Ancient undersea middens offer clues about life before rising seas engulfed the coast. Now we have a better way to study them

The world’s oceans hold their secrets close, including clues about how people lived tens of thousands of years ago. For a large portion of humanity’s existence, sea levels were significantly lower (up to 130 metres) than they are today, exposing millions of square kilometres of land. And the archaeological record is clear: people in the past lived on these coastal plains before the land slipped beneath the waves. Archaeology already tells us these drowned landscapes played significant roles in human history. Major events such as human migrations across the globe and the invention of maritime technology took place along these now-drowned shorelines. But these sites can be hard to find.