number of other specific structures including a conical plastered vat, two basins bordered with cobblestones, and a double plastered structure consisting of two semi-elliptical shaped basins with round sinking holes for collecting residues, complete the workshop premises occupying the southern part of a major building complex, excavated to-date in an area of 1000 m2 (Figure 3). Excavation in the northern part of the complex brought to light more rooms, working and storage areas, and a large open-roofed space, where a considerable number of amphorae and bronze coins were found. In one of the northern rooms, close to the main four-tank unit, was unearthed a unique clay structure consisting of two parallel clay partitions framing a deep clay basin, connected on the west side to a flattened area made of clay that served as a heating place for the dyeing activities that took place here (Figure 3 (cbc)). A large storage area containing three big pithoi for storing materials, probably used in the dyeing processes (Figure 3 (p)), was also discovered close and to the north of the clay structure room. The specially constructed equipment, the pressing implements, the heating and drying facilities, and the mordants used in the dyeing process discovered in the Helike establishment indicate that a number of textile production activities took place at the site [6,56].
Water supply, one of the essential elements for the function and usage of the dyeworks, was provided by a stream channel running along the southern part of the dyeing workshop. Its presence at this location was of great advantage for the site, thus not being in need of water pipe arrangements. In addition, water easily obtained from the stream could be stored in cisterns or large vessels to be used at any time needed.
The workshop seems to have operated for a long time of almost two centuries, as indicated by the rich pottery recovered from the excavated building, dated from ca. 340/330 to ca. 100/80 BC [56,57,58]. The same chronological timespan as that indicated by the pottery is covered by the large corpus of bronze coins found in the complex [59], and by its architecture, showing in the earliest building phase of the installation, the use of polygonal masonry dated to the second half of the fourth century BC. Certain excavation data such as a large number of stones piled up near a long wall at the northern edge of the complex apparently for its rectification, abolished door-openings and walls put up in initially open-air spaces afterward converted into working areas, suggest the long-lasting usage and gradual expansion of the workshop installations, requiring amendments and modifications. Overall, both the architecture and the mobile finds recovered from the excavated dyeworks complex, including the high quality of its features, suggest that here was developed a large scale textile production industry, intended for consumption outside the workshop, perhaps at a community level or even beyond the region of Achaea itself [6,56].

4.2. Geology and Archaeology of the Dyeworks Site

The Helike dyeworks is located in a lowland area crossed by a series of ravines and is influenced by two active normal faults well known to be related to strong earthquakes [8,9]. In particular, the role of the Helike and Aigion active faults causes the convergence of the Selinous and Kerynites river courses. Over the last two decades, the area where the two rivers converge has been of high interest to researchers since this part of the plain was the place where the capital city of Helike was located. Indeed, river courses crossing the area are controlled by the Helike Fault as proved by [8,9] (Figure 1). Further, the role of the Helike Fault is particularly important in the formation of a series of small-scale alluvial fans with their apex on the fault trace and their distal area one kilometer north of it. A typical example is the Katourlas Fan described in detail by [9]. These alluvial fans are accumulating fine-grain sediments at their distal sectors.
Detailed sedimentological analyses of the post-373 Helike site (Romanos Field) based on sediment type, total organic constituents, carbonate and carbon content, and micro- and mollusk fossils of selected samples, are provided by [3,22,60]. More recent excavations at the southern part of the site, where the central unit of the dyeworks installations has been unearthed, have yielded, at a depth of 3.80–4.20 m from the surface, evidence of a matrix- to clast-supported conglomerate within a braided stream channel (Figure 3 and Figure 4).
According to excavation data, this ravine is filled by sediment facies developed in an erosional contact with the main occupation layer of the site at a depth of 3.30 m (Figure 4d). Interestingly, the channel fill includes from bottom to top the following archaeological finds: roof tiles at a depth of 3.95–3.82 m (Figure 4b and Figure 5a,b), tiles, plaster, pottery, and pithoi fragments at a depth of 3.70–3.60 m, a large segment of the pebbled floor of a shallow basin at 3.60–3.50 m, and roof tiles, pithoi fragments and stones from built walls at 3.40–3.30 m (Figure 5 and Figure 6).
All these layers containing archaeological finds are interleaved with conglomerates and provide a notion of reverse stratigraphy related to the erosion of a thick destruction layer (Figure 4a) by a river channel (Figure 4b), located at the southwest end of the dyeworks complex (Figure 3). Unfortunately, the southwest bank of this channel is buried under a rural road crossing the site (Figure 3), and thus it is impossible to define the full geometry of this braided stream channel. The sedimentary layer, which corresponds with the occupation period at the site, consists of gravelly mud deposits accumulated in an entirely distal floodplain environment. Based on geochronological data the foundation strata are aged 2200 yrs BP while the contact between the distal floodplain and the braided channel deposits are aged 3333 yrs BP (Figure 6). Based on age data provided by [60] an inferred sedimentation rate is in the order of 0.9 mm yr−1. On the other hand, the sedimentation age of the channel fill includes destruction debris from the dyeworks, suggesting a post-Hellenistic siltation. The top of the channel after the siltation is covered by fine-grained sediments of playa lake environment [3,22]. For constraining the age range of the channel fill we use excavation data from the Helike area. These data indicate that its bottom was filled in the period following the earthquake of 90/80 BC, as evidenced by the archaeological destruction material found inside the channel, and that its top was formed at a time close to the construction of the Roman central road, crossing the plain at a length of 1300 m [61] (Figure 6).
Numismatic evidence from the Roman road excavations suggests that the road was still in use in the 4th c. AD [59]. Concomitantly, the sedimentation rate within the channel is constrained by the age of the Hellenistic Helike earthquake ca. 90/80 BC and before the construction of the Roman road in the 1st c. AD. Based on this approach, the estimated sedimentation rate is in the order of 10 mm yr−1. This indicates that after the Hellenistic earthquake, the sedimentation rate was ten times faster than that during the Classical period (Figure 6).
Overall, the environmental conditions in this distal floodplain were not stable, as shown by the existence of a periodical pond at a depth of 2.30 m. In comparison, at an even higher level (1.80 m depth) sediments were accumulated in a playa lake environment [22,60]. All these data suggest that two important issues are raised concerning the detailed geology of the post-Hellenistic Helike site. Firstly, the site was adjacent to a ravine that silted rapidly after the Hellenistic Helike earthquake ca. 90/80 BC suggesting post-earthquake environmental changes. Secondly, the destruction of the Late Classical-Hellenistic building complex at the Romanos Field is due to the shaking intensity of this earthquake, as evidenced by the extensive thick destruction layer excavated (Figure 4a,b and Figure 6) and seismic effects on the site architecture (see SSDS in Figure 6). In addition, the southern end of one of the shallow tanks shows fractures probably related to lateral spreading, a common effect of environmental changes in areas close to river embankments or with proximity to steep slopes or near sea shorelines during earthquakes.

4.3. Geological Events and Earthquakes Identified by Soil Micromorphology

Following the application of soil micromorphology sampling and analysis at the post-373 BC Helike site (Romanos Field), there is solid evidence for identifying three earthquake events, which affected the area where the Late Classical-Hellenistic dyeing workshop was founded and developed [6,10]. Identification of these events is based on soil analysis resulting from vertical sampling at the excavation site (Figure 6). The depths of the SSDS related to earthquakes in this area are found at 0.85–0.5 m below the Late Classical-Hellenistic level of occupation surfaces and wall foundations, 0.5 m below to 0.1 m above Hellenistic occupation surfaces and wall foundations due to soil liquefaction processes, and 0.5–0.75 m above Hellenistic occupation surfaces and wall foundations. The three locations of SSDS were interpreted as seismically triggered based on the vertical formation patterns of the four types of SSDS as summarized in [10]. The middle location of SSDS formation took place after the long occupation of the Late Classical-Hellenistic Helike site and corresponds to the Hellenistic earthquake.

5. Discussion

Based on the above presented excavation and stratigraphy data, and additional soil micromorphology analysis carried out at the post-373 Helike site (Romanos Field), it is shown that the site was destroyed by an earthquake during its flourishing. The liquefaction-triggered uplift or subsidence can also shallow or steepen the stream gradient crossing through an area as highlighted by [11] in the Christchurch earthquakes in New Zealand. In analogy, given the thick disturbed liquefied horizon below the Late Classical-Hellenistic dyeworks, we suggest that in the Helike alluvial plain the increase of flooding events and the concomitant siltation of the ravine, bordering the dyeworks site to the southwest, are probably related to liquefaction events triggered by the Hellenistic earthquake. More specifically, we propose that near the dyeworks site, the subsidence decreased the ravine gradient, and this process finally increased the ravine siltation. Furthermore, the post-Hellenistic coarse-grain clastic sedimentation in the ravine may be probably related to upstream uplift and basin erosion. Overall, the Katourlas River to the south appears to be the feeder of the dyeworks site, which was located at a distal position [9]. On the other hand, the role of the Selinous River running from the west and the distribution of sediments from the west on its well-established floodplain in the Late Classical-Hellenistic Helike site is open to further research and discussion.
Depending on their magnitude, earthquakes can cause various environmental changes from the epicenter to a significant distance on surface and subsurface hydrologic systems [24,25,27,30,62,63,64,65]. Environmental changes during earthquakes occurred in the western Gulf of Corinth, include tsunami water waves, landslides into water bodies, landslide dams and outburst floods, river avulsions, and liquefaction-triggered ground deformations and fluid expulsions [8,9,10,11,12,15]. Common worldwide during liquefaction effects are the surface elevation changes and redistribution of surface materials due to stream course changes in alluvial settings either transient or permanent. Notably, the Helike plain, where liquefaction effects are common during past earthquakes, underwent widespread liquefaction during the Hellenistic Helike earthquake as well, as environmental parameters indicate. Concomitantly, the 2 m deep ravine by the dyeworks complex was silted in less than two centuries after the Hellenistic Helike earthquake.

6. Conclusions

  • Summing up, the post-Classical settlement of Helike was seriously damaged by a strong earthquake ca. 90/80 BC, which caused a 0.6 m thick horizon of soil deformation underneath its foundations and probably co-seismic lateral spreading of the dyeworks tank unit. Based on the soil deformation, the shaking intensity at the site was of an order over the 5.5 or 6.0 magnitude. The site was afterwards abandoned and silted over.
  • Archaeological evidence from the excavations conducted at the site shows that a stream, following a course parallel to the architectural remains unearthed, including the well preserved installations of a dyeing workshop, flowed through this area for a time interval longer than two centuries, maintaining a depth of about 2 m. Its presence at this location proved advantageous with regard to the activities taking place here, inasmuch as the stream channel was the main provider of water, an element indispensable for all processes carried out at the dyeworks including preparation stages and after dyeing activities in addition to dyeing itself. The stream channel was filled with destruction debris from the site after the Hellenistic earthquake and its abandonment.
  • However, one of the most important earthquake effects on the site also concerns the consequent environmental changes. For the first time in the Gulf of Corinth, we have evidence that the liquefaction, manifested in the area during this earthquake, was strong enough to modify the gradient of an area in the scale of a drainage basin. Specifically, a tributary draining through the lowland plain of Hellenistic Helike changed its gradient and the sedimentation from fine-grained to coarse-grained. This change caused post-seismic siltation of the ravine alongside the dyeworks complex at a rate of 10 mm/yr. Our data suggest that this ravine was filled with coarse-grain sediments both west and east of the dyeworks for at least 0.3 km.
  • Since the Katourlas River to the south seems to be the feeder of the ravine at the dyeworks site, and the river crosses at a high angle the trace of the Helike Fault, it appears that part of the Katourlas drainage basin uplifted and another part subsided. Such morphological changes suggest that the Helike Fault hosted the Hellenistic Helike earthquake.

Author Contributions

D.K.: Conceptualization, Excavation and supervision, Writing—original draft and editing. D.K. and I.K.: Methodology, Writing—review and editing, Data analysis. I.K.: Geological analysis and interpretation. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This research received no external funding.

Data Availability Statement

Data collected during the field work are available on request from the first author.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

  1. Katsonopoulou, D. The earthquake of 373 BC. Literary and archaeological evidence. In Helike III, Archaeological Sites in Geologically Active Regions; Katsonopoulou, D., Soter, S., Koukouvelas, I., Eds.; The Helike Society: Athens, Greece, 2005; pp. 15–32. [Google Scholar]
  2. Soter, S.; Katsonopoulou, D. Occupation horizons found in the search for the ancient Greek city of Helike. Geoarchaeology 1999, 14, 531–563. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  3. Soter, S.; Katsonopoulou, D. Submergence and uplift of settlements in the area of Helike, from the Early Bronze Age to Late Antiquity. Geoarchaeology 2011, 26, 584–610. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  4. Katsonopoulou, D. Helike and her Territory in the Light of New Discoveries. In Gli Achei e l’ Identita Etnica Degli Achei d’ Occidente, International Conference, Tekmeria 3; Greco, E., Ed.; Fondazione Paestum: Paestum, Atene, 2002; pp. 205–216. [Google Scholar]
  5. Katsonopoulou, D.; Katsarou, S. Mainland cosmopolitanism and the rise of personal prestige: New evidence from the coastal Early Helladic town of Helike, northwest Peloponnese. BSA 2017, 112, 1–32. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  6. Katsonopoulou, D.; Partida, E. Filling a Gap in the History of an Achaean Leader City: Post-373 B.C. Helike. NAC 2023, 52, 169–199. [Google Scholar]
  7. Katsonopoulou, D. An Unknown Earthquake Revealed in Roman Helike. In HELIKE VI, Helike After 373 BC—An Interdisciplinary Approach; Katsonopoulou, D., Ed.; The Helike Society: Athens, Greece, 2024; pp. 349–364. [Google Scholar]
  8. Koukouvelas, I.K.; Stamatopoulos, L.; Katsonopoulou, D.; Pavlides, S. A paleoseismological and geoarchaeological investigation of the Eliki fault, Gulf of Corinth, Greece. J. Struct. Geol. 2001, 23, 531–543. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  9. Koukouvelas, I.K.; Piper, D.J.W.; Katsonopoulou, D.; Kontopoulos, N.; Verroios, S.; Nikolakopoulos, K.; Zygouri, V. Earthquake-triggered landslides and mudflows: Was this the wave that engulfed Ancient Helike? Holocene 2020, 30, 1653–1668. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  10. Gaggioli, A. The geoarchaeology of seismically triggered soft sediment deformation structures (SSDS). J. Archaeol. Sci. 2024, 165, 105961. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  11. Quigley, M.; Duffy, B. Effects of Earthquakes on Flood Hazards: A Case Study From Christchurch, New Zealand. Geosciences 2020, 10, 114. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  12. Schmidt, J. Studien über Erdbeben; Alwin Georgi Edition: Leibzig, Germany, 1879. [Google Scholar]
  13. Curzi, M.; Aldega, L.; Billi, A.; Boschi, C.; Carminati, E.; Vignaroli, G.; Viola, G.S.; Bernasconi, M. Fossil chemical-physical (dis)equilibria between paleofluids and host rocks and their relationship to the seismic cycle and earthquakes. Earth-Sci. Rev. 2024, 254, 104801. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  14. Gali, P.; Galadini, F.; Pantosti, D. Twenty years of paleoseismology in Italy. Earth-Sci. Rev. 2008, 88, 89–117. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  15. Triantafyllou, I.; Papadopoulos, G.A.; Kijko, A. Probabilistic Tsunami Risk Assessment from Incomplete and Uncertain Historical Impact Records: Mediterranean and Connected Seas. Pure Appl. Geophys. 2023, 180, 1785–1809. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  16. Bawden, G.; Reycraft, R.M. Environmental disaster and the archaeology of human response. In Maxwell Museum of Anthropology; University of New Mexico: Albuquerque, NM, USA, 2000; p. 228. [Google Scholar]
  17. Birkmann, J.; Buckle, P.; Jaeger, J.; Pelling, M.; Setiadi, N.; Garschagen, M.; Fernando, N.; Kropp, J. Extreme events and disasters: A window of opportunity for change? Analysis of organizational, institutional and political changes, formal and informal responses after mega-disasters. Nat. Hazards 2010, 55, 637–655. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  18. Guttmann-Bond, E. Sustainability out of the past: How archaeology can save the planet. World Archaeol. 2010, 42, 355–366. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  19. Cooper, J.; Sheets, P. Surviving Sudden Environmental Change: Understanding Hazards, Mitigating Impacts, Avoiding Disasters; University Press of Colorado: Niwot, CO, USA, 2012; p. 281. [Google Scholar]
  20. Martin, S.C. Past eruptions and future predictions: Analyzing ancient responses to Mount Vesuvius for use in modern risk management. J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res. 2020, 396, 106851. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  21. van Bavel, B.; Curtis, D.; Dijkman, J.; Hannaford, M.; De Keyzer, M.; Van Onacker, E.; Soens, T. Disasters and History: The Vulnerability and Resilience of Past Societies; Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK, 2020; p. 244. [Google Scholar]
  22. Koutsios, A. Middle to Late Holocene Paleogeography of Helike Delta Plain. Application in Archaeological Research. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Patras, Patras, Greece, 2009. [Google Scholar]
  23. Maniatis, Y.; Facorelis, Y.; Soter, S.; Katsonopoulou, D.; Kromer, B. Locating archaeological horizons with 14C sediment dating. The case of the lost city of Helike. Radiocarbon 1995, 37, 931–941. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  24. Obermeier, S.F.; Pond, E.C.; Olson, S.M.; Green, R.A. Paleoliquefaction studies in continental settings. In Ancient Seismites; Special Paper 359; Ettensohn, F.R., Rast, N., Brett, C.E., Eds.; Geological Society of America: Boulder, CO, USA, 2002; pp. 13–27. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  25. Obermeier, S.F.; Olson, S.M.; Green, R.A. Field occurrences of liquefaction induced features: A primer for engineering geologic analysis of paleoseismic shaking. Eng. Geol. 2005, 76, 209–234. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  26. Kuribayashi, E.; Tatsuoka, F. Brief review of liquefaction during earthquakes in Japan. Soils Found. 1975, 15, 81–92. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  27. Ambraseys, N.N. Engineering seismology: Earthquake engineering and structural dynamics. Earthq. Eng. Struct. Dynam. 1988, 17, 1–105. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  28. McCalpin, J.P.; Nelson, A.R. Introduction to paleoseismology. In Paleoseismology; McCalpin, J.P., Ed.; Academic Press: Cambridge, MA, USA, 2009; pp. 1–27. [Google Scholar]
  29. Obermeier, S.F. Using liquefaction-induced and other soft-sediment features for paleoseismic analysis. In International Geophysics, Paleoseismology; McCalpin, J.P., Ed.; Academic Press: Cambridge, MA, USA, 2009; pp. 497–564. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  30. Carter, D.P.; Seed, H.B. Liquefaction Potential of Sand Deposits Under Low Levels of Excitation: Report No. UCB/EERC-81/11; College of Engineering, University of California: Berkeley, CA, USA, 1988; p. 119. [Google Scholar]
  31. Ford, M.; Rohais, S.; Williams, E.A.; Bourlange, S.; Jousselin, D.; Backert, N.; Malartre, F. Tectono-sedimentary evolution of the western Corinth Rift (Central Greece). Basin Res. 2013, 25, 3–25. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  32. Ford, M.; Hemelsdaël, R.; Mancini, M.; Palyvos, N. Rift Migration and Lateral Propagation: Evolution of Normal Faults and Sediment-Routing Systems of the Western Corinth Rift (Greece). Geol. Soc. Spec. Publ. 2017, 493, 131–168. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  33. Doutsos, T.; Poulimenos, G. Geometry and kinematics of active faults and their seismotectonic significance in the western Corinth–Patras rift (Greece). J. Struct. Geol. 1992, 14, 689–699. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  34. Zygouri, V.; Verroios, S.; Kokkalas, S.; Xypolias, P.; Koukouvelas, I.K. Scaling properties within the Gulf of Corinth, Greece; comparison between offshore and onshore active faults. Tectonophysics 2008, 453, 193–210. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  35. Nixon, C.W.; McNeill, L.C.; Bull, J.M.; Bell, R.E.; Gawthorpe, R.L.; Henstock, T.J.; Christodoulou, D.; Ford, M.; Taylor, B.; Sakellariou, D.; et al. Rapid spatiotemporal variations in rift structure during development of the Corinth Rift, central Greece. Tectonics 2016, 35, 1225–1248. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  36. Doutsos, T.; Kontopoulos, N.; Poulimenos, G. The Corinth-Patras Rift as the initial stage of continental fragmentation behind an active island arc (Greece). Basin Res. 1988, 1, 177–190. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  37. Collier, R.E.L.; Dart, C.J. Neogene to Quaternary rifting, sedimentation and uplift in the Corinth Basin, Greece. J. Geol. Soc. London 1991, 148, 1049–1065. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  38. Hemelsdaël, R.; Malartre, F.; Gawthorpe, R.; Ford, M. Interaction of an antecedent fluvial system with early normal fault growth: Implications for syn-rift stratigraphy, western Corinth rift (Greece). Sedimentology 2017, 64, 1957–1997. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  39. Ori, G.G. Geologic history of the extensional basin of the Gulf of Corinth (? Miocene-Pleistocene), Greece. Geology 1989, 17, 918–921. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  40. Rohais, S.; Eschard, R.; Ford, M.; Guillocheau, F.; Moretti, I. Stratigraphic architecture of the plio-pleistocene infill of the Corinth rift: Implications for its structural evolution. Tectonophysics 2007, 440, 5–28. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  41. Gawthorpe, R.L.; Fabregas, N.; Pechlivanidou, S.; Ford, M.; Collier, R.E.L.; Carter, G.D.O.; McNeill, L.C.; Shillington, D.J. Late Quaternary mud-dominated, basin-floor sedimentation of the Gulf of Corinth, Greece: Implications for deep-water depositional processes and controls on syn-rift sedimentation. Basin Res. 2022, 34, 1567–1600. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  42. Doutsos, T.; Piper, D.J.W. Listric Faulting, Sedimentation, and Morphological Evolution of the Quaternary Eastern Corinth Rift, Greece: First Stages of Continental Rifting. Bull. Geol. Soc. Am. 1990, 102, 812–829. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  43. Verroios, S.; Zygouri, V. Geomorphological Analysis of Xilokastro Fault, Central Gulf of Corinth, Greece. Geosciences 2021, 11, 516. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  44. Albini, P.; Rovida, A.; Scotti, O.; Lyon-Caen, H. Large Eighteenth–Nineteenth Century Earthquakes in Western Gulf of Corinth with Reappraised Size and Location. B. Seismol. Soc. Am. 2017, 107, 1663–1687. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  45. Kaviris, G.; Elias, P.; Kapetanidis, V.; Serpetsidaki, A.; Karakonstantis, A.; Plicka, V.; De Barros, L.; Sokos, E.; Kassaras, I.; Sakkas, V.; et al. The Western Gulf of Corinth (Greece) 2020–2021 Seismic Crisis and Cascading Events: First Results from the Corinth Rift Laboratory Network. Seism. Rec. 2021, 1, 85–95. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  46. Moretti, I.; Sakellariou, D.; Lykousis, V.; Micarelli, L. The Gulf of Corinth: An active half graben? J. Geodyn. 2003, 36, 323–340. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  47. McNeill, L.C.; Collier, R.; Pantosti, D.; Marco de Martini, P.; D’Addezio, G. Recent history of the Eastern Helike Fault: Geomorphology, paleoseismology and impact on paleoenviornments. In Helike III, Archaeological Sites in Geologically Active Regions; Katsonopoulou, D., Soter, S., Koukouvelas, I., Eds.; The Helike Society: Athens, Greece, 2005; pp. 243–265. [Google Scholar]
  48. Bell, R.E.; McNeill, L.C.; Bull, J.M.; Henstock, T.J.; Collier, R.E.L.; Leeder, M.R. Fault architecture, basin structure and evolution of the Gulf of Corinth Rift, central Greece. Basin Res. 2009, 21, 824–855. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  49. Bell, R.E.; Duclaux, G.; Nixon, C.W.; Gawthorpe, R.L.; McNeill, L.C. High-angle, not low-angle, normal faults dominate early rift extension in the Corinth Rift, central Greece. Geology 2018, 46, 115–118. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  50. Taylor, B.; Weiss, J.R.; Goodliffe, A.M.; Sachpazi, M.; Laigle, M.; Hirn, A. The structures, stratigraphy and evolution of the Gulf of Corinth Rift, Greece. Geophys. J. Int. 2011, 185, 1189–1219. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  51. Charalampakis, M.; Lykousis, V.; Sakellariou, D.; Papatheodorou, G.; Ferentinos, G. The Tectono-Sedimentary Evolution of the Lechaion Gulf, the South Eastern Branch of the Corinth Graben, Greece. Mar. Geol. 2014, 351, 58–75. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  52. Nixon, C.W.; McNeill, L.C.; Gawthorpe, R.L.; Shillington, D.J.; Michas, G.; Bell, R.E.; Moyle, A.; Ford, M.; Zakharova, N.V.; Bull, J.M.; et al. Increasing fault slip rates within the Corinth Rift, Greece: A rapidly localising active rift fault network. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 2024, 636, 118716. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  53. Koukouvelas, I.K.; Nikolakopoulos, K.G.; Kyriou, A. Landslide monitoring: Recent technologies and new perspectives. Proc. of SPIE 2024, in press. [Google Scholar]
  54. Palyvos, N.; Pantosti, D.; DeMartini, P.M.; Lemeille, F.; Sorel, D.; Pavlopoulos, K. The Aigion-Neos Erineos normal fault system (Western Corinth Gulf Rift, Greece): Geomorphological signature, recent earthquake history and evolution. J. Geophys. Res. 2005, 110, B09302. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  55. Katsarou-Tzeveleki, S. Morphology and Distribution of Pottery at the Early Helladic Settlement of Helike. In Helike IV, Protohelladika—The Southern and Central Greek Mainland; Katsonopoulou, D., Ed.; The Helike Society: Athens, Greece, 2011; pp. 89–126. [Google Scholar]
  56. Katsonopoulou, D. The Hellenistic dye-works at Helike, Achaea, Greece. In Vestes III, Textiles y tintes en la ciudad Antigua, Purpureae; Alfaro, C., Brun, J.P., Borgard, P.H., Pierobon Benoit, R., Eds.; Centre Jean Bérard, University of Valencia: València-Naples, Spain, 2011; pp. 237–242. [Google Scholar]
  57. Tsampiri, L. ‘Megarian’ bowls from Ancient Helike: A preliminary Report. In HELIKE VI, Helike after 373 BC—An Interdisciplinary Approach; Katsonopoulou, D., Ed.; The Helike Society: Athens, Greece, 2024; pp. 159–173. [Google Scholar]
  58. Fragou, G. Amphorae and lagynoi from Ancient Helike: A preliminary presentation. In HELIKE VI, Helike after 373 BC—An Interdisciplinary Approach; Katsonopoulou, D., Ed.; The Helike Society: Athens, Greece, 2024; pp. 137–157. [Google Scholar]
  59. Weir, R. Coins Including Sikyonian and Corinthian Issues Found at the Excavations of the Helike Project in Helike of Achaia. In ΦΙΛΕΛΛHΝ, Essays Presented to Stephen G. Miller; The Helike Society: Athens, Greece, 2016; pp. 37–65. [Google Scholar]
  60. Koutsios, A.; Kontopoulos, N.; Kalisperi, D.; Soupios, P.; Avramidis, P. Sedimentological and Geophysical observations in the delta plain of Selinous River, Ancient Helike, northern Peloponnesus Greece. Bull. Geol. Soc. Greece 2010, XLIII, 654–662. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  61. Tsokas, G.N.; Tsourlos, P.I.; Stampolidis, A.; Katsonopoulou, D.; Soter, S. Tracing a Major Roman Road in the Area of Ancient Helike by Resistivity Tomography. Archaeol. Prospect. 2009, 16, 251–266. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  62. Keefer, D.K. Landslides caused by earthquakes. GSA Bull. 1984, 95, 406–421. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  63. Mouyaris, N.; Papastamatiou, D.; Vita-Finzi, C. The Helice fault? Terra Nova 1992, 4, 124–129. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  64. Papazachos, B.; Papazachou, C. The Earthquakes of Greece; Ziti Publications: Thessaloniki, Greece, 2003; p. 304. [Google Scholar]
  65. Papadopoulos, G.A.; Lefkopoulos, G. Magnitude-distance relations for liquefaction in soil from earthquakes. B. Seismol. Soc. Am. 1993, 83, 925–938. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Geosciences 14 00311 g001
Figure 1. (a) Structural map of the western part of the Gulf of Corinth showing active faults (modified after [9]. TrF: Trizonia Fault, NEF: North Eratini Fault, SEF: South Eratini Fault, ECF: East Channel Fault, WCF: West Channel Fault, PF: Pyrgaki Fault; MaF: Mamoussia Fault; MeF; Melissia Fault; KF: Keryneia Fault; WHEF: western Helike Fault; EHEF: eastern Helike Fault; AF: Aigion Fault, AkF: Akrata Fault, SF: Selianitika Fault, RF: Rodini Fault. Insets show (b) the geotectonic setting of the study area in the Eastern Mediterranean, and (c) the historical seismicity in the western part of the Gulf of Corinth. V: stands for the post-373, B.C. Helike site, R: Rizomylos site and N: Nikolaiika site.
Figure 1. (a) Structural map of the western part of the Gulf of Corinth showing active faults (modified after [9]. TrF: Trizonia Fault, NEF: North Eratini Fault, SEF: South Eratini Fault, ECF: East Channel Fault, WCF: West Channel Fault, PF: Pyrgaki Fault; MaF: Mamoussia Fault; MeF; Melissia Fault; KF: Keryneia Fault; WHEF: western Helike Fault; EHEF: eastern Helike Fault; AF: Aigion Fault, AkF: Akrata Fault, SF: Selianitika Fault, RF: Rodini Fault. Insets show (b) the geotectonic setting of the study area in the Eastern Mediterranean, and (c) the historical seismicity in the western part of the Gulf of Corinth. V: stands for the post-373, B.C. Helike site, R: Rizomylos site and N: Nikolaiika site.
Geosciences 14 00311 g001
Geosciences 14 00311 g002
Figure 2. Architectural remains of buildings at the Early Helladic settlement of Helike (3rd millennium BC) showing seismic disruption due to liquefaction.
Figure 2. Architectural remains of buildings at the Early Helladic settlement of Helike (3rd millennium BC) showing seismic disruption due to liquefaction.
Geosciences 14 00311 g002
Geosciences 14 00311 g003
Figure 3. UAV acquired photo of the Late Classical-Hellenistic site (Romanos Field), showing in detail the dyeworks complex and the destruction of the southern shallow pebble-floor tank (red arrows). The modern-age rural road approximately follows the course of the ancient ravine that was flowing alongside the building complex.
Figure 3. UAV acquired photo of the Late Classical-Hellenistic site (Romanos Field), showing in detail the dyeworks complex and the destruction of the southern shallow pebble-floor tank (red arrows). The modern-age rural road approximately follows the course of the ancient ravine that was flowing alongside the building complex.
Geosciences 14 00311 g003
Geosciences 14 00311 g004
Figure 4. (a) Excavation of a destruction layer of roof tiles and plasters in the southern shallow tank of the complex (b) Roof tiles and wall stones from a destruction layer excavated near the ravine in the southwest part of the complex. Coarse-grained fluvial deposits on the bottom of the ravine stratified along with roof tiles. Note that the destruction layer rests on fine-grained green lagoonal deposits. (c) Detailed view of the southern shallow pebble-floor tank showing erosion at its southeast corner (continuous black line) and ruptures (dashed black lines) showing probable co-seismic lateral spreading of the foundation of the tank due to its proximity to the ravine. Note that the ravine was running parallel to the dyeworks complex during the Late Classical-Hellenistic period. The white frame in the figure shows the figure (d) location. The photo’s width is approximately 6 m and the photo is taken looking southeast. (d) Coarse-grained poorly stratified, and planar and trough cross-stratification in conglomerates and sands of fluvial origin filling the ravine at the border of the dyeworks. The photo’s width is 2 m and the photo is taken looking east.
Figure 4. (a) Excavation of a destruction layer of roof tiles and plasters in the southern shallow tank of the complex (b) Roof tiles and wall stones from a destruction layer excavated near the ravine in the southwest part of the complex. Coarse-grained fluvial deposits on the bottom of the ravine stratified along with roof tiles. Note that the destruction layer rests on fine-grained green lagoonal deposits. (c) Detailed view of the southern shallow pebble-floor tank showing erosion at its southeast corner (continuous black line) and ruptures (dashed black lines) showing probable co-seismic lateral spreading of the foundation of the tank due to its proximity to the ravine. Note that the ravine was running parallel to the dyeworks complex during the Late Classical-Hellenistic period. The white frame in the figure shows the figure (d) location. The photo’s width is approximately 6 m and the photo is taken looking southeast. (d) Coarse-grained poorly stratified, and planar and trough cross-stratification in conglomerates and sands of fluvial origin filling the ravine at the border of the dyeworks. The photo’s width is 2 m and the photo is taken looking east.
Geosciences 14 00311 g004
Geosciences 14 00311 g005
Figure 5. (a) Geoarchaeological trench excavated south of the dyeworks complex containing fragments of roof tiles, pottery, and storage vessels, as well as a large segment of the pebble-floor of the southern shallow tank deposited inside the ravine. View from west. (b) Close-up photograph of the pebble-floor segment and layers of roof tile fragments excavated above and below it. View from the north. Black and white arrows point to North.
Figure 5. (a) Geoarchaeological trench excavated south of the dyeworks complex containing fragments of roof tiles, pottery, and storage vessels, as well as a large segment of the pebble-floor of the southern shallow tank deposited inside the ravine. View from west. (b) Close-up photograph of the pebble-floor segment and layers of roof tile fragments excavated above and below it. View from the north. Black and white arrows point to North.
Geosciences 14 00311 g005
Geosciences 14 00311 g006
Figure 6. Geoarchaeological section showing stratigraphy, soil micromorphology, and archaeological finds at the Helike site (Romanos Field), for details see text. Depths of SSDS are according to [10], age determination from [60]. The depth of the Roman road is defined by [61].
Figure 6. Geoarchaeological section showing stratigraphy, soil micromorphology, and archaeological finds at the Helike site (Romanos Field), for details see text. Depths of SSDS are according to [10], age determination from [60]. The depth of the Roman road is defined by [61].
Geosciences 14 00311 g006
Disclaimer/Publisher’s Note: The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of MDPI and/or the editor(s). MDPI and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content.

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Katsonopoulou, D.; Koukouvelas, I. Earthquake Environmental Effects: The Case of Late Classical-Hellenistic Helike, Gulf of Corinth, Greece. Geosciences 2024, 14, 311. https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences14110311

AMA Style

Katsonopoulou D, Koukouvelas I. Earthquake Environmental Effects: The Case of Late Classical-Hellenistic Helike, Gulf of Corinth, Greece. Geosciences. 2024; 14(11):311. https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences14110311

Chicago/Turabian Style

Katsonopoulou, Dora, and Ioannis Koukouvelas. 2024. "Earthquake Environmental Effects: The Case of Late Classical-Hellenistic Helike, Gulf of Corinth, Greece" Geosciences 14, no. 11: 311. https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences14110311

APA Style

Katsonopoulou, D., & Koukouvelas, I. (2024). Earthquake Environmental Effects: The Case of Late Classical-Hellenistic Helike, Gulf of Corinth, Greece. Geosciences, 14(11), 311. https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences14110311

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Metrics

Back to TopTop