The astonishing “discovery” (actually just
an announcement of a previously known discovery) of the submerged area called
“Doggerland” which once stretched from Scotland to Denmark, may yet spark one
of the greatest revisions to European history yet.
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Divers from St Andrews University, find remains
of Doggerland.
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Previously, all theories, based upon
archeological evidence, indicated a post-mini-ice age origin of European
peoples “somewhere to the south.”
The new discoveries in Doggerland,
described by one scientist as the “real heartland of Europe” may turn out to be
the final proof that Europeans in fact originated in the North, and only “fled”
south as rising meltwaters at the end of the last mini-Ice Age forced them
away.
According to news reports, Doggerland was
“a huge area of dry land that stretched from Scotland to Denmark was slowly
submerged by water between 18,000 BC and 5,500 BC.
“Divers from oil companies have found
remains of a 'drowned world' with a population of tens of thousands - which might
once have been the 'real heartland' of Europe.
“A team of climatologists, archaeologists
and geophysicists has now mapped the area using new data from oil companies -
and revealed the full extent of a 'lost land' once roamed by mammoths.
The research suggests that the populations
of these drowned lands could have been tens of thousands, living in an area
that stretched from Northern Scotland across to Denmark and down the English
Channel as far as the Channel Islands.
The area was once the ‘real heartland’ of
Europe and was hit by ‘a devastating tsunami', the researchers claim.
The wave was part of a larger process that
submerged the low-lying area over the course of thousands of years.
'The name was coined for Dogger Bank, but
it applies to any of several periods when the North Sea was land,' says Richard
Bates of the University of St Andrews. 'Around 20,000 years ago, there was a
'maximum' - although part of this area would have been covered with ice. When
the ice melted, more land was revealed - but the sea level also rose.
'Through a lot of new data from oil and gas
companies, we’re able to give form to the landscape - and make sense of the
mammoths found out there, and the reindeer. We’re able to understand the types
of people who were there.
'People seem to think rising sea levels are
a new thing - but it’s a cycle of Earht history that has happened many many
times.'
Organised by Dr Richard Bates of the
Department of Earth Sciences at St Andrews, the Drowned Landscapes exhibit
reveals the human story behind Doggerland, a now submerged area of the North
Sea that was once larger than many modern European countries.
Dr Bates, a geophysicist, said: ‘Doggerland
was the real heartland of Europe until sea levels rose to give us the UK
coastline of today.
We have speculated for years on the lost
land's existence from bones dredged by fishermen all over the North Sea, but
it's only since working with oil companies in the last few years that we have
been able to re-create what this lost land looked like.
‘When the data was first being processed, I
thought it unlikely to give us any useful information, however as more area was
covered it revealed a vast and complex landscape.
‘We have now been able to model its flora
and fauna, build up a picture of the ancient people that lived there and begin
to understand some of the dramatic events that subsequently changed the land,
including the sea rising and a devastating tsunami.’
The research project is a collaboration
between St Andrews and the Universities of Aberdeen, Birmingham, Dundee and
Wales Trinity St David.
Rediscovering the land through pioneering
scientific research, the research reveals a story of a dramatic past that
featured massive climate change. The public exhibit brings back to life the
Mesolithic populations of Doggerland through artefacts discovered deep within
the sea bed.
The research, a result of a painstaking 15
years of fieldwork around the murky waters of the UK, is one of the highlights
of the London event.
The interactive display examines the lost
landscape of Doggerland and includes artefacts from various times represented
by the exhibit - from pieces of flint used by humans as tools to the animals
that also inhabited these lands.
Using a combination of geophysical modelling
of data obtained from oil and gas companies and direct evidence from material
recovered from the seafloor, the research team was able to build up a
reconstruction of the lost land.
The findings suggest a picture of a land
with hills and valleys, large swamps and lakes with major rivers dissecting a
convoluted coastline.
As the sea rose the hills would have become
an isolated archipelago of low islands. By examining the fossil record - such
as pollen grains, microfauna and macrofauna - the researchers can tell what
kind of vegetation grew in Doggerland and what animals roamed there.
Using this information, they were able to
build up a model of the 'carrying capacity' of the land and work out roughly
how many humans could have lived there.
The research team is currently
investigating more evidence of human behaviour, including possible human burial
sites, intriguing standing stones and a mass mammoth grave.
Dr Bates added: ‘We haven't found an 'x
marks the spot' or 'Joe created this', but we have found many artefacts and
submerged features that are very difficult to explain by natural causes, such
as mounds surrounded by ditches and fossilised tree stumps on the seafloor.
‘There is actually very little evidence
left because much of it has eroded underwater; it's like trying to find just
part of a needle within a haystack. What we have found though is a remarkable
amount of evidence and we are now able to pinpoint the best places to find
preserved signs of life.’
