Sunken cities
Explore these submerged settlements to discover why they didn’t survive the test of time
Words by Nikole Robinson
Humans need water to survive, and so access to this precious natural resource has been an important factor in deciding where we have made our homes throughout history. Building near rivers, lakes and springs gave early settlements access to clean water for domestic and agricultural use, and the availability of fish was a reliable food source. Travelling by boat also became an easy way to navigate the land more quickly, allowing our species to migrate to new areas. As humans spread across continents and populations boomed, trade between civilisations became more frequent. Coastal settlements allowed for larger vessels to come and go, increasing trade and therefore the local economy, with many more port towns being built as a way to access rare goods and riches.
But the waterfront isn’t always a safe place to settle. With little protection from flooding, natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis, bad weather and changing sea levels can all easily destroy in a day what has taken people hundreds of years to build. Water can claim the land, buildings and human lives. Here we dive into some of the lost civilisations now deluged beneath the depths.