Underwater Archaeology

Abstract

Previous articleNext article FreeCurrent ApplicationsUnderwater ArchaeologyR. G. CarperR. G. Carper Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmailQR Code SectionsMoreExploring the Submerged Continental ShelfInsights into unanswered questions of human prehistory surely lie beyond the water’s edge. Yet submerged archaeological sites, even ones tantalizingly close to shore, remain largely unexplored because of prohibitive costs and underdeveloped techniques. Archaeologist Daryl Fedje of Parks Canada, Western Canada Service Centre, in collaboration with a number of Canadian institutions and First Nations heritage specialists, has breached this watery frontier. Specifically, Fedje and his colleagues have developed a research program that incorporates seafloor mapping, settlement modeling, and underwater technologies to investigate the earliest peopling of the Americas, a subject that has been debated for many decades.Scholars have been unable to reach consensus regarding two main aspects of initial colonization: the timing of the first arrivals and the route by which people came. Traditional explanations of the route of entry have centered on a terrestrial migration across a landmass exposed when past sea levels were lowered by glacier formation. As glaciers melted during the terminal Pleistocene, archaeological sites present either on the land bridge or along the coast would have been inundated. So while some evidence of overland travel, collected from sites on either side of what is now the Bering Strait, remains controversial, determining whether early migrants traveled along the coast instead, perhaps by boat, is difficult to test because much of the Pleistocene coastline is now submerged beneath as much as 150 meters of water.For more than a decade, Fedje has been investigating ancient shorelines for evidence of prehistoric human activity, working closely with the Geological Survey of Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the Haida Nation, and academics at the University of Victoria and Simon Fraser University. One such collaboration involved mapping the continental shelf in Hecate Strait, between Haida Gwaii (the Queen Charlotte Islands) and mainland British Columbia. Using seismic reflection mapping, piston coring, and floral, faunal, and radiocarbon analyses, the team is reconstructing ancient landscapes and previous sea‐level positions in parts of the strait. Their expeditions have also incorporated high‐resolution sonar, remotely operated underwater vehicles, and manned submersibles to produce more detailed images of inundated landforms. Guided by models frequently used in terrestrial archaeology to anticipate site locations, Fedje and his colleagues located what they believe to be a submerged archaeological site along a paleo‐river channel off Haida Gwaii.Crew lowers Daryl Fedje (Parks Canada) and Heiner Josenhans (Geological Survey of Canada) as they prepare to descend to 145 meters below the surface to explore drowned beaches off the coast of Haida Gwaii, British Columbia. (Photo Quentin Mackie)View Large ImageDownload PowerPointThe research team has recently redoubled its efforts to locate additional sites along the Northwest Coast. A multiyear project led by Fedje and Jonathan Moore of Parks Canada’s underwater archaeology section will focus on detailed modeling of a drowned pre‐Holocene lake terrace using remote tools and intensive scuba excavations. The information gathered by these methods will become part of Canada’s cultural heritage and will be made available to both the academic community and the public through publications and other media. Underwater research programs such as Fedje's multidisciplinary investigation of ancient ecologies and early coastal adaptations along the Northwest Coast bring us closer to understanding not only when and by what route or routes the first migrants came to the Americas but also how prehistoric people made a living in a dynamic postglacial environment. Previous articleNext article DetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Current Anthropology Volume 48, Number 6December 2007 Sponsored by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/521536 Views: 282Total views on this site PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.