Resumen de High-Energy Events and Human Settlements in the Bay of Lagos (Portugal) in the Iron Age and Roman Times
Archaeological and geological surveys carried out in several sites in the Bay of Lagos (Portugal) have brought to light new evidence of high-energy events (earthquakes and tsunamis) during Antiquity. Twenty-eight sediment cores performed along Lagos’s waterfront yielded diverse intertidal strata, some of which are composed of sandy silt that may correspond to such events. Indeed, high-energy events of this kind might have aborted the first Phoenician occupation of Lagos and Pamares between the seventh and sixth centuries BC. In turn, it is possible that the Bay of Lagos was affected byother events, such as the extreme wave event that allegedly struck the seaboard of the Gulf of Cadiz at the end of the third century BC. In Monte Molião, some structural alterations are evident in walls dating from the first century BC, plus sand layers have been detected in the transition from the Iron Age to Roman times. An analysis of faunal remains, specifically shells, has revealed changes in the estuary’s dynamics, which may be related to the effects of an extreme wave event.
