Work

This is a message from Anders about work plans in the coming months

Among the many activities we have decided to engage in, the most ambitious is the establishment of a digital archive on early prehistoric finds and sites from the seafloor around Europe. As a firsts step towards this goal I suggest we produce an initial survey nation by nation on questions such as:

• How many finds and sites area already known from each country?
• What kinds of sites, materials, depths, distances from the coast, reasons of finds, etc. are we dealing with?
• Who are the main players in this field in the individual nations?
• To what extend are data organised digitally?
• What institutions shall we contact in the aim of getting access to digital data?

I hereby request each member of WG1 to deliver a preliminary report on these matters from their respective nations. Even very short reports will be most welcome.

I also request volunteers who may provide us with preliminary information on finds from the seabed of countries not (yet) represented in WG1.

The survey should be put together and provided with a preliminary synthesis to be presented at our meeting in Rhodes October 4-5. Volunteers for editing the report and producing the synthesis are requested to contact me asp. The final decision as to the dead-line of the national reports will be made, when we know who is to do this editing. It should, however, probably be no later than August 1st. So, please each of you, get started with this obligation soon.

During the York session we also decided to build up a number of files on proxy data on early prehistoric human activity at the now submerged landscapes around Europe. One such data file should include inland finds of pearls, tools, bones, etc. originally collected at the seashore or in the sea itself. Please respond to me or the whole group on what details you would like to include in such a file.

Another data file should be on isotopic evidence from human bones on the consumption of marine food. This is a matter I have worked with recently, so I have developed a little on my already published list of data to make it fit the present purpose (enclosed, I also enclose the paper from where these data derive). Isotopic data from dog bones will also be of interest, as will local reference isotope data from bones of species that were a frequent part of early prehistoric diet. Please take a look at it and respond to me or the whole group if additional types of data need to be added.

At the York meeting Jonathan Benjamin was bestowed the job of producing a file on relevant literature. For at start he will be merging and refining the many lists of references from the forthcoming publication on Submerged Prehistory (including the proceedings of the underwater session of the EAA meeting in Italy September 2009). Hopefully he shall be able to present a preliminary result at the meeting in Greece in October.

Best wishes
Anders Fischer

Downloads

• Fischer et al 2007 'Coast-inland mobility and diet in the Danish Mesolithic and Neolithic: evidence from stable isotope values of humans and dogs' Journal of Archaeological Science (Download PDF file)
• Download associated isotope data - XLS file)