There is growing awareness of the need for greater acknowledgement of underwater prehistoric cultural resources as part of management and regulation of the seabed around many maritime countries, especially those with large indigenous populations and history such as Australia. Prehistoric cultural places and landscapes inundated by Post-glacial sea-level rise on Australia’s continental shelf remain largely out-of-sight and out-of-mind, hence awareness and hence legal protection of this resource is lacking. There is a clear need for greater integration of archaeology and cultural heritage management within the marine sciences as well as a greater awareness of this resource as part of a common heritage more generally. This paper explores some of the dichotomies between Western and Indigenous cultures in valuing and managing the seabed. We argue that in developing science-policy, an attempt at least needs to be made to bridge both the gap between the nature and culture perspectives, and the jurisdictional divide between land and sea. Part of the answer lies in a convergence of Indigenous knowledge with Western science approaches, focused around our understanding of physical processes impacting past and present coastal landscapes and on the seabed itself. We explore several case studies from northern and Western Australia that are trying to do this, and which are helping to provide a greater appreciation of the inundated landscapes of the inner shelf as part of a common heritage.

人们越来越意识到需要更多地承认水下史前文化资源，作为许多海洋国家周围海床的管理和监管的一部分，特别是那些拥有大量土著人口和历史的国家，如澳大利亚。澳大利亚大陆架上被冰川后海平面上升淹没的史前文化场所和景观在很大程度上仍然是看不见和心不在焉的，因此缺乏对这种资源的认识和法律保护。显然需要在海洋科学中进一步整合考古学和文化遗产管理，并更加普遍地认识到这一资源是共同遗产的一部分。本文探讨了西方和土著文化在评估和管理海床方面的一些二分法。我们认为，在制定科学政策时，至少需要尝试弥合自然和文化视角之间的鸿沟，以及陆地和海洋之间的管辖鸿沟。部分答案在于本土知识与西方科学方法的融合，重点围绕我们对影响过去和现在沿海景观以及海床本身的物理过程的理解。我们探索了来自澳大利亚北部和西部的几个案例研究，这些案例研究试图做到这一点，这些案例研究有助于更好地了解作为共同遗产一部分的内陆架被淹没的景观。部分答案在于本土知识与西方科学方法的融合，重点围绕我们对影响过去和现在沿海景观以及海床本身的物理过程的理解。我们探索了来自澳大利亚北部和西部的几个案例研究，这些案例研究试图做到这一点，这些案例研究有助于更好地了解作为共同遗产一部分的内陆架被淹没的景观。部分答案在于本土知识与西方科学方法的融合，重点围绕我们对影响过去和现在沿海景观以及海床本身的物理过程的理解。我们探索了来自澳大利亚北部和西部的几个案例研究，这些案例研究试图做到这一点，这些案例研究有助于更好地了解作为共同遗产一部分的内陆架被淹没的景观。