Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-8kt4b Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-30T21:19:05.277Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Archaeological and historiographical implications of recent uplift of the Peloro Peninsula, NE Sicily

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Carla Bottari  and
Pietro Carveni
Carla Bottari*
Affiliation:
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Roma, Italy
Pietro Carveni
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Scienze Geologiche, Università di Catania, Italy
*
⁎Corresponding author. Carla Bottari Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Via di Vigna Murata 605, 00143 Roma. Fax: +39 6 51860397. E-mail addresses:[email protected] (C. Bottari), [email protected] (P. Carveni).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In ancient times, the name “Peloro” was used to indicate an anthropic area that gradually developed around the first known human settlement on the Sicilian shore near the Straits of Messina. Since the 5th century BC, historians have documented that numerous naval armadas landed for long periods at Peloro. However, the present-day morphology of the Peloro Cape Peninsula does not have any protected inlet that would offer a location to repair hundreds of ships, as has been documented by historical sources. To address this discrepancy, geomorphologic data were collected and analyzed to verify whether historical documents were consistent with the palaeotopography of the area. This approach is based on the analysis of the morphotectonic evolution of the coastal lowland that resulted from regional uplift over the Quaternary and Holocene. The results indicate that the harbour was located in the basin of the Pantano Piccolo salt marsh, and was large and deep enough to have sheltered up to 320 ships.

Keywords

Straits of MessinaPantano Piccolo salt marshMorphotectonicPalaeotopography modeling
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 72 , Issue 1 , July 2009 , pp. 38 - 46
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abruzzese, D., and Genovese, S. Osservazioni geomorfologiche e fisico-chimiche sui laghi di Ganzirri e di Faro. Bollettino Pesca, Piscicoltura e Idrobiologia 27, (1952). 3–20.Google Scholar
Aifa, T., Feinberg, H., and Pozzi, J.P. Pliocene–Pleistocene evolution of the Tyrrhenian arc: paleomagnetic determination of uplift and rotational deformation. Earth Planetary Science Letters 87, (1988). 438–452.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Antonioli, F., Kershaw, S., Renda, P., Rust, D., Belluomini, G., Cesaroli, M., Radete, U., Silenzi, S., (2005). Elevation of the last interglacial highstand in Sicily (Italy): A benchmark of coastal tectonics. Quaternary International, 145–146., 3–18.Google Scholar
Antonioli, F., Ferranti, L., Lambeck, K., Kershaw, S., Verrubbi, V., and Dai Pra, G. Late Pleistocene to Holocene record of changing uplift rates in Southern Calabria and Northeastern Sicily (Southern Italy, Central Mediterranean Sea). Tectonophysics 422, (2006). 23–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aricò, N., (1999). Illimite Peloro. Interpretazioni del confine terracqueo, Ed. Mesogea, Messina.Google Scholar
Bacci, G.M., (2001). Indagini archeologiche a Capo Peloro, in Rassegna Internazionale di Archelogia subacquea. Giardini-Naxos 12–14 ottobre 2001.Google Scholar
Baratta, M., (1910). La catastrofe sismica calabro-messinese (28 dicembre 1908). Relazione alla Società Geografica Italiana, Roma.Google Scholar
Biddittu, I., Bonfiglio, L., and Riccobono, F. Eneolitico di facies di Piano Conte a Ganzirri (Capo Peloro, Messina). Sicilia Archeologica 12, 40 (1979). 87–90.Google Scholar
Bonfiglio, L., and Violanti, D. Prima segnalazione di Tirreniano ed evoluzione pleistocenica di Capo Peloro (Sicilia nord-orientale). Geografia Fisica e Dinamica Quaternaria 6, (1983). 3–15.Google Scholar
Bonifay, E. Remarques sur le Pleistocéne marin des Alpes-Maritimes. Bull. Soc. Géol. De France 7, (1965). 946–956.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bosi, C., Carbone, L., and Sposato, A. Il ruolo dell'eustatismo nella evoluzione geologica nell'area Mediterranea. Memorie della Società Geologica Italiana 51, (1996). 363–382.Google Scholar
Bottari, A., Bottari, C., Carveni, P., Giacobbe, S., Spanò, N., (2005a). Genesis and geomorphological and ecological evolution of the Ganzirri salt marsh (Messina, Italy). Quaternary International, 140–141., 150–158.Google Scholar
Bottari, A., Bottari, C., and Carveni, P. Tectonic genesis of the salt marshes on the Sicilian coast of the Straits of Messina (Sicily). Il Quaternario 18, 2 (2005). 113–122.Google Scholar
Bruni, V., and Grillo, O.C. Ulteriori indagini sulla presenza dell'acqua rossa nel Lago di Faro. Memorie di Biologia Marina e Oceanografia 6, 6 (1981). 237–248.Google Scholar
Caccamo, D., Neri, G., Saraò, A., and Wiss, M. Estimates of stress directions by inversion of earthquake fault-plane solution in Sicily. Geophysical Journal International 125, (1996). 857–868.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cannavò, A.R. Sulla statio di partenza della via costiera orientale della Sicilia romana. Archivio Storico per la Sicilia Orientale LXXVIII, (1982). 15–19.Google Scholar
Catalano, S., and De Guidi, G. Late Quaternary uplift of Northeastern Sicily: relation with the active normal faulting deformation. Journal of Geodynamics 36, (2003). 445–467.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Catalano, S., De Guidi, G., Monaco, C., Tortorici, G., and Tortorici, L., (2003). Long-term behaviour of the late Quaternary normal faults in the Straits of Messina area (Calabrian arc): structural and morphological constraints. Quaternary International, 101–102., 81–91.Google Scholar
Columba, G.M., (1906). I porti della Sicilia, in Monografia storica dei porti dell'antichità nell'Italia insulare, I, Roma. (rist. anast. Palermo 1991).Google Scholar
Cornette, Y., Gillot, P.-Y., Barrier, P., and Jehenne, F. Données radiometriques preliminaries (Potassium–Argon) sur des cinérites plio-pléistocenes du Detroit de Messine. Barrier, P., De Geronimo, I., and Montenat, C. The Messina Straits (Italy): Pliocene and Pleistocene Tectono-sedimentary Evolution and Present Environment, Doc. et trav. IGAL, Paris, N°11. (1987). 97–99. 1987 Google Scholar
Dipartimento di Biologia Animale ed ecologia Marina (Università di Messina), (1985). Indagine oceanografica e correntometrica nelle acque costiere della Sicilia svolta per conto dell'Assessorato Territorio ed Ambiente della Regiona Siciliana. pp. 1–227.Google Scholar
Del Ben, A., (1985). Technical report n° 85001, Stretto di Messina S.p.A.. Roma., pp. 18.Google Scholar
Del Ben, A., Finetti, I., (1985). Technical report n°850016, Stretto di Messina S.p.A.. Roma., pp. 22.Google Scholar
Doglioni, C. A proposal of kinematic modelling for W-dipping subductions. Possible applications to the Tyrrhenian–Apennines system. Terra Nova 3, (1991). 423–434.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fairbridge, R.W. Quaternary sedimentation in the Mediterranean region controlled by tectonic, paleoclimates and sea level. Stanley, D.J. The Mediterranean Sea: A Natural Sedimentation Laboratory. (1972). Dowden, Hutchinson and Ross Inc., Stroudburg, Pennsylvania. 99–113.Google Scholar
Ferranti, L., Antonioli, F., Mauz, B., Amorosi, A., Dai Pra, G., Mastronuzzi, G., Monaco, C., Orrù, P., Pappalardo, M., Radtke, U., Renda, P., Romano, P., Sansò, P., Verrubbi, V., (2006). Markers of the last interglacial sea-level high stand along the coast of Italy: Tectonic implications. Quaternary International, 145–146., 30–54.Google Scholar
Finetti, I., Lentini, F., Carbone, S., Catalano, S., and Del Ben, A. Il sistema Appennino Meridionale-Arco Calabro-Sicilia nel Mediterraneo Centrale: studio geologico-geofisico. Memorie della Società Geologica Italiana 115, (1996). 529–559.Google Scholar
Fontes, J.C., Barrier, P., Di Geronimo, I., and Montenat, C. Datations carbone 14 sur des Bivalves pleistocènes supérieurs du Detroit de Messine. Barrier, P., De Geronimo, I., and Montenat, C. The Messina Straits (Italy): Pliocene and Pleistocene Tectono-sedimentary Evolution and Present Environment, Doc. et trav. IGAL, Paris, N°11. (1987). 101–104. 1987 Google Scholar
Frepoli, A., and Amato, A. Fault plane solutions of crustal earthquakes in Southern Italy (1988–1995): seismotectonic implications. Annali di Geofisica 43, (2000). 437–467.Google Scholar
Gargano, C., (1994). Carta geologica di Messina e del settore nord-orientale dei Monti Peloritani. Dir. F. Lentini, scala 1:25.000, S.El.Ca, Firenze, Italy.Google Scholar
Ghisetti, F. L'evoluzione strutturale del bacino plio-pleistocenico di Reggio Calabria nel quadro geodinamico dell'Arco Calabro. Bollettino della Società Geologica Italiana 100, (1981). 433–466.Google Scholar
Ghisetti, F. Fault parameters in the Messina Straits (Southern Italy) and relations with the seismogenetic source. Tectonophysics 210, (1992). 117–133.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gvirtzman, Z., and Nur, A. Residual topography, lithospheric structure and sunken slabs in the central Mediterranean. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 187, (2001). 113–117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hey, R.W. Horizontal quaternary shorelines of the Mediterranean. Quaternary Research, 10, (1978). 197–203.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krijgsman, W. The Mediterranean: Mare nostrum of Earth sciences. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 205, (2002). 1–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lambeck, K., and Bard, E. Sea-level change along the French Mediterranean coast since the time of the Last Glacial Maximum. Earth Planetary Science Letters 175, (2000). 202–222.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lambeck, K., Antonioli, F., Purcell, T., and Stirling, C. MIS 5.5 Sea level in the Mediterranean and inferences on the global ice volumes during late MIS 6 and MIS 5.5. Proceedings of the 32nd International Geological Congress, Florence, Italy. (2004). Google Scholar
Lambeck, K., Antonioli, F., Purcell, A., and Silenzi, S. Sea-level change along the Italian coast for the past 10,000 yr. Quaternary Science Reviews 23, (2004). 1567–1598.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lentini, F., Caliri, A., Carbone, M.S., Carveni, P., Catalano, S., Gargano, C., Grasso, M., La Manna, F., Lentini, F., Lentini, R., Strazzulla, S., Vinci, G., Vinciguerra, G., (2000). Carta geologica della Provincia di Messina. Scala 1:50.000. SELCA, Firenze.Google Scholar
Lo Iacono, N., (1997). Nauloco e Diana Facellina. Ed. Armando Siciliano, Patti.Google Scholar
Lo Perfido, A., (1909). Livellazione geometrica di precisione eseguita dall'I.G.M. sulla costa orientale della Sicilia da Catania a Messina, a Gesso ed a Capo Peloro, sulla costa occidentale della Calabria da Gioia Tauro a Melito di Porto Salvo, per incarico del Ministro dell'Agricoltura. Industria e Commercio, Relazione alla Commissione della Reale Accademia dei Lincei, pp. 35.Google Scholar
Maurolico, F. 1543. Tractatus per epistolam ad Petrum Gillium de piscibus siculis / codice manu auctoris exarato, Aloisius Facciola nunc primum edidit. Panormi (Palermo), Apud Ignatium Virzì., (1893). p.16.Google Scholar
Monaco, C., and Tortorici, L. Active faulting in the Calabrian Arc and Eastern Sicily. Journal of Geodynamics 29, (2000). 407–424.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Montenat, C., and Barrier, P. Approche quantitative des mouvements verticaux quaternaires dans le Détroit de Messine. Barrier, P., De Geronimo, I., and Montenat, C. The Messina Straits (Italy): Pliocene and Pleistocene Tectono-sedimentary Evolution and Present Environment, Docomentes et Traveaux de IGAL, Paris, N°11, 1987. (1987). 185–190.Google Scholar
Montenat, C., Barrier, P., and Di Geronimo, I. The Straits of Messina, past and present: a review. Barrier, P., De Geronimo, I., and Montenat, C. The Messina Straits (Italy): Pliocene and Pleistocene Tectono-sedimentary Evolution and Present Environment, Docomentes et Traveaux de IGAL, Paris, N°11, 1987. (1987). 7–13.Google Scholar
Neri, G., Caccamo, D., Cocina, O., and Montalto, A. Geodynamic implications of earthquake data in the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea. Tectonophysics 258, (1996). 233–249.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ogniben, L. Schema geologico della Calabria in base ai dati odierni. Geologica Romana 12, (1973). 243–585.Google Scholar
Prestianni Giallombardo, A.M., (2002). Il Peloro nell'antichità. Miti Scienze Storia in Messina e Reggio nell'antichità: storia, società, cultura. Atti del Convegno della S.I.S.A.C., (Messina-Reggio Calabria 24–26 maggio 1999), 141–177.Google Scholar
Rust, D., and Kershaw, S. Holocene tectonic uplift patterns in Northeastern Sicily: evidence from marine notches in coastal outcrops. Marine Geology 167, (2000). 105–126.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Segre, A.G., Bagnaia, R., and Sylos Labini, S. Holocene evolution of the Pelorus Headland, Sicily. Quaternaria Nova VIII, (2004). 69–78.Google Scholar
Selli, R. Geologia e sismotettonica dello Stretto di Messina, Convegno su: L'attraversamento dello Stretto di Messina e la sua fattibilità, 4–6 luglio 1978. Atti dell'Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei 43, (1978). 119–154.Google Scholar
Selli, R., Colantoni, P., Fabbri, A., Rossi, S., Borsetti, A.M., and Gallignani, P. Marine geological investigation of the Messina Straits and its approaches. Giornale Geologica, 42 2, (1979). 1–61.Google Scholar
Tigano, G. Torre del faro. Maurici, F., Fresina, A., and Militello, F. Le torri nei paesaggi costieri siciliani (secoli 13–19), Assessorato dei beni culturali e della pubblica istruzione. (2008). Dipartimento dei beni culturali, ambientali e dell'educazione permanente, Palermo. 263–271.Google Scholar
Uggeri, G. La terminologia portuale romana e la documentazione dell' “Itinerarium Antonini”. Studi Italiani Filologia Classica Vichiana XL, (1968). 225–254.Google Scholar
Uggeri, G. La Sicilia nella “Tabula Peutingerina”. Vichiana VI, (1969). 127–171.Google Scholar
Uggeri, G. Itinerari e strade, rotte, porti e scali della Sicilia Tardoantica. Kokalos XLIII–XLIV, (1997–1998). 299–364.Google Scholar
Valensise, G., and Pantosti, D. A 125 kyr-long geological record of seismic record of seismic source repeatability: the Messina Straits (Southern Italy) and 1908 earthquake (Ms 7 1/2). Terra Nova 4, (1992). 472–483.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Westaway, R. Quaternary uplift of Southern Italy. Journal Geophysical Research 98, (1993). 21741–21772.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wortel, M.J.R., and Spakman, W. Subduction and slab detachment in the Mediterranean–Carpathian region. Science 290, (2000). 1910–1917.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed