Short overview about the AMLA for our international visitors

AMLA is short for "Study group for maritime and limnic archaeology"

University of Kiel, Germany.

In early 1997 a group of students from the Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel got together to found the working group for maritime and limnic archaeology. They were lead by the professors A. Haffner and M. Müller-Wille.

This created the basis for the independent archaeological underwater research of the institute. The working group right now consists of 20 people; educated archaeologists, postgraduates, masters, diploma students and students of prehistoric archaeology. The majority of them are well experienced scientific divers. During the last few years, diving representatives of other oceanic sciences like geologists, biologists and geographs have also joined AMLA.

To date the group has carried out independent researches and has participated at scientific conferences for underwater archaeology; for example in Saßnitz (IKUWA) in 1999, at the DEGUWA conference “In Poseidons Reich 5” in 2000 and the conference AKUWA in 2003.  Also the group has been involved in diving attempts with the regional authorities of Schleswig Holstein (Landesamt), the archaeological state museum of Schleswig Holstein (ALM), the Leibniz Institute for oceanic sciences IFM-GEOMAR and the scientific diving center at the Kiel University.

The methodological interest of the study group is mainly the synthesis of land- and underwater archaeology. The object of the scientific work is the maritime or limnic cultural landscape which is to be constructed.
The cultural landscape in this case means the alternating effect between the natural environment and the various manifestations of human activity. In a maritime or rather limnic cultural landscape the waters are the shaping element.

fehmarn1The maritime and the limnic man-made environment of Schleswig Holstein has 1190 kilometres of coastline at both seas, about 360 lakes and 21,700 kilometres of river stretches. The population then used these water bodies to provide themselves with food, transportation routes and for borders. However, it also presented a source of danger to them. The main topics of the working group are habitat and economics of the people. What role do the water bodies play in reference to why and where the people settled? How were these settelements integrated into economy, trade and traffic?
Which consequences do these settlements have retrospectively on the coastal region?

Before any work can commence the group has to carry out surveys both over and under water using terrestrial and sub aquatic work methods.
The aim of AMLA is to ensure that the findings of their work are made available to both universities and the general public. In May 2007 for AMLA’s 10th anniversary a conference took place in the Institute for prehistoric archaeology. Sport divers were also invited to attend this conference to ensure they were aware of the latest projects in underwater archaeology in Schleswig-Holstein.


Article Download: Bringing up the Past: Underwater Archaeology in Northern Germany, in: Quest - The Journal of Global Water Explorers, Vol 11