Abstract
Human technological development has been driven by a need to modify behaviour. The greatest influences that forced people to adapt were climate change and sea-level rise. These have invariably been linked with the result that many of the sites that witnessed technical change have become submerged. To access the archaeological material that can develop our understanding of early human adaptation and diffusion around the globe we need to look underwater. Historically, this has attracted little attention as archaeologists and historians believed the processes of erosion and sediment reworking greatly reduced the ability of anthropogenic material to survive. This was in spite of the recovery of material from the anaerobic environments within submerged deposits that demonstrated good in situ preservation of material. Recent technological advances, however, have been able to image extensive areas of palaeo-landsurfaces within our coastal seas. This paper considers what new information from submerged sites can tell us about past human dispersal, survival and cultural adaptation when influenced by changing climates. The work at Bouldnor Cliff in the Solent, UK and La Mondrée near Cherbourg in France is drawn on to help identify the ingredients for survival of sites, review the potential for long-term survival of substantive remains and to assess the potential for similar sites on the Northwest European continental shelf.
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Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the University of York the DISPERSE Project, (Grant No. 269586) funded by the, European Research Council (ERC) under the EU, Seventh Framework Programme, the Hampshire and Wight Trust for Maritime Archaeology/Maritime Archaeology Trust under whose umbrella the work has continued for more than a decade, the support and influence of my colleagues through the SPLASHCos project EU COST Action TD0902, Submerged Prehistoric Archaeology and Landscapes of the Continental Shelf, English Heritage for their ongoing support with the excavation and analysis of the material from Bouldnor Cliff, the Leverhulme Trust (grant F/00 224/AB), through the Department of Archaeology, University of York for their support of the 2007 excavation. Thanks must also go to Dr David Tomalin for ensuring longevity for the project, to Prof. Geoff Bailey, Dr Nic Flemmingand my colleagues through the SPLASHCOS project EU COST Action TD0902, Submerged Prehistoric Archaeology and landscapes of the Continental Shelf for continuing to aid with research and the provision of intellectual support. Finally, thanks must go to the European Regional Development Fund for financial support in 2010 to 2013 and 2011 through the Atlas of the 2 Seas and ArchManche Projects. This is DISPERSE contribution no. 6.
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Momber, G. (2014). Submerged Archaeology and Cultural Responses to Climatic Amelioration. In: Evans, A., Flatman, J., Flemming, N. (eds) Prehistoric Archaeology on the Continental Shelf. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9635-9_11
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