Earthquake Destruction and Resilience in Ancient Helike, Gulf of Corinth, Greece: A Case Study of Past Human–Environment Relationship

Dora Katsonopoulou, Ioannis Koukouvelas () and Mariza Kormann
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Dora Katsonopoulou: The Helike Society and the Helike Project, 10682 Athens, Greece
Ioannis Koukouvelas: Department of Geology, University of Patras, 26504 Patras, Greece
Mariza Kormann: Independent Researcher, Oxfordshire OX16 9AE, UK

Land, 2025, vol. 14, issue 7, 1-25

Abstract: Geoarchaeological work and excavations of the Helike Project over the last 30 years in the Helike coastal plain, Gulf of Corinth, have yielded abundant evidence on ancient settlements, as well as the surrounding landscape and environmental changes that resulted from geological phenomena and catastrophic events. The research methods applied by the Helike Project followed a multidisciplinary approach, including combined archaeological excavations and palaeoseismological trenching, geophysical prospection, archaeometric, environmental, and soil micromorphology analyses, and computer-based landscape modelling. A wealth of settlement remains that were unearthed across the plain, ranging in date from the Early Helladic period (3rd millennium BC) to the Late Antiquity (5th century AD), indicates that the ancient inhabitants of the area chose to always resettle in the area by adjusting their ways of living to the geomorphology and natural hazards, prevailing each time. Our results show that disasters in the area increased between the Geometric and Roman times due to severe earthquakes that occurred approximately every 300 years. In particular, archaeological and geological finds recovered from the Late Classical–Hellenistic Helike settlement, which was revived in the western part of the plain shortly after the disastrous 373 BC earthquake, have enriched our knowledge regarding the historical seismicity of the region and past human–environment relationships.

Keywords: Ancient Helike; 373 BC earthquake; ancient settlement and mobility; environmental changes; resilience; Helike Fault earthquakes; Gulf of Corinth; Greece (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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