De la fin du Pléniglaciaire au début de l'Holocène à Chypre Premières analyses des terrasses fluviatiles proches du site néolithique précéramique de Klimonas (Ayios Tychonas, Limassol (original) (raw)

This article presents the preliminary results on the geomorphological study conducted on the region of Klimonas-Ayios Tychonas. It aims to understand the palaeoenvironment and the palaeotopography when the site was settled as well as during its occupation. Also it aims to define any human impact on environmental changes. The importance of the site for the Cypriot Neolithic period, as the first village community on a Mediterranean island, makes necessary to understand the palaeoenvironment and the palaeolandscape of the region. This study is based on two different spatial scales: the localone by the study of the slope where the settlement installed on. The second is the regional scale which is based on the study of alluvial deposits in the vicinity of the site towards the south. The first study is based on a section on the road up to the site. It aims to understand the palaeotopography directly related to the site. The section is composed by a succession of colluvium deposits and paleosols. The colluvium accumulations alternate with three phases of pedogenesis. Radiocarbon dates on the first and on the last paleosols of the section give us the chronological frame of the formation of this slope. The first date is 19715–18 822 cal. BC and the second is 8224–7837 cal. BC which means that the slope where the village is installed was formed from the end of Pleniglacial period up to the beginning of the Holocene. Thus, the last paleosol corresponds to the paleosol where the site is installed on. At the time the slope was more regular than nowadays despite the fact that the colluvium deposits show an irregular profile which may be the result of tectonic activities at the end of Pleistocene as it is already observed during the excavation of the site. Concerning the regional palaeoenvironment, the study of alluvial terraces of the Athiaki stream, 400 m south of the site, reflects the river dynamic, the climatic conditions during its formation and the topography evolution through the millenniums. The section under study comes from the first alluvial terrace, which is the most ancient, and it is characterized by a succession of alluvial deposits alternating with six paleosols. The radiocarbon dates obtained from the first paleosol is 22166–21411 cal. BC and the one from the fifth paleosol is 7676–7517 cal. BC. These dates show that this terrace was formed between the end of the Pleniglacial period and the beginning of the Holocene. According to the data collected by the field study and the facies of the layers, the sub-humid conditions of Pleniglacial period became more arid and the river dynamic became less strong at the beginning of Holocene. At the time of the occupation of Klimonas, the climatic conditions were arid and the flow of the river was short. Regarding the paleotopography, 10,000 years ago, only the first terrace was formed thus, the river was situated almost 15m higher than nowadays and the topography was less important. The fine elements such as the silt and the clay and the water table close to the surface could offer suitable conditions for any agriculture activities. A comparison is made with data from Gialias River in Cyprus and speleothem study in Soreq cave in Israel, in order to obtain an overview of the palaeo-environment in eastern Mediterranean. The forthcoming sedimentological results will provide more accurate information on Athiaki stream.

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