Germany: Submerged sites in the south-western Baltic Sea and the Wadden Sea
Jöns, H.; Lüth, F.; Mahlstedt, S.; Goldhammer, J.; Hartz, S.; Kühn, H.-J. (2020). Germany: Submerged sites in the south-western Baltic Sea and the Wadden Sea, in: Bailey, G. et al. The archaeology of Europe’s drowned landscapes. Coastal Research Library, 35: pp. 95-123. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37367-2_5 In: Coastal Research Library. Springer: Cham. ISSN 2211-0577; e-ISSN 2211-0585, more |  |
| Author keywords | Littorina transgression, Mesolithic, Neolithic, SINCOS project, Submerged landscapes, Submerged sites, Underwater archaeology |
| Authors | | Top | - Jöns, H.
- Lüth, F.
- Mahlstedt, S.
| - Goldhammer, J.
- Hartz, S.
- Kühn, H.-J.
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| Abstract | Only in the last 20 years have German research institutes and heritage agencies turned their attention to the investigation of the settlements that were inundated by rapid sea-level rise during the Holocene. Over 142 sites have been recorded so far, the majority on the Baltic coastline, and mostly of Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic date. Underwater excavations on the Baltic coast of sites such as Timmendorf-Nordmole, Neustadt and Strande demonstrate the presence of large and well-preserved assemblages of stone, antler and wooden artefacts and other cultural features, comparable to the better-known underwater settlements of Denmark. Research within the framework of the SINCOS project has led not only to the discovery of numerous Stone Age settlements but also to a high-resolution reconstruction of the changes in coastal palaeogeography associated with the Littorina transgression. It has also raised the profile of the submerged Stone Age as a significant feature of the cultural heritage and demonstrated the value of and the need for multi-disciplinary collaboration. Fewer finds have been recovered on the North Sea coast, and this reflects the different environmental history of marine transgression, the greater thickness of marine sediments masking the prehistoric land surface and the greater technical challenges required to access it. Most finds here have been disturbed, a notable exception being the Late Neolithic votive deposit of an aurochs at Hamburger Hallig. The situation is also influenced by the legal and structural requirements imposed on research and the protection of sites by the relevant authorities in the various federal states: Mecklenburg-West Pomerania (Baltic Sea), Schleswig-Holstein (North Sea and Baltic Sea) and Lower Saxony (North Sea). |
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