A Multi‐disciplinary Approach to the Archaeological Investigation of a Bedrock‐Dominated Shallow‐Marine Landscape: an example from the Bay of Firth,Orkney, UK |
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| Authors: | Martin R Bates Nigel Nayling Richard Bates Sue Dawson Dei Huws Caroline Wickham‐Jones |
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| Institution: | 1. School of Archaeology, History and Anthropology, University of Wales Trinity Saint David, Lampeter, Ceredigion, Wales. SA48 7ED;2. Department of Earth Sciences and Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. KY16 9AL;3. Geography Department, School of the Environment, University of Dundee, Perth Rd, Dundee, Scotland. DD1 4HN;4. School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University, Menai Bridge, Anglesey, Wales. LL59 5AB;5. Archaeology Department, University of Aberdeen, St Mary's Building, Elphinstone Road, Aberdeen, Scotland. AB24 3UF |
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| Abstract: | Investigation of shallow‐marine environments for submerged prehistoric archaeology can be hampered in many localities by extensive bedrock exposure and thus limited preservation potential. Using the concept of ‘seamless archaeology’ where land‐based archaeology is integrated across the intertidal zone through to the offshore, a multi‐disciplinary approach is essential. This approach taken in the Bay of Firth, Orkney uses geophysics, historical archive and ethno‐archaeology, coastal geomorphology, palaeo‐environmental analyses and sea‐level science, and allows a clearer understanding of the landscape in which prehistoric settlers lived. While acknowledging the limitations of the preserved environment, we are successful in identifying areas of archaeological potential on the sea‐bed for both upstanding structural elements as well as sediment preservation that contains evidence for human occupation. This has wider implications beyond Orkney's World Heritage sites to provide a blueprint for similar studies elsewhere in the coastal zone. © 2012 The Authors |
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| Keywords: | submerged landscapes archaeology prehistory bathymetry |
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