Comment on 'Sea level changes since the Middle Ages along the coast of the Adriatic Sea: The case of St. Nicholas Basilica, Bari, Southern Italy' by Rossella Pagliarulo, Fabrizio Antonioli and Marco Anzidei [Quaternary International (2013), 288: 139-145]

摘要

During the past few years, relative sea-level research in Italy has seen the rapid development of local studies using archaeological indicators. The publication "Sea level changes since the Middle Ages along the coast of the Adriatic Sea: The case of St. Nicholas Basilica, Bari, Southern Italy" presents a number of methodological shortcomings that we would like to highlight. The main problem posed by this paper is the use of both the ancient floor of the Basilica's crypt and groundwater as precise indicators of relative sea-level changes. The first striking point is the very small number of sea-level index points used to construct the sea-level curve. A mere five floor-level points are reported (Table 1), all of which present a series of problems with regards to their accuracy and precision.