Deep History of Sea Country: Climate, Sea Level and Culture

This project is funded by the Australian Research Council as Discovery Project DP170100812. The project will explore the submerged landscapes offshore of the Pilbara region in Western Australia that were exposed as dry land 50,000 years ago at the time of first human entry into Australia. The aim of the research is to map features of the offshore landscape and to identify and further investigate archaeological and palaeoenvironmental features using predictive archaeological modelling, acoustic and airborne survey, coring and divers. The project includes investigation of a submerged Danish shell midden to identify the acoustic and geoarchaeological signals associated with this type of underwater feature and hence to establish guidelines for the identification of submerged middens in other parts of the world