Scientists reconstructed ancient landscapes across the northern Adriatic using seismic data and sedimentary cores to show how rising sea levels reshaped the region over 10,000 years. Samuele Ongaro and colleagues at the University of Southampton combined these data from coastal basins in northern Italy, Slovenia, and northern Croatia. The research revealed that hills and swamps that once lay inland have since disappeared beneath the waves. The land where Venice now sits was once located miles inland before dramatic sea level changes transformed the area into the lagoon city known today.