Drowned palaeo-landscapes: archaeological and geoscientific research at the southern North Sea coast

The post-glacial development of the North Sea basin is characterised by a gradual retrogradation of the coastal zone and subsequent flooding of former landscapes under relative sea-level rise. Depositional processes resulted in the burial of coastal zone deposits and corresponding bio-coenoses leading, in parts, to their preservation. Thus, the sedimentary sequences of the Wadden Sea coast, which preserve evidence of Pleistocene and Holocene landscapes including flora, fauna and traces of human settlements, are excellent archives for palaeoenvironmental reconstructions (Verhart