underwater diver
The archaeologists will explore the sea by Split in Croatia on a five-day long survey (Picture: PA)

A couple of archaeologists from the UK are set to embark on a ‘first-of-its-kind’ mission to map underwater ancient landscapes lost to the oceans thousands of years ago.

The sunken landscapes will give them clues into the lives of humans who lived there between 10,000 and 24,000 years ago, during the late Paleolithic period.

Dr Simon Fitch and Professor Richard Bates are the two who will set forth to Split in Croatia to begin the five-day long survey.

Dr Fitch said: ‘This is the first time anyone is going more than 500 metres from the coastline in the Adriatic to map the seabed.

‘We know humans once lived on the land down there because trawlers regularly dredge up artefacts.

‘This is about finding out who we are as a species and where we come from.’

He said the sea levels were up to 100 metres lower during the period compared with the present day.

‘We have an incomplete picture of human history,’ Dr Fitch went on.

croatia coastline
A 3D image of the coastline of Croatia with the 14,000 year old coastline in red (Picture: PA)

‘If we go back in time to the period known as the late Paleolithic – so, between 10,000 and 24,000 years ago – that is when we had the last ‘glacial maximum’.

‘It means a lot more land was exposed and people would have lived there.’

Dr Fitch added: ‘We know most human populations like to live on the coastline, so it’s likely there were settlements on what is now the seabed.

‘Our aim is to find evidence of those settlements and then recover the archaeology.’

His work is the first in a series of expeditions expected to take place over the next five years.

He is working in collaboration with researchers from the University of Split and Flanders Marine institute (VLIZ) in Belgium to map seabeds as they prepare to install wind farms.

Supercomptuers at the University of Bradford will be used to analyse the data and turn it into maps that may reveal lost landscapes.

Dr Jessica Cook Hale, from the University of Georgia in the US, who has also joined the project, said: ‘We know from experience human populations like to live along the coast, so once we get an understanding of the topography, we can then make an educated guess as to where they might have lived at a time when sea levels were much lower than they are today.’

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