Under the Sea: Archaeology and Palaeolandscapes of the Continental Shelf

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiii

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2. Archaeology and Palaeolandscapes of the Continental Shelf: An Introduction

   • Geoffrey N. Bailey, Jan Harff, Dimitris Sakellariou

   Pages 1-17

3. Techniques and Strategies

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 19-19

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   2. Survey Strategies and Techniques in Underwater Geoarchaeological Research: An Overview with Emphasis on Prehistoric Sites

      • Tine Missiaen, Dimitris Sakellariou, Nicholas C. Flemming

      Pages 21-37

   3. Relative Sea Level Rise, Palaeotopography and Transgression Velocity on the Continental Shelf

      • Francesco Latino Chiocci, Daniele Casalbore, Francesca Marra, Fabrizio Antonioli, Claudia Romagnoli

      Pages 39-51

   4. Joint Explorations of the Sunken Past: Examples of Maritime Archaeological Collaboration Between Industry and Academia in the Baltic

      • Joakim Holmlund, Björn Nilsson, Johan Rönnby

      Pages 53-63

   5. The Late Mesolithic Site of Falden, Denmark: Results from Underwater Archaeological Fieldwork and a Strategy for Capacity-Building Based on the SPLASHCOS Mission

      • Otto Uldum, Jonathan Benjamin, John McCarthy, Frederick Feulner, Harald Lübke

      Pages 65-84

   6. Atlit-Yam: A Unique 9000 Year Old Prehistoric Village Submerged off the Carmel Coast, Israel – The SPLASHCOS Field School (2011)

      • Ehud Galili, Jonathan Benjamin, Israel Hershkovitz, Mina Weinstein-Evron, Irit Zohar, Vered Eshed et al.

      Pages 85-102

4. Underwater Archaeological Sites

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 103-103

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   2. Submerged Pottery Neolithic Settlements off the Coast of Israel: Subsistence, Material Culture and the Development of Separate Burial Grounds

      • Ehud Galili, Liora Kolska Horwitz, Vered Eshed, Baruch Rosen

      Pages 105-130

   3. Hjarnø Sund: An Eroding Mesolithic Site and the Tale of two Paddles

      • Claus Skriver, Per Borup, Peter Moe Astrup

      Pages 131-143

   4. Fished up from the Baltic Sea: A New Ertebølle Site near Stohl Cliff, Kiel Bay, Germany

      • Julia Goldhammer, Sönke Hartz

      Pages 145-154

   5. Investigations of Submerged Palaeoshorelines in the Kiel Fjord

      • Frederick Feulner

      Pages 155-163

   6. Submerged Settlement in the Öresund, Western Scania, Southernmost Sweden

      • Lars Larsson

      Pages 165-175

5. Underwater Landscapes and Archaeology

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 177-177

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   2. Prospecting for Holocene Palaeolandscapes in the Sound of Harris, Outer Hebrides

      • Andrew Bicket, Genevieve Shaw, Jonathan Benjamin

      Pages 179-195

   3. Early Holocene Landscape Development and Baltic Sea History Based on High-Resolution Bathymetry and Lagoonal Sediments in the Hanö Bay, Southern Sweden

      • Anton Hansson, Svante Björck, Hans Linderson, Mats Rundgren, Björn Nilsson, Arne Sjöström et al.

      Pages 197-209

   4. Tributaries of the Elbe Palaeovalley: Features of a Hidden Palaeolandscape in the German Bight, North Sea

      • Daniel A. Hepp, Ursula Warnke, Dierk Hebbeln, Tobias Mörz

      Pages 211-222

   5. The Wadden Sea of North-West Germany: An Intertidal Environment of High Archaeological Research Potential

      • Martina Karle, Julia Goldhammer

      Pages 223-231

   6. Sacred Landscapes and Changing Sea Levels: New Interdisciplinary Data from the Early Neolithic to the Present in South-Eastern Sicily

      • Giovanni Scicchitano, Elena Flavia Castagnino Berlinghieri, Fabrizio Antonioli, Cecilia Rita Spampinato, Carmelo Monaco

      Pages 233-253

This book focuses on issues of method and interpretation in studies of submerged landscapes, concentrating on illustrations and case studies from around Europe with additional examples from other parts of the world. Such landscapes were once exposed as dry land during the low sea levels that prevailed during the glacial periods that occupied most of the past million years and provided extensive new territories for human exploitation. Their study today involves underwater investigation, using techniques and strategies which are clearly set out in these chapters. The underwater landscape provides a rich source of information about the archaeology of human settlement and long-term changes in environment, climate and sea-level. This book highlights how such information can be revealed and interpreted.


The examples presented here and the focus on techniques make this book of worldwide relevance. Chapters describe examples of underwater archaeological investigation as well as collaboration with offshore industries and legal, management and training issues relating to underwater cultural heritage. Such studies point to the significance of this drowned landscape, and readers are invited to consider its human impact in terms of past settlement and population dispersal through palaeolandscape reconstruction and interpretation in relation to broader themes in human prehistory.

This volume is based on work from COST Action SPLASHCOS, a four-year multi-disciplinary and multi-national research program supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) and has something to benefit all those with an interest in the sea floor of the continental shelf and the archaeological and social impact of sea-level change, including archaeologists, marine scientists, geographers, cultural-heritage managers, commercial and governmental organisations, policy makers and interested members of the public.

• Continental Shelf and Archaeology
• Cultural heritage management and Paleolandscapes
• Sea-level Change and Archaeology
• Submerged Landscapes and Archaeology
• Submerged prehistoric landscapes
• Underwater Archaeology and Paleolandscapes
• coastal sciences

“This book … is an excellent overview of the work that has been done all over the world, with many papers focusing on the excellent work done in the North Sea over the past 40 years. … this is an important book, and one that should be on the shelf of any archaeologist who is interested in working in nearshore and offshore environments.” (Lisa Sonnenburg, The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, Vol. 47 (1), 2018)

• Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, United Kingdom

  Geoffrey N. Bailey

• Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, University of Szczecin, Szczecin, Poland

  Jan Harff

• Institute of Oceanography, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Anavyssos, Greece

  Dimitris Sakellariou

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