PUMA · Paleolithic Underwater Micro-Archaeology

Our current knowledge about human evolution is biased toward terrestrial data whereas some crucial information is stored in sitesthat are now submerged since the terminal Pleistocene. In dry-land archaeology, the combination of micro-evidences (throughpaleobotanical, geoarchaeological, and experimental data) has revealed new information. My project aims to explore the applicabilityof these approaches for the investigation of submerged Paleolithic sites by tackling two main questions:1) What kind of microarchaeological materials are preserved in submerged Paleolithic sites? 2) Why do anthropogenic micro-remains (e.g., phytoliths, ashpseudomorphs) preserve in submerged sites? With the new set of techniques (phytolith morphotype and taphonomy, mineralogicaland elemental analysis on thin sections) and knowledge (experimental archaeology, Paleolithic period) to be learned as a GlobalFellow at Rutgers University (USA) and in the Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and Evolution of Human Behaviour at theUniversity of Algarve (Portugal), I will provide a new methodological background needed to investigate submerged Paleolithic sites.The combination of micro-geoarchaeology to detect submerged Paleolithic sites and experimentation to explain their preservationwill yield highly relevant results. The exploitation of new evidence off the continental shelf will open unique ways for the scientificcommunity while providing the base to protect our cultural heritage from sea-level rising and the exploitation of the seabed. Thisproject will turn me into a unique transdisciplinary and versatile underwater archaeologist at the forefront of archaeological scienceadvances, with a breadth of expertise. I will share practices with marine scientists, paleobotanists, geoarchaeologists, and underwaterarchaeologists in multiple periods and regions, hence preparing for my employment in tenure positions in the fields of archaeologyand marine science.