The Evolution of the Coastline in Some Archaeological Sites in North-West Sardinia

This report examines the connection between the archaeological sites and the sea level modifications which have taken place over the past 8,000 years in the area of the Porto Conte gulf. Here, the archaeological finds testify to the modifications of the coastline during the Neolithic, the Nuragic and the Roman ages. From our survey in the districts of the Roman villa of S.Imbenia, the nuragic complex of S. Imbenia, the nuragic village of Palmavera and the cave of Grotta Verde, it emerges that the sea level changed considerably in the time span referring to the monuments considered by the present study. In the reconstruction of past land uses by the local population, the localization of the mentioned archaeological sites takes into account the way in which the current geomorphology and landscapes have changed. The remarkable modification of the sea level, from the Neolithic, induces to suppose the coastline changed from the line of -15/-18m to the present bathymetric situation, and the Grotta Verde cave attest the existence of a coastline that used to be situated considerably offshore as opposed to its present position. The coastline during the Nuragic period was situated at the opposite end of the promontory, near Torre Nuova, in the west promontory. The littoral belt stretched for about 3 km from this point to the promontory of Capo Caccia, near Torre Tramariglio. The study of monuments located along this coastline requires an adequate geo-morphological reconstruction of the local natural environment.