Ancient undersea middens offer clues about life before rising seas engulfed the coast. Now we have a better way to study them

Woo, Katherine, Bailey, Geoff, Cook Hale, Jessica, Benjamin, Jonathan, and Ulm, Sean (2021) Ancient undersea middens offer clues about life before rising seas engulfed the coast. Now we have a better way to study them. The Conversation, 2021.

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Abstract

The world’s oceans hold their secrets close, including clues about how people lived tens of thousands of years ago.

For a large portion of humanity’s existence, sea levels were significantly lower (up to 130 metres) than they are today, exposing millions of square kilometres of land. And the archaeological record is clear: people in the past lived on these coastal plains before the land slipped beneath the waves.

Archaeology already tells us these drowned landscapes played significant roles in human history. Major events such as human migrations across the globe and the invention of maritime technology took place along these now-drowned shorelines.

But these sites can be hard to find.

Item ID: 67531
Item Type: Article (Commentary)
ISSN: 2201-5639
Copyright Information: Creative Commons license 4.0 Attribution, No derivatives. We believe in the free flow of information. We use a Creative Commons Attribution No Derivatives license, so you can republish our articles for free, online or in print.
Date Deposited: 30 Mar 2021 01:48
FoR Codes: 43 HISTORY, HERITAGE AND ARCHAEOLOGY > 4301 Archaeology > 430101 Archaeological science @ 50%
43 HISTORY, HERITAGE AND ARCHAEOLOGY > 4301 Archaeology > 430102 Archaeology of Asia, Africa and the Americas @ 25%
43 HISTORY, HERITAGE AND ARCHAEOLOGY > 4301 Archaeology > 430104 Archaeology of Europe, the Mediterranean and the Levant @ 25%
SEO Codes: 13 CULTURE AND SOCIETY > 1307 Understanding past societies > 130704 Understanding Europe’s past @ 50%
13 CULTURE AND SOCIETY > 1307 Understanding past societies > 130706 Understanding the past of the Americas @ 50%
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