Artificial Structures and Shorelines: An Introduction

Abstract

The coast has long been considered one of the most desirable of environments for human utilization. Rich in resources, climatically attractive, and strategically located, it enticed early peoples just as it attracts those of the present day. Although much of the evidence of early utilization is lost (mostly during the rise of sea level that accompanied the last deglaciation and subsequent coastal erosion) it is clear that occupation extended along much of the shoreline. Nonetheless, such early utilization actually had little impact on the materials, processes, and forms that were natural along the coast.