Abstract

The French coastline accounts for many submerged remains of prehistoric sites along all its coastlines. Undisturbed sites including intertidal deposits containing artefacts give a total of 180 find spots. Each geographical region has its own specific features: submerged peats and fish weirs along the Channel and Atlantic coasts, faunal assemblages from the Channel and the North Sea, underwater sea caves and karsts along parts of the Mediterranean coast and occupations dated to later prehistory on the Mediterranean and in the south-western coastal lagoons. Coastal archaeology successfully confirms the high potential and good preservation of submerged sites, particularly organic artefacts such as wooden objects, features related to fishing and faunal assemblages. New types of sites and research issues have emerged over the past decade, particularly Palaeolithic sites, Neolithic axe deposits in association with megalithic complexes and fishing structures reflecting a widespread activity along the coasts of the Channel and the Atlantic Ocean. The implementation of a scientific programme relating to submerged sites is all the more urgent since offshore industrial projects are rapidly increasing along the French coasts.

Highlights

  • The French coastline extends for 5834 km and faces four marine basins with highly varied coastal and offshore conditions: the southern edge of the North Sea, La Manche or the (English) Channel, the Atlantic and the Mediterranean

  • For the presentation of the sites, we divide these into two main groups, the first associated with Palaeolithic sites and Pleistocene faunas and the second with Neolithic and later sites and monuments

  • Each geographical area offers its own specific features: ­submerged peats and fish weirs along the Channel and the Atlantic coasts, faunal assemblages along the Channel and the North Sea, occupations dated to later prehistory in the coastal lagoons of the south-west and the Mediterranean and submarine caves and karsts along the Mediterranean (Fig. 12.6)

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Summary

12.1 Introduction

The French coastline extends for 5834 km and faces four marine basins with highly varied coastal and offshore conditions: the southern edge of the North Sea, La Manche or the (English) Channel, the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Extensive offshore areas of submerged landscape were exposed at the Last Glacial Maximum, especially in the north-west (Farr et al 2017). These submerged landscapes are of particular interest because they were adjacent to some of the most important concentrations of Palaeolithic and Mesolithic sites in Europe, and their emergence and subsequent inundation are likely to have played an important role in changing patterns of settlement and demography in France and between France and the adjacent regions of Britain and northern Spain Despite its variability in tidal range, climate and forms of coastal relief, France harbours many such remains of prehistoric sites inundated by sea-level rise (Fig. 12.1). Interest in this theme began in the nineteenth century with

Langouët Association Manche Atlantique pour la Recherche Archéologique dans les Îles, Rennes, France
12.2 Types of Submerged Sites
12.3 Sea-Level Variations and Palaeogeographical Changes
12.4 Sites with Palaeolithic Artefacts and Pleistocene Fauna
12.4.6 South-West France
12.4.7 The Mediterranean Coastal Karst
12.5 Later Prehistoric Finds
12.5.1 Intertidal Settlements and Peat Deposits
12.5.2 Megalithic Sites
12.5.2.2 Standing Stones and Megalithic Complexes
12.5.2.3 Stone Rows and Megalithic Enclosures
12.5.3 Coastal Lagoons
12.6 Scientific Challenges and Future Prospects
Findings
12.7 Management of the Underwater Cultural Heritage
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