Submerged Prehistoric Archaeology on the Atlantic Continental Shelf

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.

Given the last two million years of global fluctuations in climate and ocean levels, submerged landscapes are arguably the most important zone for addressing questions concerning human evolution and migration and are unique for their potential to preserve extraordinary evidence of prehistoric peoples. A discovery off the coast of North Carolina on the Atlantic continental shelf offers an exceptional new research locality, with a rock outcrop, mammoth bones, and a likely paleo-river channel preserved in 80 feet of water, 25 miles offshore. This raw material source may provide connections to Paleoindian sites on the mainland, and a locus of raw material, big game, and fresh water provides an ideal setting for prehistoric archaeological sites. Results from preliminary fieldwork are presented from the area around this discovery which offers an ideal laboratory for linking submerged landscapes to terrestrial ones and for methods development for prehistoric underwater archaeological research.

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): 32028