Settlement archaeology under water: Practical, strategic and research perspectives

The paper discusses the perspectives and consequences that arise from ongoing developments in maritime archaeology involving a shift in focus predominantly on shipwrecks to one concentrating on submerged settlements - primarily from the Stone Age - down to depths of 140 m. More specifically, it deals with the practical problems (and possible solutions) associated with mapping settlements, which is a more difficult operation than the mapping of shipwrecks. Firstly, the paper discusses the scientific value of submerged settlements in relation to those accessible on land, for example the good conditions for the preservation of organic artefacts, environmental data, aDNA etc. Furthermore, social anthropological data suggest that the groups we find evidence of along the highly productive prehistoric marine coast lines may well have differed from inland groups who were unable to extend their territories out to the coast. Secondly, it outlines some possible methodological solutions to our present problem of cost-effective site mapping, all based on acoustics. Finally, the paper discusses strategic and legislative perspectives associated with the new maritime archaeological focus on settlements and new technological possibilities in this respect. This change of focus in archaeology, underpinned by the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage, raises many important economic and strategic questions; these are discussed.