The SPLASHCOS Viewer: The First Online Atlas of Submerged Prehistoric Sites in Maritime Europe and the Mesolithic Site of Strande, Kiel Bay

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Advances in Global Submerged Paleolandscapes Research" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The EU-funded SPLASHCOS network promoted the fledgling discipline of "Continental Shelf Prehistoric Research." This discipline is based on an interdisciplinary research approach combining archaeological, geophysical, geological, oceanographic, and biological methods. Investigations so far have already enormously expanded the available knowledge about prehistoric life on the now-submerged landscapes that were drowned with the sea level rise at the end of the Last Glacial. In many cases the excellent preservation conditions in waterlogged sediments for everyday objects, tools, and structures made of organic materials have provided completely new insights into prehistoric life. The 25 states that have joined the project have screened their databases and publications for relevant data on prehistoric sites and agreed to publish the archaeological data via a web-based viewer. All in all, there are approximately 2,900 Stone Age sites from 19 countries. These data provide an excellent basis to start further investigations, which are needed to understand and protect our underwater cultural heritage. As an example for such further research, the current investigations on the Mesolithic site of Strande, dating from 5300 to 4900 BC, are presented. The site has excellent preservation conditions and lies in a water depth of 6 m.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Advances in Global Submerged Paleolandscapes Research   •
• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 33254