A research team is searching for archaeological sites that are submerged and that could be sitting offshore at the Gulf of Mexico.
The effort aims to examine areas within the Gulf that used to be dry land in the last ice age.
Search For Submerged 'Dry Land' Archaeological Sites
Even though specialists have been engaging with over a century's worth of research, relatively little is still known about sites that the Native Americans left behind. These individuals used to dwell in such areas before the terrain eventually ended up getting submerged.
These prehistoric individuals would have had to adjust to changes in the environment, such as the rise of sea levels, that came with the end of the last ice age. According to scientists, sea levels could have gone up by roughly 400 feet thanks to the great and vast ice sheet melting roughly 19,000 to 6,000 years ago.
Last Glacial Period
The Last Glacial Period (LGP), which is also called the Last Ice Age, happened from the Last Interglacial's end towards the Younger Dryas' end. It covered 115,000 to 11,700 years ago.
During this period of human history, areas within the Gulf of Mexico were still dry. However, due to melting ice bolstering rising sea levels, such landscapes ended up submerged.
Understanding Human History
The researchers note that a massive number of submerged archaeological sites need to be found in the area. This is necessary in order to further scientific comprehension regarding the specific human history era when the land still sat above sea level.
At present, only under 50 submerged sites have been found within the Gulf. Several of them were spotted in a state of being semi-disturbed.
The team, comprising experts from various institutions in the US as well as the Submerged Landscapes Research Center (SLRC) of the University of Bradford, will be conducting offshore surveys within the Gulf of Mexico.
As part of the surveys, they will be trying out novel methods for detecting submerged sites.
The researchers will work with communities of Native Americans through training, workshops, and fieldwork avenues. For instance, all the models and data of the project will be collaboratively analyzed with such partners. This would be done in order to note possible areas of interest among the communities.
Cook Hale from the SLRC shared that one of the project's most crucial aspects is knowledge transfer to Tribal Nations within the region. It is known from several global instances that Indigenous landscape stewardship leads to greater outcomes.
Hale also explained that the Gulf of Mexico has a rich history when it comes to gas and oil prospecting in offshore development. This is evolving now into greener initiatives, like offshore wind.
Tribal Nations should crucially be at the forefront of managing such landscapes as they move forward.
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