Seminar by Dr. Martín Segschneider from
08 April 2026
KST 10:00
The Seminar is being held in Room 1010 (Jasmin) – Integrated mechanical engineering building. Click here for the campus map.
Since the end of the last ice age around 11.000 years ago, the isostatic sea level is rising due to warming climate and melting of the glaciers. Stone-Age hunter-gatherer groups, living on land which is now the bottom of the North Sea, had to retreat to higher grounds again and again. When the sea-level rise slowed down around 7.000 years ago, a specific coastal culture emerged. Since then, living at the coast has its special tricks and treats. To survive in high-risk areas, artificial dwelling mounds, the so-called Terpen or Warften were built by the thousands since at least 2.000 years ago. They are an excellent archive to read and understand the human response to sea level rise induced by climate change. Advanced Sea-faring, coastal trade and cultural exchange are also results of living by the sea. But is the risk worth it any longer, considering the increased sea-level rise triggered by human-induced climate crisis? Archaeological insights might give an answer to at least some aspects of this pressing problem.