The sea-level rise and the humane response in the Neolithic period in the Southern Levant

The paper will examine some submerged Neolithic settlements (7500-6000 BC.) that were exposed off the Carmel coast of Israel, in an area of about 8 km2. The discovery of human burials, rectangular stone structures, megalithic structures, olive oil extraction installations and stone-built water wells shows a fully agricultural subsistence economy. The development of wells that utilized coastal aquifers enabled permanent human habitation near the coastline for the first time in this area. But settlements adjacent to the sea are most vulnerable by climate change. Indeed, this period is associated with an abrupt rise in sea-level and consequent alteration of coastal landscapes and their ecology. The humane response to sea-level rise is highlighted by large stones in the water wells to raise the well bases and so enable them to exploit fresh water from the upper to avoid the salinization or the construction of a seawall at Tel Hreiz. These are evidence of mitigation for the climate change in the Neolithic period