| Autor: |
Cohen, K.M., Westley, K., Erkens, G., Hijma, M.P., Weerts, H.J.T., Flemming, N.C., Harff, J., Moura, D., Burgess, A., Bailey, G. |
| Přispěvatelé: |
Coastal dynamics, Fluvial systems and Global change, Geomorfologie |
| Jazyk: |
angličtina |
| Rok vydání: |
2017 |
| Popis: |
Chapter 7 in the 'SPLASHCOS Taphonomy book', on the landscape-archaeological inventory of the North Sea as a regional sea (covering British, Dutch, Belgian, German and Danish sectors of the southern and central North Sea). Abstract: This chapter gives a general overview of knowledge regarding the North Sea area in the context of Quaternary prehistory. The North Sea is one of the larger continental shelf seas in the world. Much of it was exposed and potentially habitable during periods of lower sea-level. It is one of the world’s better researched shelf, and the research history stared relatively early. The discovery of hydrocarbons in the mid-1960s triggered both commercial exploration and state-governed mapping. In later years, the search for sand and gravel reserves and large-scale windfarm development brought a second wave of research that continues to today. It is practically impossible to give an exhaustive review of the data, maps and publications that are available. Hence this chapter will only give a general overview based on recent geological-archaeological publications. It will focus on Quaternary palaeogeographical change since the first hominin occupation of the North Sea, outline the evidence for preservation of archaeological sites and landscapes and discuss taphonomic issues relating to preservation. Where preserved, surfaces of Lateglacial and Early Holocene landscapes are part of the upper few meters of the sea floor. Remnants of earlier inhabitable landscapes occur at a larger range of depths. To surveying the North Sea floor for preserved fossil landscapes and to forecasting the taphonomy as part of predictive mapping, geological mapping and palaeogeographical reconstruction are important prior steps. Knowledge on landscape preservation further helps to understand the taphonomy of encountered submerged archaeological sites. The key point to be made for the North Sea is that while there is confirmation that remnants of Pleistocene and Holocene landscapes and their associated archaeological record are preserved, the overall evidence base is complex, patchy and fragmented, reflecting a range of spatio-temporally variable formative and destructive processes. In most cases the existing types of data do not suffice for confident taphonomic assessments, despite their great density. For offshore areas, it is easier to predict what past depositional environments and hominin habitats once occurred, than to locally predict the state of preservation of archaeology today. Yet, that second step is important in seafloor heritage research and management decisions and designs of underwater surveying and excavation plans. The chapter therefore works towards identifying the taphonomic variables, in applications at at local, regional and superregional scale. This is done by providing an overview of geological history and a landform inventory for the North Sea, highlighting links with taphonomy through the text. |
| Databáze: |
OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
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