Papers by Nicholas Flemming
Submerged Continental Shelf Prehistory
Encyclopedia of earth sciences, Aug 12, 2016
The Role of the Submerged Prehistoric Landscape in Ground-Truthing Models of Human Dispersal During the Last Half Million Years
Coastal research library, 2017
Human genome analysis and research into fossil anthropogenic nuclear DNA and mitochondrial DNA ar... more Human genome analysis and research into fossil anthropogenic nuclear DNA and mitochondrial DNA are providing many new insights into hominin diffusion and migration over the past half million years. The beginning and end data on migration routes frequently imply that the migration involved crossing a present sea-channel or marginal basin, or migrating along the present continental shelf. However, there are very few attempts to correlate the models based on DNA with in situ archaeological and palaeoenvironmental data from the continental shelf or shelf marginal seas. Yet a significant number of sites are available for such correlation. Over 3000 submerged prehistoric archaeological sites on the continental shelf are known worldwide, varying in depth from the nearshore to about −100 m and ranging in age from 5000 years to >0.5 million years. Sites have been found off the coast of every continent except Antarctica. Most of the sites found so far are shallower than 10–20 m, with a few deeper than 40 m, and none are in the tropics. The submerged sites found so far exist in a very wide range of taphonomic conditions and climatic zones, confirming that sites could be found to provide empirical tests of the many different proposed migration routes. The principal exception is that no sites have yet been found between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn and the so-called Southern Route cannot yet be checked until the submerged landscape has been mapped in sufficient detail indicating where sites might survive and be identified. In all other geographic regions it is recommended that DNA models and seabed data are examined for consistency and mutual benefit. Further work is needed to identify submerged sites and landscapes in the tropics.
Submerged Continental Shelf Prehistory
Encyclopedia of Geoarchaeology, 2016
New Environmental Information
Identifying market and policy decisions impacted by
On 7 June 2012, volume 486, page 34, Nature published a comment from SPLASHCOS members in its cor... more On 7 June 2012, volume 486, page 34, Nature published a comment from SPLASHCOS members in its correspondence section under the title ‘Migration: value of submerged early sites’, in response to an editorial news feature published on 3 May 2012, entitled ‘Special Issue: Peopling the Planet’. Our comment pointed out the neglect of the submerged landscape in their coverage of early human dispersals, and was published in abbreviated form with three signatories, to meet with Nature guidelines. The original article on ‘Peopling the Planet’ was published in Nature 485, 23 (03 May 2012) doi:10.1038/485023a. The text of the comment as abbreviated and published in Nature 486, 34 (07 June 2012; doi:10.1038/486034a), is given below, followed by the full version of the comment and the full list of signatories.
The Role of the Submerged Prehistoric Landscape in Ground-Truthing Models of Human Dispersal During the Last Half Million Years
Under the Sea: Archaeology and Palaeolandscapes of the Continental Shelf, 2017
Human genome analysis and research into fossil anthropogenic nuclear DNA and mitochondrial DNA ar... more Human genome analysis and research into fossil anthropogenic nuclear DNA and mitochondrial DNA are providing many new insights into hominin diffusion and migration over the past half million years. The beginning and end data on migration routes frequently imply that the migration involved crossing a present sea-channel or marginal basin, or migrating along the present continental shelf. However, there are very few attempts to correlate the models based on DNA with in situ archaeological and palaeoenvironmental data from the continental shelf or shelf marginal seas. Yet a significant number of sites are available for such correlation. Over 3000 submerged prehistoric archaeological sites on the continental shelf are known worldwide, varying in depth from the nearshore to about −100 m and ranging in age from 5000 years to >0.5 million years. Sites have been found off the coast of every continent except Antarctica. Most of the sites found so far are shallower than 10–20 m, with a few deeper than 40 m, and none are in the tropics. The submerged sites found so far exist in a very wide range of taphonomic conditions and climatic zones, confirming that sites could be found to provide empirical tests of the many different proposed migration routes. The principal exception is that no sites have yet been found between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn and the so-called Southern Route cannot yet be checked until the submerged landscape has been mapped in sufficient detail indicating where sites might survive and be identified. In all other geographic regions it is recommended that DNA models and seabed data are examined for consistency and mutual benefit. Further work is needed to identify submerged sites and landscapes in the tropics.
Global experience in locating submerged prehistoric sites and their relevance to research on the American continental shelves
The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology, 2020
Abstract Over 3000 seabed prehistoric sites globally have been discovered by archaeologists. Site... more Abstract Over 3000 seabed prehistoric sites globally have been discovered by archaeologists. Sites submerged by deglaciating rise of the sea and showing hominin remains of various dates have been found off the coasts of China, Japan, South Africa, throughout the Mediterranean, off the coasts of all European countries, and off American coasts. The age range is from 5000 years to over 300,000 years. Most sites date from the post-glacial 20,000 years. The majority of submerged sites were found by chance and then studied by academic researchers. The archaeology of finds and stratified deposits has been integrated into geophysical and sedimentary mapping of the shelf, including paleo-environmental landscapes. The development of marine-based diets and exploitation of coastal marine resources at dates earlier than 5000 BP can only be studied at submerged prehistoric sites. Seabed sites can preserve organics such as wood, bone, and textiles. The evidence for coastwise migration or diffusion of populations has been considered on submerged shelves such as the southern Red Sea, SE Asia, and Beringia. Most known deposits, especially stratified deposits, are on broad low gradient continental shelves, usually where the terrain is undulating, or in large coastal inlets, marginal seas, ria valleys, and in the shelter of islands or archipelagos. No sites have been found in the global tropical zone. Research in some countries has been promoted by collaboration between marine geoscience institutions and archaeological institutes and university departments. Priorities of research targets in Europe are human response to sea level change, origins of marine resource exploitation, migration routes on the continental shelf, early seafaring, earliest phases of coastal sedentism, and paleo-landscapes. Research on the seabed has proved that a wide range of fundamental questions related to archaeology and paleo-anthropology can already be studied efficiently underwater with valuable academic results.
Quaternary Science Reviews, 2008
We provide a critical review of the evidence for the long-term use of marine resources and coasta... more We provide a critical review of the evidence for the long-term use of marine resources and coastal environments in human evolution and later development. We emphasise the importance of the coastal archaeological record in understanding patterns of human settlement and dispersal and draw attention to the large potential biases introduced by the destructive or obscuring effects of Pleistocene sea-level change. We note that lowered sea levels have been the norm for most of the Pleistocene and that periods of high sea level have been too short-lived to provide other than a fragmentary coastal record and one that is beset with ambiguities and uncertainties. We examine the geological processes of coastal uplift and underwater preservation that may help to mitigate these biases. Coastlines elevated by isostatic and tectonic processes, or with very steep offshore drop-offs at plate boundaries, are important in providing a potential window into coastal landscapes and archaeology formed during periods of lowered sea level. However, we conclude that the opportunities afforded by these geological factors are too limited to obviate the need for underwater exploration. We review the evidence now available from submerged landscapes across the Africa-Eurasia interface from the Atlantic coastlines of Northwest Europe to the southern Red Sea. We show that geomorphological conditions for the preservation of archaeological and palaeoenvironmental data are commonly present, that much material has already been discovered, and that new techniques, technologies and projects are providing the momentum for a rapidly expanding field of investigation. The results do not simply add to what we already know from sites on land, but are likely to produce qualitatively different evidence for coastal adaptations and landscapes that have no analogue on present-day coastlines. We note the strong probability that many coastal landscapes exposed at lowered sea level provided relatively fertile and productive refugia for plants, land mammals and humans at a time when increased aridity would have reduced or deterred hinterland occupation. We conclude that underwater investigation is essential if hypotheses of early human adaptation and dispersal are to be fully tested.
Under the Sea: Archaeology and Palaeolandscapes - Book of Abstracts
Mesolithic Studies in the North Sea Basin and Beyond - Edited by Clive Waddington and Kristian Pedersen, Mapping Doggerland. The Mesolithic Landscapes of the Southern North Sea - Edited by Vincent Gaffney, Kenneth Thomson and Simon Fitch, and Mesolithic Settlement in the North Sea Basin: A Case S...
International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, 2008
Most people tend to consider the European map as fixed. However, in geological timescales our lan... more Most people tend to consider the European map as fixed. However, in geological timescales our land-sea boundaries are in a continual state of change. The seabed stretching off many of our European coasts, now covered in tens of metres of water, was once dry land. These areas supported a terrestrial biota including, at a certain point in time, early human populations. The idea that we once lived at the bottom of today's seas is one that easily fires the human imagination. What is more surprising, and until recently poorly recognized, is that there remains an extensive archaeological record of early human settlement on the seabed and sub-seabed of our continental shelf seas. The study of this record and what it tells us about our early human ancestors, their lifestyles and movements over time influenced by a changing environment, is called Continental Shelf Prehistoric Research. This paper is the result of the extensive efforts of the SUBLAND working group, the members of which are listed inside the front cover. They have provided a comprehensive analysis of the state of the art in this field, the key opportunities and barriers to progress, and a coherent set of recommendations which can guide research funders and policy makers on how to advance the study and management of our submerged prehistoric cultural heritage. On behalf of the EMB member organizations, I would like to thank the members of the SUBLAND working group for their enthusiasm and commitment in delivering this excellent position paper. My particular thanks goes to Dr. Nic Flemming, the working group Chair, who has been tireless in his dedication to the SUBLAND initiative and has provided outstanding leadership throughout. Thanks also to Dr. Nan-Chin Chu of the EMB Secretariat for guiding the process with efficiency and professionalism. The paper that they have produced sets an agenda for future research and awareness-raising, and represents an important milestone in the development of Continental Shelf Prehistoric Research.
MAMA-Towards a new paradigm for ocean monitoring in the Mediterranean
Elsevier Oceanography Series, 2003
Sustainable development requires the intelligent management of the marine environment, to protect... more Sustainable development requires the intelligent management of the marine environment, to protect the marine ecosystem, minimise the impacts of climate change and anthropogenic influences, and provide benefits for a wide range of users. Routine ocean monitoring and forecasting based on sound science, long term and adaptive monitoring, and co-operation between nations, is the main tool for such a management. The
Global and Planetary Change, 2011
Sea level trends in the Mediterranean Sea and their forcing parameters are explored. Multi-decada... more Sea level trends in the Mediterranean Sea and their forcing parameters are explored. Multi-decadal trends from available tide gauge records are estimated together with the contribution of the oceanic (steric and mass variations) and atmospheric (pressure and wind) changes as well as land movements (including GIA). Each forcing factor is considered as an independent process creating its own signal on a tide gauge, and subject to uncertainties of measurement, deduction or interpretation of proxy data for that factor. The paper is focused on the uncertainty of the estimate of each forcing factor, including the estimate of the eustatic part affecting the Mediterranean Sea, obtained by subtracting GIA and land movements obtained from geomorphological and archaeological data at the tide gauge stations.
Submarine prehistoric archaeology of the North Sea: research priorities and collaboration with industry
Proceedings of the …, 2007
We explore the proposition that the Red Sea Basin was an attractive coastal habitat for human set... more We explore the proposition that the Red Sea Basin was an attractive coastal habitat for human settlement in early prehistory and an important zone of cultural contact and population dispersal between Africa and Asia, rather than a barrier. We use the global record of sea-level change associated with the glacial-interglacial cycle to reconstruct the position of shorelines at different periods, taking into account isostatic and tectonic movements of the Earth's crust. We demonstrate that the Bab al-Mandab Straits would have been reduced to a shallow and narrow channel at the time of lowered sea levels that persisted for most of the glacial period, posing very little obstacle to human movement, even in the absence of watercraft. At the same time, the persistence of low sea levels means that any record of coastal settlement is mostly submerged and inaccessible without underwater exploration. Palaeolithic sites on the present-day coastline are difficult to evaluate because they are mostly surface finds of stone tools lacking stratigraphic context or absolute dates, and are in any case associated, at best, with earlier and short-lived episodes of high sea level. We have therefore begun archaeological survey and underwater exploration in the Farasan Islands. We have recorded approximately 1000 sites on land, mostly shell mounds formed during the past 6000 years. These sites are typically associated with waveundercut coral platforms formed at the shore edge, and shallow embayments rich in molluscs and other marine life. We have shown that similar features can be found under water down to depths of at least 60 m, representing shorelines formed at periods of lower sea level, and that these features can be mapped, sampled and photographed by diving teams using mixed gas diving technologies. Future work will be extended to the search for archaeological sites associated with these submerged features.
Conference valedictory speech
Elsevier Oceanography Series, 2003
Guidelines for futue sediment-related research in the Mediterranean Sea
Journal of Sedimentary Research
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Papers by Nicholas Flemming