Abstract:

İskele (pier) coastal plain of Urla is formed in the lower part of alluvial-colluvial foot-plain which extends from the Urla hilly area of Miocene lake sediments, towards the İzmir Bay to the north. According to the sedimentological data obtained from percussion drillings, the rising sea level after the last glacial period, have invaded the surface of the İskele plain in the middle part, about 1 km southward from the present coast, in the Middle Holocene (about 7-6 thousand years ago). The presence of coastal sediments of the invaded sea at the present sea level shows that the sea rose to its present level in this period. With the end of the sea level rise, alluvial deposition dominated and the present coastal plain started to progress. However, since large streams does not reach here; the İskele plain is not a delta plain but a small coastal plain which is an extension of the surrounding foot-plains. İskele coastal plain is known for the Limantepe - Klazomenai archaeological finds. Limantepe is a hill at a height of 13 m and forms a small promontory on the coast. The first settlement in the coastal plain of İskele started at this hill and its southern foot during the Bronze Age. Limantepe settlement in the archaic age continued with the Klazomenai urbanization, and the city that grew up in time expanded its area to the south and west. In the Bronze Ages, it is assumed that the coastal indentations in the east and west of Limantepe were used as ports and this use continued intensely in the Archaic period, especially in the western indentation. However, due to the low level of sea level in the Bronze Age, the use of the port should be defined according to the paleogeographical reconstructions rather than the present coastal morphology. For this purpose, new data on the underwater morphology and archeology should be provided and the information should be re-evaluated in relation to each other.