Editing Maritime archaeology (section)

==Submerged sites==

===Prehistoric landscapes===
Maritime archaeology studies [[prehistoric]]al objects and sites that are, because of changes in [[climate]] and [[geology]], now underwater.

Bodies of water, fresh and saline, have been important sources of food for people for as long as we have existed. It should be no surprise that ancient villages were located at the water's edge.  Since the [[Quaternary glaciation|last ice age]] sea level has risen as much as {{convert|400|ft|m}}.

Therefore, a great deal of the record of human activity throughout the Ice Age is now to be found under water.

The flooding of the area now known as the [[Black Sea]] (when a land bridge, where  the [[Bosporus]] is now, collapsed under the pressure of rising water in the [[Mediterranean Sea]]) submerged a great deal of human activity that had been gathered round what had been an enormous, fresh-water lake.

Significant [[cave art]] sites off the coast of western Europe such as the  Grotto Cosquer can be reached only by diving, because the cave entrances are underwater, though the upper portions of  the [[caves]] themselves are not flooded.

===Historic sites===

[[File:Lakemurray-wyse ferry Bridge sonar.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Submerged bridge under [[Lake Murray (South Carolina)|Lake Murray, South Carolina]] in 160 ft (49 m) of fresh water seen on [[side-scan sonar]] imagery using a Humminbird 981c Side Imaging system]]

Throughout history, [[seismic]] events have at times caused submergence of human settlements.  The remains of such catastrophes exist all over the world, and sites such as [[Alexandria]], [[Port Royal]] and [[Mary Rose]]{{clarify|Why is Mary Rose included here? it is not a settlement|date=June 2024}} now form important archaeological sites that are being protected, managed and conserved.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Meara |first1=Hefin  |date=2020 |title=Challenges Facing the State Management of Historic Shipwrecks in English Territorial Waters |url=https://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue54/3/index.html |journal=Internet Archaeology |issue=54 |doi=10.11141/ia.54.3 |doi-access=free}}</ref> As with shipwrecks, archaeological research can follow multiple themes, including evidence of the final catastrophe, the structures and landscape before the catastrophe and the culture and economy of which it formed a part. Unlike the wrecking of a ship, the destruction of a town by a seismic event can take place over many years and there may be evidence for several phases of damage, sometimes with rebuilding in between.