Deep History of Sea Country

Watering Cove

It’s late July, and Peter Ross and I are here joining in the very last field trip at Watering Cove for Murujuga: Dynamics of the Dreaming ARC Linkage project, led by one of our Sea Country CIs, Jo McDonald.  It is another opportunity to familiarise ourselves with the kinds of landscapes and archaeological sites that might have been drowned during the post-glacial transgression.

Watering Cove has great diversity of landscapes – towering boulders and cliffs overlook dune deposits, mangrove and salt flat environments, and wide beaches, seaward of which is an extensive reef limestone platform. At the northern end of Watering Cove, is an ancient eroded dyke on which the majority of rock art is found. This extends right down into the ocean.  We look hopefully for rock art in the shallow waters around the dkye but find nothing. Further south is the wide dry creek above which we are camped.

Peter has already been here a week, helping to excavate the dune deposits. There were a range of midden deposits which have been explored by the team, and at their deepest (over 2m) it would seem likely that these are still only early Holocene in age. When I turn up, some of the team is moving to an inland valley to excavate a dense midden site in an area known as “Old Geos”, named after the many ancient geometric rock art motifs in the surrounding galleries.  The area also hosts a number of stone circle arrangements and some possible standing stones. The surface midden here is Anadara (known to be a late Holocene phenomenon): below this is an older Terebralia (Mangrove species) layer, and below this is an artefacts layer with no shellfish remains.  As is typical, on the last day, in the last spit, Peter finds a horsehoof core – an indication that the earliest occupation of this site may be even older and more complex than initially thought.

These archaeological sites and the landscape features around them, record the changing dynamics of the region. Although the resolution in most sites is coarse, covering millennia rather than centuries, the combined record provides the detail of this change.  In the same way, no single underwater site can reveal the nature of the drowned coastline.  The current archaeological landscapes will provide the critical analogues to guide our underwater explorations.

Professor Mads Kähler Holst, Executive Director of Moesgaard Museum

For the last 4 years I have been at the Moesgaard Museum involved in defining new strategies for the Danish Maritime Archaeology. As part of a reorganisation of the National Heritage Management, the museum became responsible for the cultural heritage and archaeological investigations in the maritime waters around Jutland, mainland Denmark. From the start, it was evident that the submerged prehistoric landscapes (of the Stone Age) would be our focus. The fact that such a large part of the early prehistoric landscape is submerged together with the inaccessibility makes them incredibly valuable cultural sites. They are often incredibly rich as archaeological deposits and many of them yet to be discovered. In addition, the relatively protected waters and the high organic contents of the marine sediments in the Danish waters mean that we often have an extraordinary preservation of the sites. Bone and wood artefacts that have completely disappeared on dry ground are sometimes fully preserved and have revealed new complex ornaments and technologies. In this way, maritime archaeology in Denmark offers up not only more sites, but discoveries show a completely different side of those early prehistoric cultures compared to what we find by the Archaeology of dry land.

The main challenge is that the scale of the questions we would like to answer often collides with the relatively slow speed and added costs associated with working on underwater investigations. For that reason, we are increasingly trying to find new strategies and methods that will allow us to target our investigations better. The Deep History of Sea Country project is a very important part of this development.

My own background is a PhD in Prehistoric Archaeology from 2004. My research has revolved around several large-scale research excavations mainly from the Bronze and Iron Ages, in the last years particularly wetland sites. In 2014 I became Professor of Archaeological Methods at Aarhus University and since last year I have been executive director of Moesgaard Museum.

Dr Peter Moe Astrup, Moesgaard Museum, Curator of Maritime Archaeology

Since 2000 I have been involved in investigations of submerged Stone Age sites and from 2011-2015 this became a central theme in my PhD project “Sea-level changes in Mesolithic southern Scandinavia – Long and short term effects on society and the environment”. In this project, more than 1.200 ¹⁴C dated sea-level index points (SLIP) were collected from geological and archaeological contexts in order to determine the coastline displacement during the Mesolithic period. In addition by using these models, diving surveys were targeted to clarify the extent to which marine resources were utilized along the Early Mesolithic coastlines.

Between 2011 and 2016 I have lectured sessionally on the Mesolithic, Coastline modelling and underwater archaeology at Aarhus University and University of Southern Denmark. After completing the PhD project in 2015, I was made a permanent member of staff as Maritime Archaeologist at Moesgaard Museum. Here, I have had the ability to initiate new projects that aims to explore the submerged landscapes/settlements, as well as developing new methods for this purpose. We will be undertaking new and potentially exciting developments within the DHSC project that we hope will also be applicable outside of Denmark, and contribute positively to World Archaeology and Maritime Archaeology on an international scale.

Claus Skriver, Moesgaard Museum, Curator of Maritime Archaeology

I completed my Masters in Prehistoric and Medieval Archeology at Aarhus University in 1999, with my thesis on a use-wear study of lithic material from the Neolithic. Since then I have been employed at Moesgaard Museum as a specialist in Maritime Archaeology, where I have led numerous field and lab-based projects. In 2003 I received my professional diver certificate and together with conservator, the late Jesper Frederiksen, we started the Maritime Archeology research program at Moesgaard in 2004. Since that time, we have developed the program which now includes maritime responsibilities for the waters along the Jutland Coast and the Inland Lakes. Our facilities include all of the equipment needed to undertake survey, recording, excavation and conservation of underwater archaeological material.

I am an underwater archaeologists and curator, and my daily work is Cultural Heritage Management both on Land and Sea. I also am responsible for the cooperation between the three maritime museums in Jutland. Since the beginning of the excavation on Hjarnø Sund site in 2010 I have been the lead investigator for the field campaigns and overall project including fundraising and planning. The initial work at Hjarnø was started in 2010, when significant erosion of the site was first observed. In order to collect as much archaeological material as possible before it was lost, we began a research program that focused on the preservation of organic materials, especially botanical and zoological data in addition to archaeological artefacts that might be present in inundated shellmiddens and layer of Gytja. To maintain consistency in field methods and research focus over the coming years, I am participating in the research at Hjarnø with the DHSC project which we hope will build on the existing work and provide new and important archaeological data.

My interests have always revolved around a love for the ocean, the arts and archaeology. As an undergraduate at Coastal Carolina University (USA), I majored in marine science with two minors, coastal geology and art history. I became interested in how geophysical techniques could add a new dimension to studying marine environments in support of marine geological and maritime archaeological research. In particular, I became interested in prehistory and the environmental influences that affected early cultures. At the moment, I’m working as a marine geologist in Florida while I do my MA in maritime archeology through Flinders. Luckily, modern day technology allows external students to stay in close communication with fellow researchers, which is important.

The research team here in Denmark is extraordinary; it’s made up of everything from geomorphologists and geoarchaeologists to coastal prehistorians and specialists in Ertebølle culture. Along with Dr Paul Baggley (CTO at Wessex Archaeology and Adjunct Lecturer in Maritime Archaeology at Flinders), my job is to run the geophysical equipment (sidescan sonar and a sub-bottom profiler) which will give us a better understanding of the site’s submerged surface and subsurface. Although Horsens Fjord is protected on all sides from major weather events, which gives the appearance of calm waters, undertaking work on the site has proven to be a challenge. Weather and sea conditions have not been particularly favorable; certainly not ideal for geophysical or diving operations. As we ran our survey, we had to dodge boulders hidden just below the water’s surface while making sure we didn’t run aground in the shallower waters. As with all research, you persist and we were able to collect great data in the end.

After completion of the geophysical operations, I joined the scientific dive team. We excavated the midden in one meter increments, carefully sifting through the material for further analysis. Now the real fun begins: data processing and writing. It’s going to be a big job. The geophysical data will be processed and interpreted based on its returned signals and ground truthed samples (geological samples) collected by other members of the Deep History of Sea Country (DHSC) project team Dr. Ingrid Ward and Peter Ross, as well as scientists at Moesgaard Museum. In terms of the environmental analysis from the site, the geophysical survey, aerial survey, geotechnical data and excavations will be used in combined efforts for further interpretations, we should know by the end of the year what we got.

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As the months progress over this next year, we will work to finalize our data findings in support of next season’s field operations. It is an exciting venture to view the archaeological information as the site reveals itself with further data analysis. I look forward to working with the DHSC research team next season to dig further into the wealth of knowledge which still lays submerged beneath the sea’s surface.

Having completed my Masters in Maritime Archaeology at Flinders in 2009, I began as a PhD candidate for the Deep History of Sea Country project in March of this year. In between, I’ve been working in cultural heritage management in my home country of Canada, with occasional forays into research-based digs in Europe. My particular interest is to study the formation, degradation, and erosion of archaeological features that have been subjected to one or more episodes of sea-level transgression. Understanding the effects of these phenomena will help allow us to identify archaeological features during underwater investigations in Australia.

I am in Denmark to help excavate a transgressed shell midden on the island of Hjarnø, and to study whether analyses of associated lithic materials could aid in that interpretation. Denmark is known for its approximately 500 shell middens from the Mesolithic period, and about the same number from the Neolithic. During the week prior to our excavation I visited some of the documented shell midden sites throughout Jutland in an attempt to get an idea of how these massive archaeological features might react to transgression. Of course, I also found time to visit the incredible Moesgaard Museum, for a side trip to Silkeborg to view the famous Tollund Man, and to visit numerous ship burials. There is so much amazing archaeology in Denmark, and a great place to study shell middens!

My time on Hjarnø has included many tasks. In addition to the excavation of a transgressed shell midden, I’ve been involved with using sidescan sonar for identifying underwater sediments and geology, collecting core samples for more detailed sediment assessment, the seemingly endless collection of photos for building photogrammetry models, geological observations of eroding cliff faces, and archaeological surveys of beach areas.

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We’re going to finish our work on Hjarnø in the next few days, but look forward to our return next year. I’ve decided to stay in Denmark for an extra week though in order to immerse myself in the archaeological library at Mosegaard Museum. Our colleagues at Moesgaard have also invited me to participate in the excavation of a submerged log-boat, dated to around the same time period as the formation of many of the shell middens I’ve been studying.

From time-to-time, our Project Blog will feature guest posts from specific team members or project partners. Our first of such posts comes from Professor Geoff Bailey of the University of York (UK) and Flinders University of South Australia (and the senior member of the DHSC project leadership). 

DHSC project team guest blog post: Prof. Geoff Bailey

For someone who has spent half a lifetime looking at shell middens and shell mounds in many parts of the world, and in recent years has attempted to find underwater examples offshore of known shell mounds on land, so far without success, this week on the Danish island of Hjarnø has introduced me to my first experience of a genuine submerged shell midden deposit.

The first sign of the underwater midden from land is an intertidal zone exposed at low tide and littered with flint artefacts and shells. The location is close inshore in shallow water on the edge of a channel, between the island and the mainland just 600 m away. This is exactly the sort of location expected according to Anders Fischer’s fishing site model. The sceptic in me wonders if the intertidal material has been eroded downslope from a mound that once stood on the ridge behind the modern beach. My Danish archaeological colleague Peter Moe Astrup, who first excavated the site seven years ago, assures me that this is material from the surface of a submerged midden just 20 metres further out under water. Some of this shell deposit is protected under a layer of peat and sand, but some has become exposed. It is material from here that has been gently washed ashore by tidal currents. Since the excavation of the submerged shell midden revealed an in situ hearth in the shell deposit, and bones of fish and land mammals and artefacts of flint, bone and antler typical of the classic Ertebølle, I am persuaded that the underwater deposit must be a pre-inundation in situ deposit.

The site itself is some 20 metres further out in shallow water scarcely more than a metre deep, so it is quite easy to inspect the surface of the site visible on the seabed. The shell midden layer shows large oysters, cockles and mussels, typical of shells collected for food, shell fragments and a dense litter of flint artefacts, mostly with fresh and unpatinated surfaces. But here’s another surprise. There are also large numbers of large shells of species not present in the prehistoric midden – razor shells and a species of large, thin-shelled clam. Moreover, some of the cockle shells are clearly of modern animals. This becomes apparent when I pick up a large cockle with the pair of valves intact and shut – not unknown in archaeological middens – only to find, after prising the valves apart, a live animal inside. So, the surface of the ancient midden is a mixture of modern and ancient shells from very different periods of time – in short, our familiar friend a palimpsest. Telling the modern shells that have died naturally from the prehistoric ones collected as food is not at all easy, and would be even less so when coming across a shell deposit elsewhere on the seabed with no prior knowledge. The gjytta layers are even more interesting. Peter points out a half-buried antler axe, fishes up a neatly cut segment of round hazel wood, and casually asks me to watch out for a sandbag that is protecting a partly emerged wooden log boat. What wouldn’t I give to find evidence like this in any of the other parts of the world where I have worked? Yet here in Denmark it is a struggle to get sufficient funding to do justice to the recovery of this remarkable material.

Another first for me is that I was persuaded to don a dry suit to go into the water and take a closer look. For the uninitiated like me, a wet suit lets some water through to keep a thin layer of warming water against the skin. A dry suit keeps you and your underclothes completely dry, or at any rate it is supposed to. Since I’m borrowing somebody else’s dry suit, I discover that I’ll have to take off some of my ordinary day clothes to struggle inside this rubbery ‘onesie’ garment, immediately risking the sacrifice of warmth for access. This is Denmark in early summer, much like home in England – cold, wet and windy most of the time with occasional spells of blue sky and bursts of sun. The rubber seal at the holds my throat in a near strangulating grip. I am given a safety brief on how to recover if I fall underwater and all the buoyant air in the suit goes to the feet. Not for the first time, I wonder what I am letting myself in for in taking part in an underwater archaeological project. Once in the water and submerged up to my chest, I hold a stake attached to a guideline for the best part of an hour while John McCarthy holds the other end 50 m away and keeps an eye on my progress. Jonathan Benjamin swims over the seabed with a snorkel and a camera to create a map of the seabed surface. I find myself continuously fighting to keep my footing against the power of the waves and the wind as I move the stake to the next point on the grid. But I know, as a conventional land-based archaeologist, that I cannot begin to understand what is involved in underwater work without participating in this way.

Much of the first few days have been like any other field project – trying out equipment to discover what’s missing or doesn’t work, adapting to local conditions, and working out by trial and error the best way to do things. For an underwater project, these uncertainties are amplified by the added logistical complexities associated with boats, underwater equipment and the vagaries of changing weather, tidal currents, wind and waves. A first spell of survey with a sidescan sonar on a small boat is aborted because the rain sets in and the laptop supplied with the equipment is not a waterproof model, the battery charger on one of the underwater video cameras is playing up, and a first attempt at underwater video photography over the site area has to be abandoned because of poor visibility. The drone has been damaged in transit and needs to be looked at by the nearest service agent. Civilisation in the form of wifi and other vital supplies lies on the mainland a short ferry-ride away.

Next day we try again but have to wait for the tide to change. Much time is spent standing around waiting for conditions to improve, but the time is not entirely wasted – we talk about the finer points of archaeological modelling and the purpose of archaeological theory. Later in the day we get a parking ticket on a shopping trip to the nearest town because we couldn’t read the regulations in Danish, and one of the rooms where we are staying has sprung a leak in the ceiling after a burst of heavy rain.

By day three, things are beginning to settle down, some sort of daily rhythm is becoming established, new data is coming in and getting processed, and everyone in our small team is getting on with a sense of purpose with what needs to be done.

The moral of this short saga is a familiar one for anyone used to archaeological fieldwork in unfamiliar locations. Expect that anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Be prepared. And above all be patient!

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Professor Geoff Bailey is Anniversary Professor of Archaeology (Emeritus) at the University of York, UK and a Senior Research Fellow at Flinders University, South Australia. He is an expert in human exploitation of shellfish, coastal prehistory and the archaeology of submerged landscapes. He also cooks a mean chicken curry.