PastCoast – Using Ground Penetrating Radar data for high resolution chronological investigations of landscape change

Studying land use, transportation, and settlement patterns impacted by isostatic uplift, flash floods, and coastal erosion is essential for understanding past human activities, especially in the face of ongoing climate change. Non-intrusive geophysical methods, particularly 3D ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and digital elevation models (LiDAR), provide valuable insights into the relationship between past human activities and environmental changes. This paper presents examples from coastal Iron Age sites in Norway, demonstrating how geophysical methods and remote sensing can help to understand slow coastal landscape development and prehistoric human responses to shoreline changes. Large-scale datasets collected in Denmark and Norway provide data on palaeohydrography, palaeotopography, and geomorphological processes, with an emphasis on palaeo beach ridges and sea level changes.