[OR_Archaeology] Follow the search live for submerged landscapes and archaeological sites near Heceta Bank Sept 6-11

[POULEY John * OPRD]

Finding Oregon's Lost Coast: Searching for Submerged Landscapes and Archaeological Sites Near Heceta Bank
>From September 6-11, Dr. Loren Davis of Oregon State University will lead a scientific expedition to map areas of Oregon's central coast for submerged coastal landscapes and to search for evidence of early sites along ancient coastlines.  Funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office of Exploration and Research (http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov), and in collaboration with the Bureau of Ocean Exploration and Management (https://www.boem.gov and at http://www.submergedlandscapes.com), this project will take place aboard the Ocean Exploration Trust's E/V Nautilus.

Continuing the mission to document unexplored regions of the ocean, the Nautilus team will conduct geophysical surveys near Heceta Bank to search for ancient coastal landscapes and possible archaeological sites that may have been above above sea level 21,000-15,000 years ago. Conducting high-resolution seafloor mapping<http://www.nautiluslive.org/blog/2016/09/08/more-just-bathymetry-seafloor-mapping-tool-exploration> and conducting short ROV dives to groundtruth data, Earth scientists and archaeologists will use this data to learn more about past coastal environments and prehistoric human migration.

The question of how and when humans migrated from northeastern Asia into North America is a significant archaeological topic. Twenty thousand years ago, when the last Pleistocene ice maximum was in full swing, great ice sheets locked up much of the Earth's water, and sea level was lower by 120-135 meters (394 - 443 feet) than it is today. In most places, the sea was at the outer edge of the continental shelves, which were carved by fluctuating sea levels during the advance and retreat of ice sheets. Flora and fauna along these ancient shorelines was likely quite different, though little is known of these areas because they are hidden deep in the ocean.



The first human explorers to reach North America probably came during the last glacial lowstand, in which sea levels were low, by using watercraft to skirt the edge of ice sheets or by walking along unglaciated coastal tracts. If some of these early migrations were along the coast, we need to look on the continental shelves for evidence. Archaeologists hypothesize the earliest archaeological sites in the New World may be found along the northeastern Pacific Ocean's coastal margin where they are buried in submerged terrestrial landforms that were once part of exposed ancient coastal landscapes.


North American Pacific coastal sites are younger than North America's earliest interior sites probably due to geological processes along the Pacific Coast that destroyed, buried, or submerged earlier sites. If the hypothesis that the Americas were initially peopled by coastal migration is correct, then the northeastern Pacific coast is a critical area of archaeological concern. However, at this time, nothing is known about North American Pacific coastal sites dating between 14,500 - 12,800 years ago--the period that is contemporaneous with the earliest evidence of New World human occupation.
Expedition Objectives
Nautilus will conduct surveys with geophysical instruments, ROV Hercules, and ROV Argus to search for, locate and study late Pleistocene-aged submerged terrestrial landforms and possible prehistoric archaeological sites on Oregon's continental shelf.

* Conduct multibeam sonar and subbottom profiler surveys within and surrounding the reconstructed drainages of paleorivers that ran through the Ice Age coast of Oregon.

* Focus geophysical surveys on areas of the Pacific outer continental shelf corresponding to the projected position of shorelines 21,000-15,000 years ago, near a prehistoric peninsula (present day Heceta Bank).

* Collect imagery of submerged terrestrial landforms and seafloor conditions in two areas of the ancient stream drainages (see Area 1 and Area 2 on the paleocoastal map below).

* Collect geological and biological samples from these submerged terrestrial landforms and ancient stream drainages

For more information, visit the Ocean Exploration Trust's webpage at:

http://www.oceanexplorationtrust.org/

Follow us Aboard the Nautilus

The Nautilus is a unique research vessel, offering live video feeds of onboard work and real-time discoveries.  You can follow the expedition by watching live cameras aboard the Nautilus at:

http://www.nautiluslive.org/

You can also send in questions to the expedition via the Nautilus Live portal.

Follow the expedition on Twitter: @EVNautilus, @LorenGDavis

and on Instagram: lorendavis2640





Best regards and wish us luck!

Loren

Loren G. Davis, Ph.D.
Professor of Anthropology
Executive Director, Keystone Archaeological Research Fund
Director, Pacific Slope Archaeological Laboratory

Oregon State University
Department of Anthropology, 238 Waldo Hall, Corvallis, OR 97331
Tel: 541-737-3849; loren.davis at oregonstate.edu<mailto:loren.davis at oregonstate.edu>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/or_archaeology/attachments/20170905/00e8d0ec/attachment.html>