Quaternary alluviation and archaeology in the Evrotas Valley, southern Greece

Three alluvial depositional environments from the Evrotas Valley, Peloponnese, Greece have been investigated by field survey, mineral magnetic studies, luminescence and artefact dating. Deposition in the western, North Menelaion Fan dates from before the middle Riss and that in the western fans from the middle or late Riss. The western fans aggraded throughout the Würm and into the middle Holocene. However, as a result of truncation by the River Evrotas during the Riss-Würm, deposition in the latter is confined to Late Würm to middle Holocene. Later Holocene deposition in both the western and eastern fans and the River Evrotas is localised in extent and cannot be correlated between the different systems. Pleistocene deposition seems to relate to stadial periods and results from weathering consequent on tectonic uplift, lack of vegetation and seasonality of stream flow. Deposition in the Holocene relates to a combination of climatic and anthropogenic processes. The latter indicate significant human activity in both the Parnon and Taygetus foothills between the Hellenistic and early Byzantine periods.