Stony Brook doctoral anthropology student Daria E. Merwin plans on diving a few miles off Sandy Hook, New Jersey with a group of undergraduates over the next three weeks to search for evidence of ancient settlements along the ocean floor. She suspects that the continental shelf was home to indigenous societies 10,000 to 6,000 years ago, before becoming submerged. Experts say her project is potentially groundbreaking but will be difficult to undertake, as most remains have probably been swept away or buried by strong underwater currents.
