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During the last 3 ka, different human communities occupied the Bay of Cádiz (SW Spain), including Phoenician, Carthaginian, Roman, Medieval and Modern settlements. Traces of such historical occupations have been recognized along the bay from a geoarchaeological point of view. Some of them bear a palaeogeographical interest related to the historical location of the shoreline. At the same time, Holocene sedimentary units and geomorphological elements identified along the bay can be interpreted as evidences of its morphological evolution. The objective of the present paper is to represent all the available data about archaeological sites and geomorphology in the northern Bay of Cádiz, with the aim of combining both sources of data for elaborating a simple proposal of landscape evolution during the last 3 millennia. The base for mapping was multiple, from historical aerial photographs to satellite imagery and a digital terrain model with a maximum resolution of 0.35 m. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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A recent archaeological excavation carried out within the Reales Alcázares of Seville, at a plaza known as Patio de Banderas, uncovered several semi-subterranean structures dated between the 9th and 7th century BCE. The structures, dug in the most recent Upper Pleistocene terrace of the Guadalquivir, contained hearths for preparing meals, suggesting that they were possibly outdoor cooking installations situated in the southern periphery of the settlement and near the port area. The associated pottery remains mostly correspond to pots and other handmade containers, however, some pieces of wheel-thrown pottery from the same period have also been documented. This evidence proves that the founding of Seville was contemporaneous with the construction of the first sanctuary on the opposite bank of the Guadalquivir at Carambolo. Both sites constitute a Phoenician colonization model that is found in other river mouth areas along the southwestern Iberian coast. This same pattern occurs in the estuaries of the Guadiana river, at Huelva, and, likewise, in the Bay of Cadiz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]