Marine seismic investigation of the ancient Kane harbour bay, Turkey

Abstract The ancient city of Kane, situated at the NW corner of the Kane Peninsula (NW Anatolia, Turkey), is known from ancient literary sources as a local harbour place in the area of the Pergamenian kingdom, which hosted a Roman fleet in winter 191/190 BC. Its precise location could not be determined so far. In search of evidences of the ancient Kane harbour, a marine seismic reflection survey in the bay west of the presumed Kane city area was performed together with an archaeological survey. The objectives of these surveys were to map remains of ancient harbour installations, thereby to distinguish between anthropogenic and geological structures and to derive clues from geological aspects influencing the interpretation of ancient harbour installations in the Kane Bay. From the seismic data we determined depth maps of the seafloor and of major layer interfaces of the marine subsoil. Based on this data, a possible harbour basin bounded by a submarine bedrock promontory and by a coastal bulge can be identified. For the harbour this bedrock promontory had the effect of a breakwater. Rock accumulations at the inner harbour side of the breakwater indicate that it was probably enhanced and fortified by construction work. Offshore archaeological findings such as an ancient bollard and a quay wall in the possible harbour basin support this interpretation. In Hellenistic times, the sea level was about 2 m lower than today, revealing that the top of the breakwater was above sea level then. From seismic sediment markers a minimum accumulation rate of ∼1 mm/a was calculated in the transition zone between breakwater and centre parts of the Kane Bay, indicating a previous basin depth of 4 m. The local bedrock, consisting of weathered limestone could be recognized in the seismic data all over the Kane Bay.