Fig 2) The Strait of Sicily after MWP-1a.
Reconstruction obtained by placing the coastline at -80 m.
Taken from the bathymetric map of the Italian Navy.
Besides fishing, the purpose of seafaring is to exchange (or raid) goods among regions connected by the sea. In the Mediterranean, three major European peninsulas stretch out towards the south, forming three potential maritime link with Africa and Asia. To the west, the Iberian peninsula is separated from Morocco by the Strait of Gibraltar; to the east, the Balkan peninsula ends with Greece, connected to Turkey by the Aegean archipelago. In the middle, the Italian peninsula is connected to Tunisia via Sicily and the Strait of Sicily.
Figure 1) shows a reconstruction of the Mediterranean coastline at the glacial maximum (20,000 years ago), made by the U. S. National Geophysical Data Center. It might not be perfectly accurate, but it gives a fair idea of the likely maritime connections of the Ice Age. Although we know that the coastline changed progressively during the transition towards the interglacial, we accept that, before MWP-1a (14,500 years ago), the geographical situation was basically the one described by this map.
The three possible sea crossings were located at the same latitude and probably enjoyed quite similar climates, but the geographical similarities between the Strait of Sicily and the Aegean Sea were more pronounced. Both housed two archipelagos, fit to promote maritime activity, and both were near the mouths of large rivers, in a land apt for cultivation. The estuary of an African river, descending from the Atlas Mountains, is clearly visible in the Strait of Sicily, just below Malta; while the delta of an Anatolian river is set in today's Gulf of Iskenderun (Alexandretta), in front of Cyprus.
Since the geographical and climatic conditions of the Strait of Sicily were similar to those of the Aegean Sea, it is not unlikely to expect, also in the Strait, a change in habits, as seen in the Middle East during the first warm period after the Ice Age. Of course if this happened, where are the traces of a similar revolution?
To look for such traces we must firstly recreate the geographical aspect of the Strait of Sicily of that time. After the MWP-1a the sea level was significantly higher than the glacial maximum, meaning that the map of figure 1) is no longer significant. Based on current knowledge, the sea level should have been eighty meters below the present one. At first approximation, all the seabed exceeding that depth would have been terra firma.
Figure 2) shows the local map obtained by setting the coastline at -80 meters below the current sea level. The shape is different from that of the glacial maximum, but an archipelago yet allowing navigation with land always in sight (as in the Aegean) would be still there. The long estuary of the river descending from the Atlas mountains is now submerged, but the river would still exist, as well as its fertile delta.
But before getting into detailed reconstructions, what is the reliability of the map of figure 2)? The answer comes from the Marine Isotope Stage 5.5.
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