Coastal adaptations and submerged landscapes : Where world prehistory meets underwater archaeology

Studies in world prehistory, which include the transition between the Pleistocene and Holocene and the cultural shift from Forager to Farmer, remain incomplete, particularly along the coastal margins. Submerged landscape archaeology has begun to emerge as a serious sub-discipline of both maritime archaeology and world prehistory, with a largely untapped potential to fill in significant gaps in the archaeological record. This chapter reviews the current state of submerged landscape archaeology and considers important elements, both theoretical and practical, and discusses how future generations of prehistorians must be willing and able to engage with archaeology on the continental shelves, worldwide.