| Stratified cultural remains from the Roman to Late Islamic periods in the coastal zone of Aqaba, Jordan at the northern end of the Gulf of Aqaba and analyses of thirteen sediment cores provide evidence for changes in the depositional environment during the Holocene. Local tectonic subsidence likely formed a coastal embayment ca. 8000 yr B.P. that was subsequently filled by human-induced siltation by ca. 4000 yr B.P. base on radiocarbon and microfossil analyses. Overlying sedimentation is dominated by fluvial and aeolian processes until the first century B.C. when Early Roman-Nabataean mudbrick structures were built in this area. Strong lead and copper concentrations in the sediment appear to stratigraphically constrain the Chalcolithic and Roman layers. Furthermore, an examination of archaeological sites near Aqaba suggests that people migrated to avoid the flood waters of Wadi Yutim and Wadi 'Arabah rather than moving their settlements based solely on changing sea-level. |
