Extracting the cultural heritage: new challenges for the underwater archaeologist (original) (raw)
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Investigation of shallow-marine environments for submerged prehistoric archaeology can be hampered in many localities by extensive bedrock exposure and thus limited preservation potential. Using the concept of 'seamless archaeology' where land-based archaeology is integrated across the intertidal zone through to the offshore, a multi-disciplinary approach is essential. This approach taken in the Bay of Firth, Orkney uses geophysics, historical archive and ethno-archaeology, coastal geomorphology, palaeo-environmental analyses and sea-level science, and allows a clearer understanding of the landscape in which prehistoric settlers lived. While acknowledging the limitations of the preserved environment, we are successful in identifying areas of archaeological potential on the sea-bed for both upstanding structural elements as well as sediment preservation that contains evidence for human occupation. This has wider implications beyond Orkney's World Heritage sites to provide a blueprint for similar studies elsewhere in the coastal zone.
Quaternary International , 2020
This paper describes some results of the research undertaken over the Brown Bank area during recent (2018/2019) geoarchaeological surveys in the North Sea which included seismic imaging, shallow (vibro)coring and dredging. It examines the benefits of simultaneous high-resolution (0.5 – 1 m) and ultra-high-resolution (10–20 cm) seismic survey techniques and a staged approach to resolving the submerged Holocene landscape in the highest possible detail for the purpose of targeted prospecting for archaeological material from the Mesolithic landscape of Doggerland. The materials recovered from such surveys offer significantly greater information due to an enhanced understanding of the context in which they were recovered. The importance of this information cannot be understated archaeologically, as few locations on land provide the opportunity to recover archaeological finds in situ within preserved landscapes. Moreover, it allows offshore areas of potential human activity to be prospected with some certainty of success.
Settlement archaeology under water. Practical, strategic and research perspectives.
Proceedings of RioAcoustics 2015
This presentation discusses the perspectives and consequences arising from ongoing developments in maritime archaeology, involving a shift in focus predominantly on shipwrecks to one concentrating on submerged settlements – primarily from the Stone Age – down to depths of 140 m. More specifically, it deals with the practical problems (and possible solutions) associated with mapping settlements, which is a more difficult operation than the mapping of shipwrecks. Firstly (II), the paper discusses the scientific value of submerged settlements in relation to those accessible on land, for example the good conditions for the preservation of organic artefacts, environmental data, aDNA etc. Furthermore, social anthropological data suggest that the groups we find evidence of along the highly productive prehistoric marine coast lines may well have differed from inland groups who were unable to extend their territories out to the coast. Secondly (III), it outlines some possible methodological solutions to our present problem of cost-effective site mapping, all based on acoustics. Finally (IV), the paper discusses strategic and legislative perspectives associated with the new maritime archaeological focus on settlements and new technological possibilities in this respect. This change of focus in archaeology, underpinned by the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage, raises many important economic and strategic questions; these are discussed.
International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, 2012
Investigation of shallow-marine environments for submerged prehistoric archaeology can be hampered in many localities by extensive bedrock exposure and thus limited preservation potential. Using the concept of 'seamless archaeology' where land-based archaeology is integrated across the intertidal zone through to the offshore, a multidisciplinary approach is essential. This approach taken in the Bay of Firth, Orkney uses geophysics, historical archive and ethno-archaeology, coastal geomorphology, palaeo-environmental analyses and sea-level science, and allows a clearer understanding of the landscape in which prehistoric settlers lived. While acknowledging the limitations of the preserved environment, we are successful in identifying areas of archaeological potential on the sea-bed for both upstanding structural elements as well as sediment preservation that contains evidence for human occupation. This has wider implications beyond Orkney's World Heritage sites to provide a blueprint for similar studies elsewhere in the coastal zone.
Drowned and deserted: a submerged prehistoric landscape in the Solent, England
International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, 2000
A submerged landscape containing worked flint tools has been found at—11m OD in the western Solent. This paper reviews coastal sites in northern Europe and suggests that many similar sites should exist around the coast of southern England; as a result of isostatic shifts and eustatic fluctuations many coastal sites of the Mesolithic will now be submerged. A need has been identified to locate, protect and record submerged sites before they are lost to erosion or development, for which outline proposals are suggested.