Paleo-environmental evolution of the Larnaca Salt Lakes (Cyprus) and the relationship to second millennium BC settlement
Résumé
New coring data provides a complete 14C dated sequence covering the paleo-environmental evolution of the
Larnaca Salt Lakes from c. 9000 BP onwards. This suggests the formation of a relatively confined lagoon after
4000 cal. BP. On the western shore of the main Aliki basin, overseas imports from the Late Bronze Age site of
Dromolaxia-Vyzakia (Hala Sultan Tekke) reflect use of the Salt Lakes as a harbour during the secondmillennium
BC. Coring and geomorphological mapping were employed to determine routes of navigation between this port
and the open sea, with two main natural channels identified. A third potential communication in the form of an
artificial cut, previously dated by Gifford (1978) to the Venetian period, is discussedwith reference to changes in
relative sea level along the island's south-east coast. Abandonment of settlement at Dromolaxia-Vyzakia in the
early 12th century BC relates to the gradual isolation of the Salt Lakes lagoon from the surrounding marine environment
through sedimentation. The timing of this event correlates with other known instances of population
displacement throughout the eastern Mediterranean c. 1200 BC.