| Deep History : revealing the palaeolandscape and archaeological potential of the southern North Sea |
Period: January 2018
Status: In Progress
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| Institutes (9) | Top | - Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee (VLIZ), more, organiser
- Universiteit Gent (UGent), more, partner
- University of Bradford, more, partner
- University of Leeds, more, partner
- TNO Geological Survey of the Netherlands, more, partner
- Koninklijk Nederlands Instituut voor Onderzoek der Zee (NIOZ), more, partner
- Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, more, partner
- Rijksuniversiteit Groningen (RUG), more, partner
- Deltares, more, partner
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| Abstract | The ultimate goal of the Deep History project is to reconstruct the late Quaternary submerged buried palaeolandscape in the southern North Sea (palaeo-fluvial systems, proglacial lake, Holocene inundation) and its link to possible prehistoric human occupation. In 2018, 2019 and 2022, four seismic surveys (two onboard RV Belgica and two onboard RV Simon Stevin) were carried out in the larger Brown Bank area, which resulted in a unique dataset of unprecedented quality data. Targeted sampling in May 2019 resulted in the discovery of prehistoric landsurfaces, amongst which a peat surface, as well as several pieces wood and flint. In September 2019, a successful vibrocore survey was completed onboard the RV Simon Stevin targeting specific locations. In spring 2020 (April), a follow-up seismic survey was planned with the RV Belgica, which was cancelled due to Covid-restrictions; a new survey which had been requested for 2021 has also been cancelled. Despite continuing Covid-restrictions, a survey onboard the RV Simon Stevin went ahead in June 2021 and resulted in an extensive seismic dataset; data are currently being processed.
The aim of the 2022 Simon Stevin survey is primarily to obtain further vibrocores on a number of well-chosen locations in the wider Brown Bank area, based on existing and the new seismic data. We will of course continue collecting further seismic data in order to map particular areas in detail. By combining the seismic and ground-truth data, we continue to work towards an improved understanding of the late Glacial/early Holocene inundation of the area and the impact on human presence. All data will be shared, researched and discussed with our collaborators in Belgium, the Netherlands (TNO/Deltares: http://tiny.cc/mmllsz) and the UK (University of Bradford: https://goo.gl/blAlIM and University of Leeds: https://riser.leeds.ac.uk/). |
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