SEMINAR: Archaeology Seminar Series 2017

Work in Australia aimed at finding prehistoric submerged archaeology is just beginning. For the NW Shelf, knowledge is increasing rapidly on its preserved drowned palaeoshorelines and palaeotidal simulations. Using the modern shelf as a reference, we rate past changes in shelf dynamics over the last 40 ky. We overlay past sea levels on modern bathymetry, and use basic principles of geomorphology and sediment transport to add likely coastal sediments. Results are presented as computer-based visualisations, representing potential post-glacial coastal changes on the NWS. The past development of coastal resources and their potential human use are primarily controlled not by sea level per se, but by 2nd and 3rd order effects associated with the movement of sediments and resultant variations in coastal sedimentary environments. Considering such sedimentary processes will improve targeted prospection of submerged cultural sites, and will help stimulate new ways to include such fundamental information in conceptual models of human occupation.