Vincent Gaffney

Around 8150 BP, the Storegga tsunami struck Northwest Europe. The size of this wave has led many to assume that it had a devastating impact upon contemporaneous Mesolithic communities, including the final inundation of Doggerland, the now submerged Mesolithic North Sea landscape. Here, the authors present the first evidence of the tsunami from the southern North Sea, and suggest that traditionalnotions of a catastrophically destructive event may need rethinking. In providing a more nuanced interpretation by incorporating the role of local topographic variation within the study of the Storegga event, we are better placed to understand the impact of such dramatic occurrences and their larger significance in settlement studies.

During the late glacial and early Holocene, vast areas of dry land stretched from the British Isles to continental Europe over what is now the southern part of the North Sea. Whilst it is known that this landscape was inhabited, little is known about the cultures that lived there and the surrounding environment. This study focuses on the Brown Bank area, between the UK and Dutch coasts, with its significant 25 km long and 10-15 m high ridge on the seabed which has provided many Mesolithic ex-situ finds. However, all of these finds have been recovered serendipitously due to commercial fishing and dredging, and thus the landscape and sedimentary context of these archaeological finds is unclear.
The goal of this study is to map the terrestrial features in the Brown Bank area and reconstruct the palaeolandscape and its inundation to determine the potential locations from which this archaeological material derives, and potentially locate Mesolithic settlement sites. The project uses high-resolution parametric echosounder surveys in a dense survey network to record the area and facilitate later targeted dredging and vibro-core sampling.
The seismic surveys revealed a pre-marine inundation landscape with fluvial channels eroded into post glacial sediments. A peat layer was located on the top of the banks of the channels where it continues laterally hundreds of metres. Radiocarbon dating of the top part of the peat layer, just below the transgressive deposits gave ages around 10.2-9.9 cal ka BP. Palaeogeographic reconstructions based on the mapped terrestrial features and the available relative sea level change data suggest that the final inundation of the area happened c. 1000 years later. Where dredging was carried out in areas of interest, primarily where the early Holocene surface outcropped onto the seabed, a large number of blocks of peat with pieces of wood and other macrofossils were recovered, suggesting a good potential for preservation of possible archaeological material and possible locations of origin for the serendipitous finds made by fishermen.
We conclude that this study provides new insights into the palaeogeography and the timing of the inundation of the Brown Bank area and gives the landscape context to the potential Mesolithic habitation of this part of the southern North Sea.

Doggerland was a landmass occupying an area currently covered by the North Sea until marine inundation took place during the mid-Holocene, ultimately separating the British landmass from the rest of Europe. The Storegga Event, which triggered a tsunami reflected in sediment deposits in the northern North Sea, northeast coastlines of the British Isles and across the North Atlantic, was a major event during this transgressive phase. The spatial extent of the Storegga tsunami however remains unconfirmed as, to date, no direct evidence for the event has been recovered from the southern North Sea. We present evidence of a tsunami deposit in the southern North Sea at the head of a palaeo-river system that has been identified using seismic survey. The evidence, based on lithostratigraphy, geochemical signatures, macro and microfossils and sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA), supported by optical stimulated luminescence (OSL) and radiocarbon dating, suggests that these deposits were a result of the tsunami. Seismic identification of this stratum and analysis of adjacent cores showed diminished traces of the tsunami which was largely removed by subsequent erosional processes. Our results confirm previous modelling of the impact of the tsunami within this area of the southern North Sea, and also indicate that these effects were temporary, localized, and mitigated by the dense woodland and topography of the area. We conclude that clear physical remnants of the wave in these areas are likely to be restricted to now buried, palaeo-inland basins and incised river valley systems.

A series of massive geophysical anomalies, located south of the Durrington Walls henge monument, were identified during fluxgate gradiometer survey undertaken by the Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes Project (SHLP). Initially interpreted as dewponds, these data have been re-evaluated, along with information on similar features revealed by archaeological contractors undertaking survey and excavation to the north of the Durrington Walls henge. Analysis of the available data identified a total of 20 comparable features, which align within a series of arcs adjacent to Durrington Walls. Further geophysical survey, supported by mechanical coring, was undertaken on several geophysical anomalies to assess their nature, and to provide dating and environmental evidence. The results of fieldwork demonstrate that some of these features, at least, were massive, circular pits with a surface diameter of 20m or more and a depth of at least 5m. Struck flint and bone were recovered from primary silts and radiocarbon dating indicates a Late Neolithic date for the lower silts of one pit. The degree of similarity across the 20 features identified suggests that they could have formed part of a circuit of large pits around Durrington Walls, and this may also have incorporated the recently discovered Larkhill causewayed enclosure. The diameter of the circuit of pits exceeds 2km and there is some evidence that an intermittent, inner post alignment may have existed within the circuit of pits. One pit may provide evidence for a recut; suggesting that some of these features could have been maintained through to the Middle Bronze Age. Together, these features represent a unique group of features related to the henge at Durrington Walls, executed at a scale not previously recorded.

Doggerland was a land mass occupying an area currently covered by the North Sea until marine inundation took place during the mid-Holocene, ultimately separating the British land mass from the rest of Europe. The
Storegga Slide, which triggered a tsunami reflected in sediment deposits in the Northern North Sea, North East coastlines of the British Isles and across the North Atlantic, was a major event during this transgressive phase. The spatial extent of the Storegga tsunami however remains unconfirmed because to date no direct evidence for the event has been recovered from the southern North Sea. We present evidence that Storegga associated deposits occur in the southern North Sea. Palaeo-river systems have been identified using seismic survey in the southwestern North Sea and sedimentary cores extracted to track the Mid Holocene inundation. At the head of one palaeo-river system near the Outer Dowsing Deep, the Southern River, we observed an abrupt and
catastrophic inundation stratum. Based on lithostratigraphic, macro and microfossils and sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) evidence, supported by optical stimulation luminescence (OSL) and radiocarbon dating, we conclude these deposits were a result of the Storegga event. Seismic identification of this stratum to adjacent cores indicated diminished traces of the tsunami, largely removed by subsequent erosional processes. Our results demonstrate the catastrophic impact of Storegga within this area of the Southern North Sea, but indicate
that these effects were temporary and likely localized and mitigated by the dense woodland and topography of the area. We conclude clear physical remnants of the wave are likely to be restricted to inland basins and incised river valley systems.

Since 2010 the Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes Project (SHLP) has undertaken extensive archaeological prospection across much of the landscape surrounding Stonehenge. These remote sensing and geophysical surveys have revealed a significant number of new sites and landscape features whilst providing new information on many previously known monuments. The project goal to integrate multimethod mapping over large areas of the landscape has also provided opportunities to re‐interpret the landscape context of individual monuments and, in the case of the major henge at Durrington Walls, to generate novel insights into the structure and sequence of a monument which has attracted considerable research attention over many decades. This article outlines the recent work of the SHLP and the results of the survey at Durrington Walls that shed new light on this enigmatic monument including a site 'hidden' within the monument.

ABSTRACT In this article we assess the abilities of a new electromagnetic (EM) system, the CMD Mini-Explorer, for prospecting of archaeological features in Ireland and the UK. The Mini-Explorer is an EM probe which is primarily aimed at the environmental/geological prospecting market for the detection of pipes and geology. It has long been evident from the use of other EM devices that such an instrument might be suitable for shallow soil studies and applicable for archaeological prospecting. Of particular interest for the archaeological surveyor is the fact that the Mini-Explorer simultaneously obtains both quadrature (‘conductivity’) and in-phase (relative to ‘magnetic susceptibility’) data from three depth levels. As the maximum depth range is probably about 1.5 m, a comprehensive analysis of the subsoil within that range is possible. As with all EM devices the measurements require no contact with the ground, thereby negating the problem of high contact resistance that often besets earth resistance data during dry spells. The use of the CMD Mini-Explorer at a number of sites has demonstrated that it has the potential to detect a range of archaeological features and produces high-quality data that are comparable in quality to those obtained from standard earth resistance and magnetometer techniques. In theory the ability to measure two phenomena at three depths suggests that this type of instrument could reduce the number of poor outcomes that are the result of single measurement surveys. The high success rate reported here in the identification of buried archaeology using a multi-depth device that responds to the two most commonly mapped geophysical phenomena has implications for evaluation style surveys. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This Short Report summarizes some initial results using real time GPS to navigate and collect mag-netometer data using Foerster sensors and a magnetic cart.The Foerster system is primarily aimed at the detection of buried ordnance and, by comparison to some other ...

... Changing perspectives on the city of Cyrene, Libya: Remote sensing and the management of the buried archaeological resource. Richard Cuttler, Chris Gaffney, Vince Gaffney, Helen Goodchild, Andy Howard et Gareth ... Andy Howard. University of Birmingham. Gareth Sears. ...

Archaeology is a broad church and its role as a “two culture” discipline is frequently cited. This position at the interface of the arts and sciences remains central to archaeological activity but there have been significant changes in the structure of archaeology and its relationship to society overall. The growth of heritage science, in particular, is driving change and development within archaeology at a national and international level. This paper discusses these developments in relation to the author’s own research trajectory and discusses the significance of such change

Heritage is about more than monuments. It is also about people: how they interacted with the buildings in daily life and how their sense of belonging has shaped them. This is why organisations such as UNESCO were established to protect the world’s cultural heritage from damage through natural disaster, neglect, vandalism, and human conflict. One way to preserve monuments is to record them digitally using specialist laser scans to create 3D models.

Since  2010  the  Stonehenge  Hidden  Landscapes Project  (SHLP)  has  undertaken  extensive archaeological prospection across much of the landscape
surrounding Stonehenge. The sheer scale, resolution  and  complexity  of  the  data  produced  are  unprecedented.  The  results  range  from  discoveries  of new prehistoric monuments to the very detailed mapping  of  extensive  multi-period  field-systems and  modern  complexes  such  as  Royal  Air  Force  Stonehenge.  Inevitably,  there  is  particular  interest  in the landscape context of Stonehenge itself from the 3rd millennium BC, our knowledge of which has greatly increased as a result of the project. In this interpretative context, the significance of the Durrington Walls ‘super-henge ́, located c. 3 km to the north-east of Stonehenge, cannot be overrated.

The roughly circular henge enclosure consists of an internal ditch up to 5.5m deep and 18m wide, and an external chalk rubble bank surviving up to 1.5m high and up to c. 32m wide, with an overall diameter of c. 480 metres. It encloses a number of other structures,  including  two  timber  circles  excavated  by  Wainwright  on  the  east  side  of  the  enclosure  (Wainwright and Longworth 1971, 204-34).

The  ‘Stonehenge  Riverside  Project’  investigations  have significantly changed our understanding of the monument. It is now clear that a settlement existed prior  to  the  henge  construction,  dated  to  c.  2525-2440  BC, and  it has  been  suggested  that it was inhabited  by  up  to  4000  people  (Parker  Pearson 2012, 109-111), although this extrapolation of the excavated  south-east  entrance  area  data  is  conjectural and direct evidence for wider occupation is limited.

Decisions on settlement location in the face of climate change and coastal inundation may have resulted in success, survival or even catastrophic failure for early settlers in many parts of the world. In this study we investigate various questions related to how individuals respond to a palaeoenvironmental simulation, on an interactive tabletop device where participants have the opportunity to build a settlement on a coastal landscape, balancing safety and access to resources, including sea and terrestrial foodstuffs, whilst taking into consideration the threat of rising sea levels. The results of the study were analysed to consider whether decisions on settlement were predicated to be near to locations where previous structures were located, stigmergically, and whether later settler choice would fare better, and score higher, as time progressed. The proximity of settlements was investigated and the reasons for clustering were considered. The interactive simulation was exhibited to thousands of visitors at the 2012 Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition at the “Europe’s Lost World” exhibit. 347 participants contributed to the simulation, providing a sufficiently large sample of data for analysis.

Archaeology is a broad church and its role as a “two culture” discipline is frequently cited.  This position at the interface of the arts and sciences remains central to archaeological activity but there have been significant changes in the structure of archaeology and its relationship to society overall. The growth of heritage science, in particular, is increasingly driving change and development within archaeology at a national and international level. This paper discusses these developments in relation to the author’s own research trajectory and discusses the significance of such change.

As this volume, the final monograph of the SPLASHCOS network, was being finalised, the European Research Council agreed to fund a major new project relating to the marine palaeolandscapes of the southern North Sea. Emerging from the earlier work of the North Sea
Palaeolandscapes Project (NSPP), the Lost Frontiers project seeks to go beyond the maps generated by that ground-breaking research. Led by researchers in the fields of archaeogeophysics, molecular biology and computer simulation, the project seeks to develop a new paradigm for the study of past environments, ecological change and the transition between hunter gathering societies and farming in North West Europe.
Following from earlier work, the project will seek to release the full potential of the available seismic reflectance data sets to generate topographical maps of the whole of early Holocene Doggerland that
are as accurate and complete as possible. Using these data, the study will then reconstruct and simulate the emerging palaeoenvironments of Doggerland using conventional palaeoenvironmental data, as well as ancient DNA extracted directly from sediment cores along the routes of two submerged river valleys. Using this base data, the project aims to transform our understanding of the colonisation of the North Sea

The first recorded crowdsourcing activity was in 1714 [1], with intermittent public event occurrences up until the millennium when such activities become widespread, spanning multiple domains. Crowdsourcing, however, is relatively novel as a methodology within virtual environment studies, in archaeology, and within the heritage domains where this research is focused. The studies that are being conducted are few and far between in comparison to other areas. This paper aims to develop a recent concept in crowdsourcing work termed `crowd behaviour mining' [2] using virtual environments, and to develop a unique concept in crowdsourcing activities that can be applied beyond the case studies presented here and to other domains that involve human behaviour as independent variables. The case studies described here use data from experiments involving separate heritage projects and conducted during two Royal Society Summer Science Exhibitions, in 2012 and 2015 respectively. `Crowd Behaviour Mining' analysis demonstrated a capacity to inform research in respect of potential patterns and trends across space and time as well as preferences between demographic user groups and the influence of experimenters during the experiments.

—Digital Humanities offer a new exciting domain for agent-based distributed simulation. In historical studies interpretation rarely rises above the level of un-proven assertion and is rarely tested against a range of evidence. Agent-based simulation can provide an opportunity to break these cycles of academic claim and counter-claim. The MWGrid framework utilises distributed agent-based simulation to study medieval military logistics. As a use-case, it has focused on the logistical analysis of the Byzantine army's march to the battle of Manzikert (AD 1071), a key event in medieval history. It integrates an agent design template, a transparent, layered mechanism to translate model-level agents' actions to timestamped events and the PDES-MAS distributed simulation kernel. The paper presents an overview of the MWGrid system and a quantitative evaluation of its perfomance.

Doggerland was a landmass occupying an area currently covered by the North Sea until marine inundation took place during the mid-Holocene, ultimately separating the British landmass from the rest of Europe. The Storegga Event, which triggered a tsunami reflected in sediment deposits in the northern North Sea, northeast coastlines of the British Isles and across the North Atlantic, was a major event during this transgressive phase. The spatial extent of the Storegga tsunami however remains unconfirmed as, to date, no direct evidence for the event has been recovered from the southern North Sea. We present evidence of a tsunami deposit in the southern North Sea at the head of a palaeo-river system that has been identified using seismic survey. The evidence, based on lithostratigraphy, geochemical signatures, macro and microfossils and sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA), supported by optical stimulated luminescence (OSL) and radiocarbon dating, suggests that these deposits were a result of the tsunami. Seismic identification of this stratum and analysis of adjacent cores showed diminished traces of the tsunami which was largely removed by subsequent erosional processes. Our results confirm previous modelling of the impact of the tsunami within this area of the southern North Sea, and also indicate that these effects were temporary, localized, and mitigated by the dense woodland and topography of the area. We conclude that clear physical remnants of the wave in these areas are likely to be restricted to now buried, palaeo-inland basins and incised river valley systems.

Europe's Lost Frontiers
Summary report on research  2016-2017

Europe's Lost Frontiers is a 5 year research project (2015 - 2020), funded by the European Research Council, and brings together experts from the fields of archaeology, geophysics, molecular biology and computer simulation to explore these lost landscapes. The project aims to study how the communities of the great plains reacted to climate change and the encroaching sea, as well as seeking clues to how these communities responded to the introduction of farming and the decline of hunter-gatherer societies

11 CurrentWorldArChAeology in Syria, attacked by Daesh. In these cases, media coverage generated a huge number of images to which we add from online sources. As more images come to light, we will incorporate the new data to further refine our 3D models. Our conservation ethic means that we do not fill in gaps in the models with approximations of missing data. So, while our photo-realistic 3D models may not appear as complete as computer-generated (CGI) reconstructions, they are totally accurate representations of structures from which precise measurements or relationships can be retrieved. By working faithfully with these images, archaeologists can document weathering and erosion, changes in land-use, and gradual or sudden destruction over time – thus helping to inform long-term management of such sites. But to succeed, we need your help. We would be grateful for your photographs of places you have visited, which you can upload via the project website (visualisingheritage.org). Particularly urgent are images of Palmyra (Syria), Cyrene (Libya), Amatrice and Norcia (Italy), Bagan (Myanmar), and Drummonds Mill (Bradford, UK). The project is also carrying out detailed work on Diocletian's Palace (Split, Croatia) and Fountains Abbey (Yorkshire, UK). We can never have too many pictures, and it could be that yours are just the ones we need to fill the gaps and make the model work. s p e c i a l r e p o r t H eritage is about more than monuments. It is also about people: how they interacted with the buildings in daily life and how their sense of belonging has shaped them. This is why organisations such as UNESCO were established to protect the world's cultural heritage from damage through natural disaster, neglect, vandalism, and human conflict. One way to preserve monuments is to record them digitally, using specialist laser scans, to create 3D models. This is what the Curious Travellers Project does, using a resource that exists in abundance: the curiosity of millions of tourists and locals worldwide, who take photographs of what they see in the world around them. We then augment these crowdsourced images – from digital cameras or scans of photographs, slides, and negatives – with data that is available free online and from social media sites to create 3D models of ancient monuments and sites, producing accurate representations without artificial or artistic reconstructions. Importantly, the project is more than just the 3D content. By using geospatial and archaeological data that describes the site within its landscape, its context is included, providing a lasting legacy that contributes to local historical environment records. However, to be effective, we need to influence the way travellers record their holiday snaps: it takes more images of a site than you would think to create a 3D model. Crucially, we require views of every angle to show all perspectives – from the whole building to individual architectural features, as well as the back or unadorned sides of a monument, which people often do not think worth recording but are essential to provide a complete picture. Then, using special software, we can identify images that overlap, and the relative position of the camera is then calculated to transform 2D images into a 3D model. So far, much of our work has concentrated on a few high-profile sites, including the 14th-century basilica of St Benedict in Norcia, Italy, destroyed by an earthquake last year, and Palmyra

Press Release
Strict Embargo until 14:00 EST / 19:00 GMT 26th February 2015
DNA evidence shows surprise cultural connections between Britain and Europe 8,000 years ago
25 February 2015
- New evidence shows wheat reached Britain 2,000 years before the arrival of wheat farming
- Mesolithic Britons interacted with Neolithic Europeans
- Shows Britain not be insular or isolated - early communities had social and trade networks linking them across Europe 8,000 years ago
- Published in the journal Science
The ancient British were not cut off from Europeans on an isolated island 8,000 years ago as previously thought, new research suggests.
Researchers found evidence for a variety of wheat at a submerged archaeological site off the south coast of England, 2,000 years before the introduction of farming in the UK.
The team argue that the introduction of farming is usually regarded as a defining historic moment for almost all human communities leading to the development of societies that underpin the modern world.
Published in the journal Science, the researchers suggest that the most plausible explanation for the wheat reaching the site is that Mesolithic Britons maintained social and trade networks spreading across Europe.
These networks might have been assisted by land bridges that connected the south east coast of Britain to the European mainland, facilitating exchanges between hunters in Britain and farmers in southern Europe.
Called Einkorn, the wheat was common in Southern Europe at the time it was present at the site in Southern England – located at Bouldnor Cliff.
The einkorn DNA was collected from sediment that had previously formed the land surface, which was later submerged due to melting glaciers.
The work was led by Dr Robin Allaby of the University of Warwick, in collaboration with co-leads Professor Vincent Gaffney of the University of Bradford and Professor Mark Pallen of Warwick Medical School, the Maritime Archaeology Trust, the University of Birmingham and the University of St. Andrews.
Dr Allaby, Associate Professor at the University of Warwick’s School of Life Sciences, argues that the einkorn discovery indicates that Mesolithic Britain was less insular than previously understood and that inhabitants were interacting with Neolithic southern Europeans:
“8,000 years ago the people of mainland Britain were leading a hunter-gatherer existence, whilst at the same time in southern Europeans farming was gradually spreading across Europe.     
“Common throughout Neolithic Southern Europe, einkorn is not found elsewhere in Britain until 2,000 years after the samples found at Bouldnor Cliff.  For the einkorn to have reached this site there needs to have been contact between Mesolithic Britons and Neolithic farmers far across Europe.
“The land bridges provide a plausible facilitation of this contact. As such, far from being insular Mesolithic Britain was culturally and possibly physically connected to Europe.
“The role of these simple British hunting societies, in many senses, puts them at the beginning of the introduction of farming and, ultimately, the changes in the economy that lead to the modern world”.
“The novel ancient DNA approach we used gave us a jump in sensitivity allowing us to find many of the components of this ancient landscape”
Commenting on the research’s findings Professor Vincent Gaffney, research co-lead and Chair in Landscape Archaeology at the University of Bradford, said:
“This find is the start of a new chapter in British and European history.  Not only do we now realise that the introduction of farming was far more complex than previously imagined.  It now seems likely that the hunter-gather societies of Britain, far from being isolated were part of extensive social networks that traded or exchanged exotic foodstuffs across much of Europe.
“The research also demonstrates that scientists and archaeologists can now analyse genetic material preserved deep within the sediments of the lost prehistoric landscapes stretching between Britain and Europe. This not only tells us more about the introduction of farming into Britain, but also about the societies that lived on the lost coastal plains for hundreds of thousands of years.
“The use of ancient DNA from sediments also opens the door to new research on the older landscapes off the British Isles and coastal shelves across the world”
Co-lead Professor Mark Pallen, leader of the Pallen Group at the University of Warwick’s Medical School, explains how the researchers employed a metagenomic approach to study the einkorn DNA:
“We chose to use a metagenomics approach in this research even though this has not commonly been used for environmental and ancient DNA research. This means we extracted and sequenced the entire DNA in the sample, rather than targeted organism-specific barcode sequences. From this we then homed in on the organisms of interest only when analysing DNA sequences”.
The research builds on the work of the Maritime Archaeology Trust, who also collected the sediment samples from the site.  The Trust’s Director, Garry Momber, commented:
“Of all the projects I have worked on, Bouldnor Cliff has been the most significant. Work in the murky waters of the Solent has opened up an understanding of the UK’s formative years in a way that we never dreamed possible.
“The material remains left behind by the people that occupied Britain as it was finally becoming an island 8,000 years ago, show that these were sophisticated people with technologies thousands of years more advanced than previously recognised. The DNA evidence corroborates the archaeological evidence and demonstrates a tangible link with the continent that appears to have become severed when Britain became an island”.
The research is published in a Science paper entitled: ‘Sedimentary DNA from a submerged site reveals wheat in the British Isles 8,000 years ago’. ENDS.
Notes for Editors:
To access a video of Professor Vince Gaffney visit http://bit.ly/1za99UQ
The researchers gratefully acknowledge the funding support of the University of Warwick Medical School.
The paper is supported by research by the Maritime Archaeology Trust
The project team were: Oliver Smith, Garry Momber, Paul Garwood, Richard Bates, Simon Fitch, Mark Pallen, Vincent Gaffney and Robin Allaby.
Pictures available upon request
Ends.
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ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF BRADFORD
Founded in 1966, the University of Bradford is one of the UK’s ‘traditional’ universities. It is a research-intensive institution, ranked in the top 50 in the UK for the quality of its research, with three quarters being classed as either world-leading or internationally excellent in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF). The University was ranked No 1 in Yorkshire for employed graduates obtaining professional & managerial level jobs.
Known for its strong emphasis on employability skills and knowledge transfer work with businesses, the University has a truly global make up with over 20 per cent of its student population being international. The University is also a leader in sustainable development and education, and is within the top ten greenest universities in the UK, according to the Green League 2013.

Marine palaeolandscapes and the historic impact of long-term climate change:
Royal  Society
Chicheley Hall
May 15-16 2017

The Royal Society are hosting a Theo Murphy international scientific meeting on the implications of current research on marine palaeolandscapes. “Lost and Future Worlds: Marine palaeolandscapes and the historic impact of long-term climate change” has been organised by Professor Vincent Gaffney, Professor Geoff Bailey, Dr Richard Bates, Dr Philip Murgatroyd, Dr Eugene Ch’ng and Professor Robin G. Allaby the meeting will be held the Royal Society at conference centre at Chicheley Hall, Buckinghamshire (https://goo.gl/jgO5Ri), between
Monday 15 May – Tuesday 16 May.

Global warming following the last glacial maximum led to the global submergence of vast, populated landscapes. These largely unexplored lands hold a unique record of habitation linked to climate change. Frequently inaccessible, and unamenable to conventional analysis, this meeting brings together experts across historical and scientific disciplines to identify new analytical methods and the contemporary relevance of these lost lands.

Information on the meeting is held at https://goo.gl/nXtwS7
A t programme (PDF) is available to download at ...
https://royalsociety.org/~/media/events/2017/05/climate-change/Programme%20draft%206.pdf?la=en-GB
This residential conference is free to attend!

Advanced registration is essential (please request an invitation from https://goo.gl/nDjGbR

Catering and accommodation are available to purchase during registration

Poster session
There will be a poster session at 17:00 on Monday 15 May 2017. If you would like to apply to present a poster please submit your proposed title, abstract (not more than 200 words and in third person), author list, name of the proposed presenter and institution to the Scientific Programmes team no later than Monday 3 April 2017.

Please note that places are limited and are selected at the scientific organisers discretion. Poster abstracts will only be considered if the presenter is registered to attend the meeting.

see also  https://lostfrontiers.teamapp.com/

Environmental change since the last glacial maximum has had a profound impact on human populations around the globe. Nowhere has this been more keenly felt than by people living at the edge of the land where society is intimately linked to marine resources. The land that these communities occupied is for a large part now lost beneath the sea however, ironically, this has often led to great potential for the remains of these societies to be preserved. The study of submerged landscapes is emerging as a new sub-discipline which adds considerably to archaeological understanding. Nevertheless, investigation here can be challenging, necessitating a multi-disciplinary approach that integrates specialists from across a wide range of disciplines and schools: archaeology; anthropology; climate; geomorphology; geophysics and geochemistry. The session will focus on research to uncover the prehistoric archaeology and landscapes of the continental shelf. It will include presentations on the latest technological advances for the study of submerged palaeo-landscapes, the latest techniques by which the marine and land components of the palaeo-landscape may be combined into a seamless model, the recovery of archaeological information, the modelling of populations, and the most recent theories. In addition there will be scope to discuss case studies of good practice or where particular problems have been addressed. The significance of submerged Prehistoric landscapes is now recognised at a European level where common approaches to the implementation of Marine Spatial Panning are being adopted. This session is intended for all, not just those with a background in underwater archaeology. The session will consist of invited papers and a general call for papers of national and international coverage. Submerged prehistory offers a significant addition to the understanding of past societies and as such it is important that we all engage with it.

Unlike the Oscars there appeared to be no mix up when Bradford, with UCL and the National Trust took the award for research project of the year.

The award was given for ongoing research at Durrington Walls which revealed a massive and previously unknown palisaded enclosure beneath the banks of the famous Neolithic henge.

More details at https://www.archaeology.co.uk/live/ca-live-2017/research-project-of-the-year-2017.htm

Vast regions of the continental shelves of North America are poorly known and remain
unmapped. From the time people first arrived in North America, possibly as early as 20,000  years ago, people have lived along the coasts and inland regions of the continental shelves. As  sea level rose evidence of their movements and settlements were inundated by the rising sea.  The primary goal of this workshop was to develop a document to help guide federal, state, and  tribal agencies and other stakeholders in their efforts to recognize the significance of  submergd archeology and increase support, infrastructure, and organizational structure for
this emerging discipline. Submerged landscape archeology is a new research frontier ripe for developing new methods and technology.

Some photos from the workshop at -
https://lostfrontiers.teamapp.com/photos/1159585

During May 2019, an 11-day expedition by European scientists from Belgium and Britain was undertaken to explore three sites of potential geological and archaeological interest in the southern North Sea. Prospecting this drowned landscape in search of the evidence of people is a challenging activity. Although the survey was heavily impacted by poor weather, confirmation of the occurrence of a well-preserved Early Holocene land surface was made near Brown Bank. The evidence strongly suggests that a prehistoric woodland once stood in this area.

Survey also targeted a large river system identified in the landscape modelled by the Lost Frontiers Team This area focused on a zone where the river entered an ancient sea, and was suspected to be a location where evidence of human activity was more likely to be preserved. The survey recorded not only remains of peat but also nodules of flint which may originate from submarine chalk outcrops near the ancient river
and coast. .
Further study has also revealed the first archaeological artefacts from the survey area. One was a small piece of flint that was possibly the waste product of stone tool making. The second was a larger piece, broken from the edge of a stone hammer, an artefact used to make a variety of other flint tools. As well as being evidence for flint tool production the hammer fragment derived from a large battered flint nodule would once have been part of a personal tool kit.

The recovery of stone artefacts not only demonstrate that these landscapes were inhabited but also that archaeologists can, for the first time, prospect for evidence of human occupation in the deeper waters of the North Sea with some certainty of success. Work will now proceed to refine our knowledge of the larger context of these finds and to plan
urther expeditions to explore these hidden prehistoric landscapes.

Brown Banks, White Cliffs and Fossil Forests: An update on the search for lost prehistoric settlements in the North Sea
On May 7th, 2019 an 11-day expedition by European scientists from Belgium and Britain was undertaken to explore three sites of potential geological and archaeological interest in the southern North Sea. Here is the first of a series of short reports on the project and a brief outline of the results . There will be moreto tell as the residues from the grabs and dredges are sorted back on land.

Cant wait to read it - why not view the movie of the team in action at https://youtu.be/sGKfyrDCtmw

Following the success of “Visual Heritage in the Digital Age” in Springer’s Cultural Computing Series, Springernow planning a second volume exploring emerging themes in digital heritage.

Under the broad title of Heritage Science, this aims to look at the role of digital technologies in preserving cultural and natural heritage at a global level the face of previously unimaginable threats: from climate change, through fake news to catastrophic insurrection.
The relevant disciplines listed below will form the themes of the volume:

• Heritage Science and Technology – definition and trends
• Modelling Past Environments – understanding the past
• Digital and Virtual Heritage Research and Applications – machine-facilitated heritage and human-machine-interfaces
• Crowd-sourcing and Democratisation of Digital Heritage
• Cultural and Creative Industries – societal and economic value

Interested? Want to submit a paper? Have a look at the attached PDF or contact the editor of your choice!

Professor Eugene Ch’ng FHEA
NVIDIA Joint-Lab on Mixed Reality, NVIDIA Technology Centre
University of Nottingham Ningbo China
Email: eugene.chng@nottingham.edu.cn

Professor Henry Chapman FSA
Department of Classics, Ancient History and Archaeology
University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
Email: h.chapman@bham.ac.uk

Professor Vincent Gaffney MBE FSA
School of Archaeological and Forensic Sciences
Bradford, UK
Email: v.gaffney@bradford.ac.uk

Professor Andrew S. Wilson MCIfA, FHEA
School of Archaeological and Forensic Sciences
Bradford, UK
Email: A.S.Wilson2@bradford.ac.uk

Archaeologists have long suspected that the southern North Sea plain must have been home to thousands of people during prehistory. This evidence now lies deep under seawater and sediment and there are now no certain prehistoric settlements known that are not within a short distance of modern coasts.
However, chance finds by trawlers and fishermen over many decades suggest that modern surveys may be able to locate some at least. A concentration of archaeological material, including bone, stone and human remains, have been found within the area around the Brown Bank, an elongated, 30 kilometres long sand ridge roughly 100 km due east from Great Yarmouth and 80 km west of the Dutch coast. The quantities of material strongly suggest a prehistoric settlement may be close by.
Teams from the Lost Frontiers Project, Ghent University and Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) will now join forces to carry out a two-year marine expedition to search for prehistoric, submerged settlements around the area of the Brown Bank within the southern North Sea. From April 10th a joint team Anglo-Belgian team, on the Belgian research vessel Belgica, will carry out detailed geophysical surveys of the area over 2 weeks. Analysis of this data will be used to coring programme to retrieve sediment that can be examined for environmental evidence or further clues to human activity.
Geophysicists, Dr Simon Fitch and Helen McCrearey, will represent Lost Frontiers on the voyage and will tweet regularly from @BrownBank2018 – follow them to hear the latest!
A full press release can be seen at – https://lostfrontiers.teamapp.com/newsletters