Its been quite a while since my last past, but I want to use this story, passed along by another of Gary Griggs' students, as my inspiration to get rolling again. Some time ago I wrote a short post about the frame of an old boat exposed by erosion on the coast of SW Washington. As a fan of history AND coastal dynamics I find the combination of the two irresistible. But, in reality, Washington's post-"discovery" history can hardly be called history when held up to the timescales that most of the world lives amongst. This has been glaringly apparent to us on travels to Paris, Mayan or Aztecan Central America, Ankor Wat in Cambodia, or even the Tidewater region of Virginia. And that is exactly what makes this story so cool. In this case the exposed artifacts are 2000 years old, from the Middle East.

Coupled with the recent release of a new theory on a possible route out of Africa for early Homo sapiens this particular story brings home that the study of coastal dynamics - including sea-level history and sedimentation, can not only help us plan for our future, but also can reveal our past.