Page 6 - Lodolo_Ben-Avraham_2015

E. Lodolo, Z. Ben-Avraham / Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 3 (2015) 398–407 403
taken by the divers at 42 m water depth from the elongated rectangular of benthic foraminifera identified. In addition, ostracods and gastropods
flat top ridge that extends 82 m perpendicular to the rectilinear outer are also found, as well as rare bivalves, spines of echinoids and fish
ridge. It is a calcarenite containing a rich micro-fauna, with 11 genera teeth.
In summary, samples 4, 5, 6, 7, 3A, 8A and 9A are lithologically sim-
ilar, and represent calcarenites and bioclastic limestones and mud-
stones of Late Miocene (Tortonian) age, based on the occurrence of
the benthic foraminifera Borelis melo melo, and generally deposited in
a lower shore face environment. This chronostratigraphic attribution
is compatible with coeval successions of the Sicilian Channel region
studied by several authors (e.g., Van der Zwaan, 1982; Grasso and
Pedley, 1988). The samples taken in correspondence of the rectilinear
ridges (samples 1, 2, 3, 4A, 6A and 7A) and the monolith (samples 1A,
2A and 5A), represent calcirudites deposited in a shallow marine
environment.
The results of these petrographic analyses, combined with the high-
resolution morphological maps and the observations of divers, have
allowed us to realize the geological map of the PVB (Fig. 6).

3.3. Radiocarbon dating results
Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon age determina-
tions and their calibrated ages have been performed on 4 samples, and
are presented in Table 1. Overall ages fall within the marine isotope
stage MIS-3 (60 to 25 k year B.P.), a period characterized by several
sea-level fluctuations (Siddall et al., 2008), and where the discrepancies
among the sea-level values obtained from the isotope record of deep-
sea cores, and those obtained from oceanic coral reefs, are more pro-
nounced (e.g., Bailey et al., 2007).

4. Interpretation

From the data we have here presented and analysed, it can be in-
ferred that the monolith discovered in the PVB is not a natural feature,
but man-made. The elements that combine to formulate this interpreta-
tion can be listed as follows:
• the monolith has a rather regular shape;
• the monolith has three regular holes of similar diameter: one that
crosses it completely on its top, and another two at two sides of the
monolith; there are no reasonable known natural processes that
may produce these elements;
• the monolith is made from stone other than those which constitute all
the neighbouring outcrops, and is quite isolated with respect to them;
and
• the lithology and age of the rock that makes up the monolith are sim-
ilar to those that make up the blocks of the rectilinear ridge closing the
embayment.

The presence of the monolith suggests extensive human activity in
the PVB. It was cut and extracted as a single stone from the outer recti-
linear ridge situated about 300 m to the south, and then transported and
possibly erected. From the size of the monolith, we may presume that it
weights about 15 t. The information so far available does not allow us
however to formulate hypotheses about the specific function of this

Fig. 5. Photographs of some of the rock samples collected. (a) Sample 1 (calcirudite) and
its cut (b). (c) Photomicrograph of a thin section (transmitted light). Open parts of the void
filled with resin appear white. See text for further details. (d) Photomicrograph (thin sec-
tion) of a rounded quartz-arenite fragment wrapped by isopachous marine calcite cement.
Within the clast are visible quartz crystals, echinoid spines, and planktonic foraminifera.
(e) Sample 2 (calcirudite). (f) Sample 2A (calcirudite) taken from the monolith.
(g) Sample 4 and its cut (h). (i) Sample 5 and its cut (j). (k) Sample 8A and disaggregated
sediment (l), with two individuals of foraminifera Borelis melo melo (a and b). The genera
of the benthic foraminifera identified in the samples has been determined following the
taxonomic order of Loeblich and Tappan (1988).