When it carefully dips its toe into the sea, prehistoric archaeology is at risk of losing its bearings somewhat, and skill is needed to navigate the evidence available to us. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, human occupation at the interface between the maritime and continental domains is a complex topic of research, due to changes in the shoreline over time relating to sea level change, coastal erosion or sedimentation. Revealing the natural and humanly-altered characteristics of the foreshore at different times in the past requires the use of a wide range of techniques, many of which are undergoing a complete metamorphosis today: geophysical surveys, GIS-based approaches to spatio-temporal modelling, the acquisition and processing of topographic and bathymetric data, image processing, stratigraphic analyses, etc. Secondly, shell middens, with their marine and mollusc shells, remains of crustaceans and echinoderms, bones of fish, sea mammals and birds (and occasionally people) and their macroplant remains including charcoal, contain a wide range of information about the human exploitation of the maritime environment, and require a multi-disciplinary approach to their study. There is much that we can learn from them about the behaviour of coastal populations, be they hunter-fisher-gatherer groups or agro-pastoralist societies, over the natural cycles of seasons and tides. The different disciplines that are brought to bear on the study of shell middens each have their specific methods and timescales for the acquisition of data and an interdisciplinary approach, if it is to succeed, has to accommodate this diversity. Thirdly, the evidence for coastal occupation and exploitation should not be considered in isolation from the broader geographical picture, since coast dwellers and users will have participated in economic and social networks that extended far inland. It is over such networks that items such as whalebone projectile heads or shell ornaments could have travelled considerable distances from the coast. Here again, the use of advanced scientific methods can be required to track such movements. Finally, we cannot ignore the regulatory aspects that apply to archaeological interventions in the coastal zone: there are many and diverse rules relating to the human and natural heritage of the coast, and many institutions can be involved. Dealing with these rules, regulations and stakeholders can significantly slow down progress, and this is particularly regrettable where the pace of marine erosion can demand a rapid response. Held in early December 2020, after several postponements due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the international round-table Investigate the Shore, Sound out the Past: Methods and Practices of Maritime Prehistory was intended to offer a critical overview of the new methods at our disposal to explore prehistoric sites in the maritime domain, thereby opening up scientific perspectives. This initiative was funded as part of the European Research Network (IRN) project “Coast-inland dynamics in prehistoric hunter-gatherer societies” (PrehCOAST), supported by the CNRS, Institute of Ecology and Environment from January 2019, under the direction of G. Marchand. It also benefited from involvement by the ArMeRIE programme (“Maritime Archaeology and Interdisciplinary Environmental Research”), directed by Y. Pailler and co-funded by the University of Brest and the INRAP Institute, and from the interdisciplinary approaches that have been developed within the SeaLex research project (“The SEA as a Long-term socio-ecological EXperiment”), directed by P. Stéphan and funded by the university research school ISblue, and the French LTSER site “Zone Atelier Brest-Iroise”. The meeting brought together 192 researchers from seven countries (Canada, Spain, France, Ireland, Norway, Latvia and the United Kingdom), with 27 papers being presented. English was used as the lingua franca of the event. This volume presents nine articles that attest to this highly stimulating encounter and which reflect the diversity of perspectives and approaches to coastal archaeology that are currently used around the world.