Submerged Stone Age Research Articles

What has the sea taken from us? Cognitive possibilities of studying artefacts from newly-discovered submerged prehistoric sites in Puck Bay (Gulf of Gdańsk, Baltic Sea)

The article presents the latest results of research in the area of the Bay of Puck. After the last glaciation, the Bay of Puck was gradually flooded by sea water. As a result, we can expect submerged Stone Age sites in this area. The article discusses the latest results of underwater research in this area and analyses in detail four new underwater sites from this region, including a loose find of a bâton percé from Hel dated to about 7000 BC, a collection of flint artefacts, including a flint dagger and pottery from Late Neolithic/Protobronze Age site on Seagull Sandbar and two antler adzes from Site 23 in Puck. A typological and technological analysis of the artefacts was carried out, including analyses of working traces and radiocarbon dating.

A submerged Stone Age hunting architecture from the Western Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea basins, some of which only submerged in the mid-Holocene, preserve Stone Age structures that did not survive on land. Yet, the discovery of these features is challenging and requires cross-disciplinary approaches between archeology and marine geosciences. Here, we combine shipborne and autonomousunderwater vehicle hydroacoustic data with up to a centimeter range resolution, sedimentological samples, and optical images to explore a Stone Age megastructure located in 21 m water depth in the Bay of Mecklenburg, Germany. The structure is made of 1,673 individual stones which are usually less than 1 m in height, placed side by side over a distance of 971 m in a way that argues against a natural origin by glacial transport or ice push ridges. Running adjacent to the sunken shoreline of a paleolake (or bog), whose youngest phase was dated to 9,143 ±36 ka B.P., the stonewall was likely used for hunting the Eurasian reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) during the Younger Dryas or early Pre-Boreal. It was built by hunter-gatherer groups that roamed the region after the retreat of the Weichselian Ice Sheet. Comparable Stone Age megastructures have become known worldwide in recent times but are almost unknown in Europe. The site represents one of the oldest documented man-made hunting structures on Earth, and ranges among the largest known Stone Age structure in Europe. It will become important for understanding subsistence strategies, mobility patterns, and inspire discussions concerning the territorial development in the Western Baltic Sea region.

Monitoring Erosion of a Submerged Stone Age Site and Its Implications for Managing Underwater Cultural Heritage. A Case Study at Tybrind Vig, Denmark

Abstract Known locations with submerged and well-preserved Stone Age sites in Denmark are, in most cases, under constant threat of erosion. The results presented here have been gathered at Tybrind Vig by surveying a 165 m-long transect at 5-metre intervals from the shore, by measurements taken with a total station. To supplement this, the surrounding area was surveyed with an echo sounder/sonar unit that yielded 3D coordinates post-processed in GIS to investigate volumetric changes in the seabed over time. The transect data was used to calibrate the elevation data from the echo sounder, following the correction of sea level change with data gathered from the Danish Coastal Authority. It was established that sediment transport – both erosion and accumulation – has occurred, but from the methods used, it cannot be determined how much of the archaeologically rich gyttja layers have been eroded at Tybrind Vig.

3D study of the vibrational behaviour of lithic flint blades

Stone Age sites are well known to often contain many lithic flint blades and flakes, which may provide important information about early European Stone Age cultures and their environment. Understanding the mechanical behaviour of lithic flint blades represents an important problem for scientists in general and archaeologists in particular. In this study, the structural behaviour of lithic flint blades is studied. Ten specimens with different geometric shapes (tilted, curved, with bumping surfaces) were studied and tested. Their natural frequencies, damping ratios, and mode shapes (that is how the specimen deforms under any external excitation) are estimated using two models: an analytical model that accounts for the specimen's curvature and a 3D Finite Element (FE) method. Advanced experimental methods, including ultrasound techniques, were used to measure the mechanical properties of the specimens. The experimental set-up was built around a laser vibrometer that measured the specimen's displacement. The model predictions were compared with the experimental data to validate their effectiveness. A good agreement is observed between the models and the real data. It is particularly observed that despite their complicated geometries, the specimens still follow a structured pattern in their dynamic response. The presented study supports the use of acoustic methods as an effective tool to characterize and detect submerged prehistoric materials. This work contributes to the dynamic characterization of submerged Stone Age materials.

Preliminary Results and Research Perspectives on the Submerged Stone Age Sites in Storstrømmen, Denmark

Abstract This article gives an overview of the survey campaigns and excavations undertaken within an area of the sound Storstrømmen in southeast Denmark from 2014 to 2017. Before the construction of a new bridge over the sound, geophysical data from the bridge corridor and other areas affected by the development project were used to give a representation of the moraine till as a proxy for the submerged prehistoric topography, with the topographical interpretation serving as a base for appointing areas with high potential for finding well-preserved Mesolithic sites. Several new Mesolithic sites were found during test excavations. The sites are preserved at different depths in the channel and range in date over the entire Danish Mesolithic period. All sites are located along former waterfronts, and the majority showed good preservation for organic material. Four of the discovered sites have been subject to excavations. The sites are located at different elevations and have between them the potential of contributing to the understanding of the human response to the dramatic topographic and environmental change that took place in Storstrømmen during the Atlantic period as a consequence of the rising sea level.

Acoustic Mapping of Submerged Stone Age Sites—A HALD Approach

Acoustic response from lithics knapped by humans has been demonstrated to facilitate effective detection of submerged Stone Age sites exposed on the seafloor or embedded within its sediments. This phenomenon has recently enabled the non-invasive detection of several hitherto unknown submerged Stone Age sites, as well as the registration of acoustic responses from already known localities. Investigation of the acoustic-response characteristics of knapped lithics, which appear not to be replicated in naturally cracked lithic pieces (geofacts), is presently on-going through laboratory experiments and finite element (FE) modelling of high-resolution 3D-scanned pieces. Experimental work is also being undertaken, employing chirp sub-bottom systems (reflection seismic) on known sites in marine areas and inland water bodies. Fieldwork has already yielded positive results in this initial stage of development of an optimised Human-Altered Lithic Detection (HALD) method for mapping submerged Stone Age sites. This paper reviews the maritime archaeological perspectives of this promising approach, which potentially facilitates new and improved practice, summarizes existing data, and reports on the present state of development. Its focus is not reflection seismics as such, but a useful resonance phenomenon induced by the use of high-resolution reflection seismic systems.

Detecting human-knapped flint with marine high-resolution reflection seismics: A preliminary study of new possibilities for subsea mapping of submerged Stone Age sites

Detecting human-knapped flint with marine high-resolution reflection seismics: A preliminary study of new possibilities for subsea mapping of submerged Stone Age sites

How to map submerged Stone Age sites using acoustics (some experimental results)

A central problem for maritime archaeology has been to find survey methods that facilitate efficient and precise mapping of Stone Age sites on the seabed down to the lowest sea level (approximately 140 m) during glacial periods, as well as sites embedded in sea-floor sediments. As predictive landscape modelling has proved to be inadequate for this task, a different approach based on direct detection is required. The observation of an acoustic phenomenon associated with man-made flint debitage but not naturally cracked pieces of flint has opened a window for development of an alternative and efficient direct mapping method. This paper discusses the development of the idea, as well as experimental documentation of the principle on which it is based. It includes a preliminary analysis of how far away on each side of the transducer flint debitage emits an acoustic response, and consequently the required distance between sailing lines for a comprehensive survey to be undertaken at a specific depth.

Submerged Stone Age settlements and postglacial development of the Baltic Sea in southwest Estonia

Submerged Stone Age settlements and postglacial development of the Baltic Sea in southwest Estonia

The investigation of submerged Stone Age landscapes using diving as a research tool: an example from Denmark

The investigation of submerged Stone Age landscapes using diving as a research tool: an example from Denmark