Journal article
Human observations of late Quaternary coastal change: Examples from Australia, Europe and the Pacific Islands
Quaternary International, Vol.638-369, pp.212-224
2022
Abstract
In the aftermath of the last ice age, when sea level rose along most of the world's coastline, the activities of coastal peoples were impacted by coastal submergence, land loss and sometimes isolation as offshore islands formed. In some parts of the world, there is clear evidence that people encoded their observations of postglacial sea-level rise into oral traditions that were communicated across hundreds of generations to reach us today in an intelligible form. In other contexts, people's observations of rising sea level are likely to have formed the foundations of ‘legends’ about undersea places and the peoples inhabiting them.
For a selection of coastal sites in Australia and northwest Europe, this study discusses a range of contrasting situations in which culturally-grounded stories about coastal submergence, land loss and isolation plausibly recollect the nature and effects of postglacial sea-level rise. Using science-based histories of postglacial sea-level change, minimum ages are determined for each group of site-specific stories; in the case of Australia, these range from 7000–11,500 BP, for northwest Europe from 5500 to 9500 BP. For selected sites in the Pacific Islands, where human settlement about 3000 years BP post-dated the end of postglacial sea-level rise, localized submergence is recalled in traditional stories of local people.
It is argued that studies of late Quaternary coastal evolution can often be filled out by adding details from stories preserved in local cultures, something which leads to a clearer picture of the human-societal impacts of coastal submergence and land loss than can be obtained from palaeoenvironmental reconstructions and geological evidence alone.
Details
- Title
- Human observations of late Quaternary coastal change: Examples from Australia, Europe and the Pacific Islands
- Authors
- Patrick Nunn (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Law and SocietyIngrid Ward (Author) - University of Western AustraliaPierre Stéphan (Author) - Institut Universitaire Européen de la MerAdrian McCallum (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Indigenous and Transcultural Research Centre - LegacyW Roland Gehrels (Author) - University of YorkGenevieve Carey (Author) - Esperance Tjaltjraak Aboriginal CorporationAmy Clarke (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Sustainability Research ClusterMargaret Cook (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Sustainability Research ClusterPaul Geraghty (Author) - University of the South PacificDavid Guilfoyle (Author) - University of Western AustraliaBianca McNeair (Author) - Midwest Aboriginal Ranger ProgramGlen Miller (Author)Elia Nakoro (Author) - Fiji MuseumDoc Reynolds (Author) - Esperance Tjaltjraak Aboriginal CorporationLisa Stewart (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Law and Society
- Publication details
- Quaternary International, Vol.638-369, pp.212-224
- Publisher
- Elsevier Ltd.
- Date published
- 2022
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.quaint.2022.06.016
- ISSN
- 1873-4553
- Organisation Unit
- University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; Australian Centre for Pacific Islands Research; Indigenous and Transcultural Research Centre; School of Science, Technology and Engineering; School of Law and Society; Sustainability Research Cluster; Cancer Research Cluster
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99655798802621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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- Domestic collaboration
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- Web Of Science research areas
- Geography, Physical
- Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
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