Holocene lithostratigraphy and its implementation in the geoarchaeological research of the Athenian Basin, Greece

The Athenian Basin is a very interesting area from an archaeological point of view, since it is inhabited from Neolithic time. The human impact on the landscape is shown by the ancient constructions such as the Long Walls and the canalization of the rivers in the area of the Athenian Basin and Piraeus. The aim of the study is to detect the paleogeographical evolution of this area. In order to manipulate all the available information obtained from literature review (topographic maps, geological maps, ancient maps and references) and the stratigraphic data from 227 boreholes from the Athenian Basin, a GIS database was established. After the interpretation of the stratigraphy from the boreholes, six lithostratigraphic units were defined. Maps and 3D models were designed to represent the succession of the lithostratigraphy of each period. Paleogeographic maps were created in order to represent the landscape for each lithostratigraphic unit of the Athenian basin, and extract results for the temporal and spatial changes of the paleo-landscape and the involvement of the human impact on the depositional process in the Athenian Basin during Holocene. © 2014, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.