Underwater archaeology and submerged landscapes in western Australia

Benjamín, Jonathan; O’Leary, Michael J.; Ward, Ingrid; Hacker, Jörg; Ulm, Sean; Veth, Peter; Holst, Mads Kähler; McDonald, Jo; Ross, P. J.; Bailey, Geoff

doi:10.15184/aqy.2018.103

Cited by 17 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…The team deployed a suite of remote-sensing methods to map and interpret the landscape through an iterative process conducted over a series of six field campaigns between 2017 and 2019 [28,52]. These were designed to identify submarine features of interest and specific targets for closer inspection, to locate submerged archaeological sites for diver inspection, and to recover and analyse geological, geochronological and archaeological samples.…”

Section: Research Strategy and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aboriginal artefacts on the continental shelf reveal ancient drowned cultural landscapes in northwest Australia

et al. 2020

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This article reports Australia's first confirmed ancient underwater archaeological sites from the continental shelf, located off the Murujuga coastline in northwestern Australia. Details on two underwater sites are reported: Cape Bruguieres, comprising > 260 recorded lithic artefacts at depths down to −2.4 m below sea level, and Flying Foam Passage where the find spot is associated with a submerged freshwater spring at −14 m. The sites were discovered through a purposeful research strategy designed to identify underwater targets, using an iterative process incorporating a variety of aerial and underwater remote sensing techniques and diver investigation within a predictive framework to map the submerged landscape within a depth range of 0-20 m. The condition and context of the lithic artefacts are analysed in order to unravel their depositional and taphonomic history and to corroborate their in situ position on a pre-inundation land surface, taking account of known geomorphological and climatic processes including cyclone activity that could have caused displacement and transportation from adjacent coasts. Geomorphological data and radiometric dates establish the chronological limits of the sites and demonstrate that they cannot be later than 7000 cal BP and 8500 cal BP respectively, based on the dates when they were finally submerged by sea-level rise. Comparison of underwater and onshore lithic assemblages shows differences that are consistent with this chronological interpretation. This article sets a foundation for the research strategies and technologies needed to identify archaeological targets at greater depth on the Australian continental shelf and elsewhere, building on the results presented. Emphasis is also placed on the need for legislation to better protect and manage underwater cultural heritage on the 2 million square kilometres of

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Section: Research Strategy and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aboriginal artefacts on the continental shelf reveal ancient drowned cultural landscapes in northwest Australia

et al. 2020

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“…Benjamin et al [38]; Benjamin et al [58]; Furlani and Martin [40]; Mattei et al [59]; Sturt et al [60]; Veth et al [61] 4…”

Section: Geomorphological Mappingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Aucelli et al [55] explored and mapped the main underwater structures on and below the seabed of the Roman Villa of Marina di Equa (Sorrento Peninsula) and analyzed the geological effects of the 79 A.D. eruption of Vesuvius with the aim of reconstructing the interactions between human and natural events. Examples of integration of land-sea datasets for geoarchaeological purposes outside the Mediterranean area are provided by Fisher et al [47] and Cawthra et al [57] for South Africa, by Bailey et al [54] for Saudi Arabia, and by Benjamin et al [58] and Veth et al [61] for Western Australia. Fisher et al [47] developed a conceptual tool that enable correlation of the evolution of human behavior within a dynamic model of changes of paleo-environment.…”

Section: Geoarchaeologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Bailey et al [54] analyzed emerged and submerged landscape of SW Saudi Arabia to study human dispersal in Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene. Finally, Benjamin et al [58] and Veth et al [61] analyzed a large amount of data (airborne LiDAR, underwater acoustics, cores and scuba dives observations) acquired in Western Australia for archaeological research.…”

Section: Geoarchaeologymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Seven Good Reasons for Integrating Terrestrial and Marine Spatial Datasets in Changing Environments

Prampolini

Savini

Foglini

et al. 2020

Water

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A comprehensive understanding of environmental changes taking place in coastal regions relies on accurate integration of both terrestrial and submerged geo-environmental datasets. However, this practice is hardly implemented because of the high (or even prohibitive) survey costs required for submerged areas and the frequent low accessibility of shallow areas. In addition, geoscientists are used to working on land or at sea independently, making the integration even more challenging. Undoubtedly new methods and techniques of offshore investigation adopted over the last 50 years and the latest advances in computer vision have played a crucial role in allowing a seamless combination of terrestrial and marine data. Although efforts towards an innovative integration of geo-environmental data from above to underwater are still in their infancy, we have identified seven topics for which this integration could be of tremendous benefit for environmental research: (1) geomorphological mapping; (2) Late-Quaternary changes of coastal landscapes; (3) geoarchaeology; (4) geoheritage and geodiversity; (5) geohazards; (6) marine and landscape ecology; and (7) coastal planning and management. Our review indicates that the realization of seamless DTMs appears to be the basic condition to operate a comprehensive integration of marine and terrestrial data sets, so far exhaustively achieved in very few case studies. Technology and interdisciplinarity will be therefore critical for the development of a holistic approach to understand our changing environments and design appropriate management measures accordingly.

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“…Because it is in shallow water, it is easily accessible to diver inspection and underwater excavation and therefore offers an opportunity to examine in detail its status as a cultural accumulation of food shells and to compare the results of conventional excavation with a range of remote sensing techniques. Our aim here is to present the results of fieldwork at Hjarnø as part of the Deep History of Sea Country project (Benjamin et al 2018), with emphasis on field recording, excavation, and geophysical survey. We use the results to explore two hypotheses: 1) that the underwater shell deposit is a midden originally accumulated on dry land and subsequently submerged with minimal modification, as opposed to a reworked midden eroded by wave action and redeposited on the seabed, or a natural shell bank, or a mixture of midden deposits created by cultural deposition in shallow water and natural shells; 2) that it is associated with distinctive acoustic signatures provided by remote sensing using geophysical survey techniques.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Underwater Shell Middens: Excavation and Remote Sensing of a Submerged Mesolithic site at Hjarnø, Denmark

Astrup

Skriver

Benjamín

et al. 2019

The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology

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Shell middens, or shell-matrix deposits, occur in large numbers across the coastlines of the world from the mid-Holocene (ca. 6000-5000 cal BC) onwards, often forming substantial mounds. However, they become smaller, rarer or absent as one goes back into earlier periods, suggesting a worldwide process of economic intensification. Since sea level was generally much lower during these earlier periods, a critical question is the extent to which mounded shell middens could have accumulated on now-submerged palaeoshorelines, and if so, how they were affected by the potentially destructive impact of sea-level rise. Further, and important to modern practice, it is essential that archaeologists consider how such sites can be discovered through underwater investigation. Here we offer a proof of concept that shell middens can survive submergence and can be detected, using systematic investigation of a rare example of a confirmed underwater shell midden at the Mesolithic site of Hjarnø (ca. 5300-4300 cal BC) in Denmark. We

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Underwater archaeology and submerged landscapes in western Australia

Cited by 17 publications

References 14 publications

Aboriginal artefacts on the continental shelf reveal ancient drowned cultural landscapes in northwest Australia

Aboriginal artefacts on the continental shelf reveal ancient drowned cultural landscapes in northwest Australia

Seven Good Reasons for Integrating Terrestrial and Marine Spatial Datasets in Changing Environments

Underwater Shell Middens: Excavation and Remote Sensing of a Submerged Mesolithic site at Hjarnø, Denmark

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