Stanley & Bernhardt: Alexandria's Eastern Harbor

Journal of Coastal Research, volume 26, issue 1 (January 2010),
Jean-Daniel Stanley, Christopher E. Bernhardt,
"Alexandria's Eastern Harbor, Egypt: Pollen, Microscopic Charcoal, and the Transition from Natural to Human-Modified Basin"
http://www.jcronline.org/doi/full/10.2112/JCOASTRES-D-09-00089.1

"Pollen and microscopic charcoal examined in Holocene sediment core samples record major environmental modifications affecting Alexandria's Eastern Harbor through time. (..) The earliest change occurred at ca. 6000 YBP, (..) a transition to a much drier climate (..). The second change in pollen occurred 3600–2900 YBP, (..) pollen (cereal taxa, agricultural weeds, grape) and a sharp increase in microscopic charcoal indicate that human activity became prevalent at least 700 y before Alexander the Great's arrival in this region (..). The third shift up-core in pollen assemblages is dated at ca. 2300 YBP, (..) it coincides with construction by the Ptolemies of the Heptastadion between Alexandria and Pharos Island. (..)"