At Haväng in the Hanö Bay, south-eastern Sweden, an underwater landscape consisting of rooted trees, organic sediments and archaeological artefacts suggests that the water level in the Baltic Sea was once lower than at present. In my PhD project I will explore this area with multiple methods in order to better understand the Baltic Sea development during the Early Holocene (about 12000-8000 years ago) and to create an environmental reconstruction of the area.

We dive continuously in the area to explore it and to sample tree trunks for dendrochronological analysis, which can describe the age of the tree and its living conditions. Sediment cores from the sea floor is dated and analyzed and together with high-resolution bathymetry data this is the foundation for interpreting the landscape development in the area. The project is run in close cooperation with archaeologists from Lund University in order to understand how Mesolithic humans used this rich coastal area and how they adapted to the ever-changing landscape and sea level during the Early Holocene.