Abstract
This paper presents the first results of an inventory of archaeological remains in the Wadden Sea of northwest Germany. We have generated palaeogeographic maps on the basis of a geological reconstruction of Holocene landscape evolution from archive core data, and use these to identify areas where human traces have potentially been preserved during different time intervals. Currently, the cultural heritage is being increasingly threatened by coastal protection measures, dredging of waterways as well as offshore industrial activity. Recording of known sites, prospecting for new sites and the subsequent investigation and monitoring of both demonstrate the research potential of this region. These results will be instrumental in helping to recover information about the cultural archive before it is destroyed by erosion and to identify target areas for future research.
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Acknowledgements
The project was funded by the Lower Saxony Ministry for Science and Culture. A large number of different institutions provided data, assistance and knowledge, and we are particularly grateful to: Nationalparkverwaltung Niedersächsisches Wattenmeer, Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Hannover, Fachdienst Informationssysteme und IT, Gebietsreferat Oldenburg, Ostfriesische Landschaft, Landesmuseum für Natur und Mensch Oldenburg, Archäologische Denkmalpflege Bad Bederkesa, Archäologische Denkmalpflege Landkreis Stade, Stadtarchäologie und Bodendenkmalpflege Cuxhaven, Museum Leben am Meer Esens, Landesamt für Bergbau, Energie und Geologie (LBEG), Hannover, Niedersächsischer Landesbetrieb für Wasserwirtschaft, Küsten- und Naturschutz (NLWKN) – Betriebsstelle Norden-Norderney, and Senckenberg am Meer, Wilhelmshaven. Finds were reported by a large number of interested non-professionals and we were supported in a massive way by our colleagues – we wish to thank them all heartily. Reviews by A. Wehrmann and J. Harff greatly helped to improve this work, and we also wish to thank B. Flemming for help in editing the English language.
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Karle, M., Goldhammer, J. (2017). The Wadden Sea of North-West Germany: An Intertidal Environment of High Archaeological Research Potential. In: Bailey, G., Harff, J., Sakellariou, D. (eds) Under the Sea: Archaeology and Palaeolandscapes of the Continental Shelf. Coastal Research Library, vol 20. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-53160-1_15
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-53160-1_15
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