The archaeological site of La Picola (Santa Pola Litoral zone, Spain). A geomorphological and sedimentological approach

Abstract

This paper presents the sedimentological study of five stratigraphic profiles in the context of the archaeological site of La Picola (Littoral of Santa Pola, Alicante, Spain; Iberian and Roman cultures). It proposes a model of geomorphological evolution during the last milleniums and its relations to human settlement. The results show a important coastal mobility from 2.500 years BP up to-date, the existence of a marine erosive phase in the III century a.C. (also recorded in other littoral areas), and a trend towards progradeing of the coast, leading to the building of a beach-barrier after the roman period.