Submerged Prehistoric Archaeology in North America: An Exploratory Workshop; Washington, DC, Fall 2018

Oregon State University, Corvallis OR

Investigators

Abstract

Paragraph 1 This award supports a workshop to examine the potential for supporting research on submerged human habitation sites on the continental shelf of the U.S. The workshop brings together approximately twenty-five individuals with relevant and specialized expertise on this topic of research and will be held at the Smithsonian Institution, in conjunction with the Society for American Archaeology meeting Spring 2018 in Washington, DC. An investigation of submerged human habitation sites has the potential to provide important insights into human evolution in North America, including topics of migration, colonization, response to sea level rise, and the origins of maritime adaptations. These topics are important not only for understanding the development of early social organization in North America but can also give us critical information about the societal impacts of sea level rise, which is a potential threat in coastal regions of the United States. Paragraph 2 The interdisciplinary workshop will include senior and early career scholars from the social and physical sciences, federal resource managers, and other stakeholders. The workshop will identify and explore innovative methods and relationships necessary to address the archaeology and paleoecology of submerged coastal landscapes on the US continental shelves. Participants will identify extant and needed technological, fiscal, human, educational, and logistic resources, and explore synergistic interagency and interdisciplinary relationships needed to promote and support this type research. The product will be a synoptic report and proposed action plan for distribution to stakeholders. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.