In geology the other day we were discussing how much the coastlines have retreated due to sea rise from the melting glaciers. We also talked about how around 50% of the world population lives near a coast. I was wondering, since humans tend to live near coasts, there were probably many stone age settlements that are now underwater. It kills me to think that there's potentially a good chunk of our past is underwater. Have any underwater sites from this era been discovered? Have there been or are there any ongoing attempts to explore the former coasts for human archaeological sites? If so, what have we learned so far?
ETA: Thank you for all of your responses and resources so far... it's all incredibly interesting to me.
There's certainly been stone and crafted antler artifacts found under the North Sea in the Dogger Bank, they've been appearing in fishing nets for decades, but I wouldn't say it's an actual site, there's been work on it since 1998.
Report on peat samples dredged up: http://www.thecrownestate.co.uk/media/5599/ei-archaeological-material-from-the-dogger-bank.pdf
Article on the digs and the artifacts recovered: http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080709/full/454151a.html
There have been some very interesting early Holocene cultural materials dredged from the coast of Florida. Southern California and the Gulf of Mexico are areas that are thought to have high potential for inundated late Pleistocene/early Holocene sites because they have continental shelves that would have been exposed when sea levels were significantly lower. This report discusses the Department of Interior's management of these resources. See especially section 3.4.1., The Nature of Submerged Resources, for a description of resources.
As an afterthought, I believe Chesapeake Bay is also thought to have high potential for inundated sites.
Most certainly. I worked on a project in 2001 where we were following direction from some geomorphologists who were trying to predict places where shelf collapse might have happened (I'm not a geologist, so my terminology is likely inaccurate), but where other elements that would be desirable to settlement would be present (harbors, fresh water, etc.). One site we examined and found the remains of an Ancient city at was near Korphos. A good deal of the town was now under water, but also a lot of buildings were on the side of a hill overlooking what would have been the old harbor. Fascinating place. You can read a little here: http://www.livescience.com/4868-ancient-greek-outpost-discovered-spectacularly-preserved.html
Aboriginal Dreamtime stories (~13,000 years old), passed down by oral tradition, in Far North Queensland tell of the seas invading the lands and (caused by the flapping of the wings of a giant manta ray, of course) forcing the people to move inland to where the coastline sits today. The sea-claimed land is where the Great Barrier Reef is now.
Its a theory which corresponds to the geologists' present hypothesis on why the Barrier Reef has such an extensive range.
Source: http://theconversation.com/ancient-aboriginal-stories-preserve-history-of-a-rise-in-sea-level-36010