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UO E-clips, Oct. 19
Top story for Oct. 19, 2007: UO archaeologist Jon Erlandson says in Science Magazine that the current rise in sea levels from global warming threatens the study of ancient coastal societies.
Archeology: In search of the worlds most ancient mariners (Science AAAS Magazine): We humans are terrestrial animals, yet we spend a lot of time gazing wistfully over bodies of water. We flock to the seashore or the lakeside at the slightest sign of mild weather and celebrate the romance of the sea in art and literature. Early seafaring was central to the spread of civilization, and today thousands of vessels ply the world's oceans, searching for fish and hauling billions of tons of cargo. … The meeting also heard dire warnings that rising sea levels--which are already at least 50 meters higher than when modern humans first took to the oceans -- might put evidence crucial to resolving these questions out of reach. "There are drowned terrestrial landscapes that were occupied by our ancestors," says archaeologist Jon Erlandson of the University of Oregon in Eugene. "But we know almost nothing about them."