Archaeological and geomorphological data to deduce sea level changes during the late Holocene in the Northeastern Adriatic

New precise measures of submerged archaeological and geomorphological markers in the Northeastern Adriatic Sea are provided. Six submerged archaeological sites were studied, dated ~2.0 ka BP, located along the NE Adriatic coast (Italy, Slovenia and Croatia). The altitudes of selected significant archaeological markers were measured with respect to the present sea level. The interpretation of the functional heights related with sea level at the time of their construction provided data on the relative changes between land and sea; these data have been compared with the predicted sea level rise curves, using new mathematical models for the glacio-hydro-isostatic contributions associated with the last deglaciation. The northeast Adriatic (Italy, Slovenia and Croatia) is an area of subsidence and we use the calibrated model results to isolate the isostatic from the tectonic contributions. This indicates that the Adriatic coast from the Gulf of Trieste to the southern Istria has been tectonically downlifted by no less then ~ 1.5 m since Roman times