A Submerged Forest on the Foreshore at Redcar, NZ 60302570

Abstract

Abstract In March 2018, a substantial part of the submerged forest at Redcar beach was exposed. The remains extended for a length of 200 m along the foreshore, a maximum width of 60 m and a maximum stratigraphic depth of 100 mm. Samples were taken from a silver birch branch in the latest horizon and root material penetrating natural in the earliest horizon. Radiocarbon dating analysis produced a terminus post quem for the sampled timber of 4689–4463 cal. BC. These are the first radiocarbon dates for the remains at Redcar and they place the submerged forest in the Mesolithic period.