Land Beneath the Waves, Submerged Landscapes and Sea Level Change
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EUROPEAN MARINE BOARD Land Beneath the Waves Submerged landscapes and sea level change A joint geoscience-humanities strategy for European Continental Shelf Prehistoric Research Land Beneath the Waves: Submerged landscapes and sea level change Land Beneath the Waves: Position Paper 21 Wandelaarkaai 7 I 8400 Ostend I Belgium Tel.: +32(0)59 34 01 63 I Fax: +32(0)59 34 01 65 E-mail: [email protected] www.marineboard.eu www.marineboard.eu European Marine Board The Marine Board provides a pan-European platform for its member organizations to develop common priorities, to advance marine research, and to bridge the gap between science and policy in order to meet future marine science challenges and opportunities. The Marine Board was established in 1995 to facilitate enhanced cooperation between European marine science organizations towards the development of a common vision on the research priorities and strategies for marine science in Europe. Members are either major national marine or oceanographic institutes, research funding agencies, or national consortia of universities with a strong marine research focus. In 2014, the Marine Board represents 35 Member Organizations from 18 countries. The Board provides the essential components for transferring knowledge for leadership in marine research in Europe. Adopting a strategic role, the Marine Board serves its member organizations by providing a forum within which marine research policy advice to national agencies and to the European Commission is developed, with the objective of promoting the establishment of the European marine Research Area. www.marineboard.eu European Marine Board Member Organizations UNIVERSITÉS MARINES Irish Marine Universities National Research Council of Italy Consortium MASTS Design: Zoeck nv Cover image: Diver surveying Pavlopetri Early Bronze Age site (Credit: J. Henderson) Land Beneath the Waves Submerged landscapes and sea level change A joint geoscience-humanities strategy for European Continental Shelf Prehistoric Research European Marine Board Position Paper 21 This position paper is based on the activities of the European Marine Board Working Group Submerged Landscapes (WG SUBLAND) Coordinating author & WG Chair Nicholas C. Flemming Contributing Authors Nicholas C. Flemming, M. Namık Çağatay, Francesco Latino Chiocci, Nena Galanidou, Gilles Lericolais, Hauke Jöns, Tine Missiaen, Fionnbarr Moore, Alar Rosentau, Dimitris Sakellariou, Birgitte Skar, Alan Stevenson, and Henk Weerts Series Editor Niall McDonough Publication Editors Nan-Chin Chu and Niall McDonough External Reviewer Peter Veth, Winthrop Professor in Archaeology, The University of Western Australia Observers and acknowledgement Geoff Bailey and Deukalion Planning Group (Annex 2) Anders Fischer, Sunhild Kleingärtner and Ian Oxley Drafts of this position paper were circulated for comment and information to Members of the European Archaeological Council, Working Group on the Underwater Cultural Heritage one month before its final revision for publication. Geoff Bailey, Fabrizio Antonioli and Martin Sayer are thanked for their contributions to the position paper. Suggested reference Flemming, N.C., Çağatay, M.N., Chiocci, F.L., Galanidou, N., Jöns, H., Lericolais, G., Missiaen, T., Moore, F., Rosentau, A., Sakellariou, D., Skar, B., Stevenson, A., Weerts, H. (2014) Land Beneath the Waves: Submerged landscapes and sea level change. A joint geoscience-humanities strategy for European Continental Shelf Prehistoric Research. Chu, N.C. and McDonough, N. (Eds.) Position Paper 21 of the European Marine Board, Ostend, Belgium. 171 pp. ISBN 978-94-920430-3-0 www.marineboard.eu [email protected] 2nd Ed. November 2014 Foreword Most people tend to consider the European map as fixed. However, in geological timescales our land-sea boundaries are in a continual state of change. The seabed stretching off many of our European coasts, now covered in tens of metres of water, was once dry land. These areas supported a terrestrial biota including, at a certain point in time, early human popula- tions. The idea that we once lived at the bottom of today’s seas is one that easily fires the human imagination. What is more surprising, and until recently poorly recognized, is that there remains an extensive archaeological record of early human settlement on the seabed and sub-seabed of our continental shelf seas. The study of this record and what it tells us about our early human ancestors, their lifestyles and movements over time influenced by a changing environment, is called Continental Shelf Prehistoric Research. Today the demands for space in our coastal seas are growing at a rapid pace. Human activities such as fishing, aquaculture, shipping, pipe and cable-laying (energy and telecommunications), dredging, offshore wind energy, defence and recreation are all competing for limited space. Many of these activities are also altering the marine environment. For the maritime archaeology community, these activities represent a double-edged sword. On the one hand they can damage and destroy culturally valuable sites and artefacts; on the other, they can alert us to the existence of sites that might otherwise have remained undiscovered. Managing the relationship between the research community and industry is a key issue addressed in this paper. Since adoption of the Integrated Maritime Policy in 2007, the EU has been working to promote a coherent and integrated approach to managing marine activities and resources in European seas. More recently, the EU Blue Growth Strategy has placed a clear policy priority on the need to expand our maritime economy, providing growth and employment in our coastal regions. In July 2014, the EU adopted a new Directive on Maritime Spatial Planning1, a key tool for achieving the goals of the IMP. In the text of the Directive, cultural heritage is recognized as one of the key “users of maritime space.” Recognition is finally being made that our submerged cultural heritage is not a renewable resource; it is a unique, irreplaceable cultural asset, which can provide answers to many research questions about our prehistoric ancestors, land- scapes and climate. In recent years there has been a major shift in the level of interest and coordination amongst a specialized community of researchers dedicated to Continental Shelf Prehistoric Research. This new integrated research field brings together diverse disciplines across the humanities and geosciences. Considerable momentum has been built through cross- disciplinary networking initiatives, including the now-complete COST action, SPLASHCOS. These initiatives, in conjunction with major advances in marine survey tools and technologies, have been the catalyst for the discovery of many new submerged sites. But there are still a potentially enormous number of sites which remain undiscovered. The European Marine Board (EMB) recognized the importance of addressing this issue and convened an expert working group to consider the next major research priorities and support mechanisms to allow progress in this field. This paper is the result of the extensive efforts of the SUBLAND working group, the members of which are listed inside the front cover. They have provided a comprehensive analysis of the state of the art in this field, the key opportunities and barriers to progress, and a coherent set of recommendations which can guide research funders and policy makers on how to advance the study and management of our submerged prehistoric cultural heritage. On behalf of the EMB member organizations, I would like to thank the members of the SUBLAND working group for their enthusiasm and commitment in delivering this excellent position paper. My particular thanks goes to Dr. Nic Flemming, the working group Chair, who has been tireless in his dedication to the SUBLAND initiative and has provided outstanding leadership throughout. Thanks also to Dr. Nan-Chin Chu of the EMB Secretariat for guiding the process with efficiency and professionalism. The paper that they have produced sets an agenda for future research and awareness-raising, and represents an important milestone in the development of Continental Shelf Prehistoric Research. Jan Mees Chair, European Marine Board 1 DIRECTIVE 2014/89/EU OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 23 July 2014 establishing a framework for maritime spatial planning. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=uriserv:OJ.L_.2014.257.01.0135.01.ENG Table of contents Foreword 2 Executive Summary 6 1. Introduction and policy context 8 1.1 Background and rationale 9 1.2 Policy context 15 1.3 About this position paper 17 2. Progress in Continental Shelf Prehistoric Research 20 2.1 Scientific achievements 21 2.2 Present interaction beyond academic communities 32 2.3 Legal background 34 3. Addressing challenges in research communities and collaboration structures 36 3.1 Research communities 38 3.2 Survey of cultural heritage agencies 39 3.3 Management for optimal collaboration and research themes 41 4. Tackling the problems of preservation, support and training 52 4.1 Threats to Continental Shelf Prehistoric Research 54 4.2 Turning threats into opportunities 56 4.3 Actions to tackle 66 5. Europe’s regional sea basins and data resources 70 5.1 Current understanding 72 5.2 Key features of European regional seas 76 5.3 Data sources 88 6. Research technology: Challenges and opportunities 94 6.1 Technology for underwater prehistoric research 96 6.2 Predictive modelling of submerged archaeological deposits 108 6.3 Future