Dr. Francisco Núñez Calvo from the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw, has been awarded a grant from the Honor Frost Foundation. This grant will facilitate an investigation into the palaeoenvironment of Tyre, Lebanon, during the Bronze Age.
The research project is closely linked to the collaborative efforts of a multidisciplinary team from Lebanon, Spain, and Poland. Since 2015, this team has been engaged in archaeological excavations at the ‘Acropolis’ of Tyre, located on the southern portion of the ancient island. Previous work at the site was conducted by Lebanese archaeologists Amir M. Chehab and Dr. P. M. Bikai in the 1970s. Their efforts revealed a stratigraphic sequence of considerable historical importance, spanning an extended period, from Tyre’s establishment in the 3rd millennium BCE, to the modern era.
Within the HFF grant project, Dr. Núñez Calvo and team of specialists from the UAE and Greece will use the stratigraphic section resulting from the old excavations to gather samples of soil which will provide information on the palaeoenvironment of this coastal city throughout the Bronze Age.
Moreover, the study aims to shed light on two catastrophic events evidenced in the archaeological record. One of them ended the Early Bronze Age occupation; it was followed by a hiatus that lasted throughout the Middle Bronze Age. The other took place by the end of the Late Bronze Age which is represented in the sequence by multiple phases of settlement that end abruptly in what is geologically recognized as a tsunami.
The soil samples are anticipated to contribute not only to establishing an accurate chronology of these critical events but also to placing Tyre’s historical narrative within the broader context of the ancient Levant. The project, which commenced this summer, is expected to yield its findings by 2025.
The Honor Frost Foundation was founded in 2011 with a bequest from the late Honor Frost, a pioneer of underwater archaeology. The Foundation’s mission is to promote the advancement of maritime archaeology with particular focus on the eastern Mediterranean.