European Marine Prehistoric Research: Data

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European Marine Prehistoric Research Data
landscapes of the Continental Shelf

• EMODNET KICKOFF
• Nic Flemming
• National Oceanography Centre
• 4 June 2009

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Scope of data requirements

• The marine prehistoric research community is
  potentially a major user of the integrated and
  standardised data sets of European seas planned
  by EMODNET, but almost entirely for seabed
  topographic, geological and sub-seabed geological
  and bio-geochemical data.
• Overall Objectives
• Map the submerged prehistoric terrestrial
  landscape of the European continental shelf which
  was subaerially exposed during most of the
  Pleistocene Ice Ages, in sufficient detail to
  identify in context the environments of human
  dwelling places and discover and survey
  prehistoric occupation settlements and their
  cultural implications. Time range 1 million
  years.

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Legal basis and obligations

• UNCLOS defines all signatory states obligation
  to protect the subsea cultural heritage.
• Valetta Convention defines European states
  obligations including submerged prehistoric
  remains.
• UNESCO Convention on the Underwater Cultural
  Heritage has been signed by several European
  states. The protocol is widely accepted.
• National implementation of treaties and
  agreements varies, and depends upon states
  decisions to allocate responsibilities to
  national/regional heritage agencies, and the
  seaward limits of responsibilities.

4
Types of researchers agencies in the research
community

• Over 200 interested researchers from 27
  countries.
• COST Action 2009-2013 approved to provide
  networking and resources to develop a FP7
  proposal. (Project Deukalion).
• National geological agencies
• National Cultural Heritage/Archaeological
  Agencies.
• University archaeology departments, and Earth
  Sciences Departments.
• Oceanographic laboratories specialist marine
  archaeology groups.
• SMEs, instrumentation, survey, acoustics, data
  management, etc.

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Research objectives selected from Project
Deukalion and NSPRMF

• Identify areas of submerged shelf most important
  for hominin expansion and evolution in Europe.
• Palaeolithic re-population of deglaciated coastal
  zones.
• Human adaptation to climate change and rising sea
  level.
• Taphonomy of site formation and survival.
• Spread of farming along Mediterranean coast.
• Establish consistent sediment geochronology and
  dating across national boundaries.
• Develop palaeontological and palaeobotanical
  sequences.
• Establish palaeo-coastlines using seabed data.
• Develop river drainage patterns and sequence.
• Etc.

6
Global sea level for the last 500,000 years.
(bottom curve)
Sea level curve
Rohling et al. 1998, Nature 394. 162-165
7
GEBCO World Map Continental Shelf is grey-blue
area close to the continents. This area was dry
and vegetated, with rivers and soil and animals
during the Ice Ages of the last million
years. It adds 40 to the land area of
Europe. Insets show local river patterns on the
shelf. (Mercator projection)
8
Woolly Mammoth skull, Stellendam, 2006, courtesy
Dick Mol
9
Pavlopetri, May 2009. Survey of UW walls using
Kongsberg Mesotech 675 kHz sector scanning sonar.
Town is 5000 years old.
10
Mesolithic skull 7000 years old on the Baltic
seabed
3000 UW prehistoric sites identified in the Baltic
Pictures A. Fischer
Diver with carved antler
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RV Aegae, HCMR .Greece
Technology for Seabed Archaeology
Gas mixing
Oxygen gas bank, Midyan
RV Aegaeo HCMR, Greece
Mixed gas diver measuring cliff at 60m depth
MV Midyan
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EMODNET suggested contribution to and support for
offshore prehistory

• EMODNET does NOT need to be concerned about
  prehistoric archaeological data at the level of
  single sites, settlements or artefacts.
• The customer requirement within the EMODNET data
  parameters is for the mapping and
  characterisation of submerged landscapes for the
  last 1 million years at standard time steps and
  spatial resolution, out to a sea depth of 150m

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Required data types from the draft of WP1 for
Project Deukalion

• Slides following..

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• Data types which are (or are probably) integrated
  in a standard way which can be accessed
  electronically for most European coastal states
  sea areas of jurisdiction.
• Digitised modern coastline (specify accuracy and
  resolution). (Check relevance of Google Earth).
  (Also, ESA, NASA images).
• 2. Mapping of wetlands and coastal zone (in
  progress in some countries) ESA/NASA images.
• 3. Solid geology, seabed outcrop geology at low
  resolution (Scale, level of detail. Typically
  published by the National Geological Service).
  (DG MARE Commissioned project).
• 4. Bathymetry, digitised charts (Hydrographic
  Offices) raw data variable datums, commercial
  restrictions on high resolution data DG MARE
  plan to produce European digitised gridded
  bathymetry at 200-400m resolution during 2009.
  Some poorly surveyed areas, not resurveyed in 100
  years. EDINA digimap marine data for UK, and
  other national equivalents.
• 5. Seabed sediment classification map series
  digitised maps. (examples for North Sea by BGS,
  Norway, Netherlands, etc). (Specify resolution,
  and standardised sediment classification system).

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Data types for which the metadata have usually
been centralised at a European level through EC
programmes or at National level. Access to data
could be difficult or laborious. 6. National
inventories of monuments, cultural heritage, or
antiquities, possibly with dedicated sections for
coastal, intertidal, and marine sites, artefacts,
and landscapes. (NOT EMODNET) 7. Seabed sediment
samples. EU-SEASED, a searchable internet
database of seabed samples and cores held by
European Geological Surveys and research
institutes. 300,000 samples listed. 8. EUROCORE,
searchable online inventory of seabed cores held
in Europe. Many cores have not been analysed, so
this only tells us that they exist. 40,000 cores
listed. 9. Swath bathymetry. DG MARE is
compiling a total inventory of archived swath
bathymetric data, including commercially held
data. To be completed in 2009. 10. EUMARSIN.
Marine sediment data. Over 140,000 entries.
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Data types for which access can be obtained to
use the data on a case by case basis, depending
on classification and confidentiality. 11. 3-D
acoustic shallow penetration and seismic data.
Access for research purposes has been obtained
for much North Sea data. 12. Single track
seismics and sub-bottom profiling. 13.
Commercially held swath bathymetry. 14.
Precision bathymetry held on a commercial basis
by national hydrographic offices, and marketed.
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Data types for which there is no known
centralised integration at European level. 15.
National or sub-national inventories of submerged
prehistoric sites. Major example Denmark, plus
the German Baltic coast, possibly Greece.
National monuments records which may contain
mention of coastal, wetland, or submerged
prehistoric sites. (See also item 6). (NOT
EMODNET) 16. Palynology from marine sediments
and cores. 17. Foraminifera and beetles and
other indicator species from marine cores. 18.
Peat occurrence in marine cores. 19. Carbon-14
or other date calibrations from marine cores and
sediment samples. 20. DNA from marine cores and
sediment samples. 21. Comparative evaluation of
estimates of positions of palaeo-shorelines. 22.
Palaeo-ice cap margins and thickness.
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Research projects producing models or gridded
data sets of interest to Project Deukalion, and
which we could not generate (usually) within the
project, except at a local or regional
level. 23. INQUA, IGCP, IGBP, PAGES, CLIVAR,
etc., producing complex multi-variable models of
past climate conditions, on global or regional
scales. 24. Palaeo-oceanographic conditions (eg.
MARGO). 25. Local and regional Sea Level
Curves 26. Palaeo-isostatic recovery
maps/palaeo-shorelines. (eg. SINCOS) (Many
regional papers by Kurt Lambeck and others). 27.
Palaeo-river valley maps. (Lautridou, and
others). 28. Palaeo-climate reconstructions with
seasonal temperature, precipitation, wind-speed
etc. 29. Palaeo-ice sheet reconstruction, date,
ice margins
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Advanced systems for data access, integration,
and manipulation. Some of these really come
under the heading of Data Management and belong
in WP8, but it is worth noting them. 30. DG
MARE European Atlas of the Sea 31. EGEE,
GENESI-DR, GRID, etc. 32. SEADATANET, EMODNET,
MODEG, ECOOP, etc. 33. Specialist software
packages for geospatial data merging, and
manipulation.
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WHY URGENT NOW?

• From 1900-1980 the objectives were obvious but
  unachievable. Only scattered random finds.
• Evidence now that there is widespread
  preservation and favourable taphonomy.
• UW prehistoric landscapes sites do exist.
• Accumlated seabed data from FP5, 6 , 7.
• New computing and integrated data capablities.
• We know now the penalties of inaction and there
  are legal obligations. Erosion and industrial
  destruction of sites can be observed.

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Palaeolithic Hand Axes from UK Area 240, March
2008, Amersfoort.
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Thank you for listening.