Archaeologists have returned to one of Britain’s most important prehistoric underwater sites to document its condition as coastal erosion continues to threaten thousands of years of archaeological evidence.
The Maritime Archaeology Trust (MAT) has completed its latest survey at Bouldnor Cliff, an internationally significant submerged Mesolithic landscape lying 11 metres below the Solent, around one kilometre east of Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight, England.
Last week, during some of the hottest days of the year, the dive team photographed the site for 3D photogrammetry models in preparation for upcoming studies, and undertook regular monitoring of the site.
Bouldnor Cliff is the only submerged Mesolithic archaeological landscape in the UK, and is one of Europe’s most important prehistoric sites. It dates back to 6200-6,000 BC and contains evidence of human occupation back to the time when Britain was still connected to mainland Europe before sea levels were rising more than 8,000 years ago.
Archaeologists have unearthed more than 1,000 worked flints, burned stone tools, ancient hearths, timber structures and worked wood that is thought to have formed part of a logboat or trough since the early 1990s. These discoveries have changed the way we view Mesolithic communities and their technological capabilities.
One of the site’s biggest discoveries was sedimentary ancient DNA that showed evidence of einkorn wheat. That shows wheat reached Britain more than 2,000 years earlier than previously thought, suggesting contact between hunter-gatherer communities in Britain and early farming societies in mainland Europe.
Environmental research has also revealed an ancient landscape of oak and hazel woodland, with alder-fringed rivers and streams. Carbonised hazelnut shells and oak charcoal taken from the site provide rare evidence of Mesolithic food production and human activity in southern England.
The researchers believe that the settlement was located next to a semi-stable river channel, and was occupied repeatedly or perhaps continuously around 8,000 years ago. There are artefacts on several hundred metres of the submerged coastline and the area once had an extensive settlement.
Despite its exceptional preservation, the site is now very vulnerable. In recent years, monitoring of lateral erosion in some areas has shown up to four metres of erosion, making archaeological deposits vulnerable to tidal action and oxygen, which erodes fragile organic material rapidly.
Historic England has identified Bouldnor Cliff as one of the country’s most at-risk archaeological sites. Archaeologists are racing to record and recover material before it is lost to the sea as erosion accelerates.
The latest survey is part of the Maritime Archaeology Trust’s ongoing programme of research and conservation. The information gained during recent dives, as well as new 3D models, will be used to monitor changes to the site to inform the next rescue excavation of one of Britain’s most striking prehistoric landscapes.
Sources : Marine Archaeology Trust
