Doggerland

Doggerland was a large prehistoric landmass located in what is now Great Britain’s North Sea. It once connected the British mainland with the European continent. Doggerland extended from England’s eastern coast to the western coasts of the Netherlands and Germany around twelve thousand years ago. At the time, the region was a vast area of sloping hills, wooded valleys, marshland, and lagoons. The land mass was named after the Dogger Bank, an underwater sandbank in the North Sea.

Doggerland was also home to a community of hunter-gatherers who lived off the land and migrated seasonally. About eight thousand years ago, these hunter-gatherers were forced out of Doggerland as sea levels began to rise because of climate change. Ultimately, Doggerland was left completely submerged, separating England from Europe. Since the rediscovery of Doggerland in modern times, archeologists, paleontologists, and others have explored and studied the region to learn more about the land mass and the prehistoric people who once lived there.

Background

Throughout its history, Earth has gone through numerous periods of climatic warming and cooling. This sort of global climate change has a direct and sometimes dramatic effect on sea levels. During colder periods, the spread of glaciers resulted in lower than normal sea levels. During warmer periods, the melting glaciers led to higher than normal sea levels. As Earth went through various ice ages and warm periods during the prehistoric era, England was periodically joined with and separated from the European continent as sea levels fluctuated. Perhaps the most notable period during which England was joined to the European continent came near the end of the Pleistocene era nearly twelve thousand years ago.

The Pleistocene was a geological epoch that lasted from roughly 2.5 million to 11,700 years ago. By the time the Pleistocene began, all the continents occupied their current geographic positions. Beyond this, the Pleistocene was particularly notable for two very important reasons. The first was that it was during this epoch that Earth experienced its most recent ice age. During the Pleistocene Ice Age, massive sheets of ice covered large portions of Europe, North America, and South America, as well as smaller portions of Asia and the entirety of Antarctica. Rather than simply being stationary, these glaciers moved over time and periodically spread and retreated due to climate change. This movement effectively carved out the land underneath the glaciers and eventually left behind many geological features that are still visible today. The second reason for the Pleistocene’s significance was that it was also during this era that Homo sapiens, or modern humans, first evolved. By the end of the Pleistocene, humans inhabited nearly every part of the world.

During the Pleistocene, sea levels regularly rose and fell based on climate conditions. More often than not, sea levels were low enough that Europe had a much larger surface area than it does today. Among the regions where more land was present during such periods was the area between England and the European continent. These areas are now occupied by the North Sea and the English Channel.

Overview

For much of the Pleistocene, a massive chalk formation connected Britain to the European continent. This vast area of land—which was composed of hills, valleys, marshland, and lagoons—eventually came to be referred to as Doggerland or Northsealand. For some time, Doggerland was home to a Mesolithic hunter-gatherer society commonly known as the Doggerlanders. Migrating seasonally, the Doggerlanders subsisted both on the region’s abundant supply of plant-based foods like berries and hazelnuts, as well as the various types of fish and other animal species that could be found there. Researchers believe that at least ten thousand people may have lived in Doggerland at one point. In the end, Doggerland’s existence was threatened and ultimately brought to a close by the effects of gradual climate change and rising sea levels.

About 8000 BCE, water slowly began to encroach on Doggerland’s borders as rising temperatures started to melt nearby glaciers and ice sheets. During this period, sea levels may have risen as much as six feet per century. As Doggerland became increasingly flooded over time, its residents were forced to flee to higher ground in England and the Netherlands. Eventually, Doggerland became almost entirely submerged. Initially, the only part of the region that survived was a small island called Dogger Bank, which was itself swallowed up by rising waters around 5000 BCE. With that, Doggerland disappeared beneath the North Sea and the English Channel and was forgotten for centuries to come.

After its flooding, Doggerland was not rediscovered until the twentieth century. The earliest suggestion that a land mass such as Doggerland may once have existed came courtesy of author H.G. Wells in his 1897 short story, “A Story of the Stone Age.” However, tangible proof of the existence of the actual Doggerland was not discovered until 1931. That year, fishers on the trawler Colinda recovered a clump of peat from the sea floor about twenty-five miles off the English coastline. Examining the peat, the fishermen were surprised to find a barbed antler point that would have been used like a harpoon. Research later revealed that the antler point dated to approximately 4000-10,000 BCE.

Numerous other discoveries have subsequently been made since then. Some of these finds have ranged from textile fragments to entire Mesolithic dwellings. In one notable instance, a fragment of a Neanderthal skull estimated to be more than forty-thousand years old was found off the coast of Zeeland in the Netherlands. In 2015, divers working with the Seasearch research group found the remains of numerous compressed trees and branches off the coast of Norfolk, England. A team of researchers from the University of Bradford and Ghant University found a hammerstone flint on the seabed in 2019. According to ExplorersWeb, by 2024, more than two thousand objects had been discovered from Doggerland.

Researchers have also worked to create maps and models of Doggerland. One such effort relied on data supplied by oil companies that drill in the North Sea. The data yielded a detailed digital model of what about eighteen thousand square miles of Doggerland might have looked like before it was overtaken by rising seas. All of this has helped researchers to begin creating a clearer image of Doggerland its ancient inhabitants.

Bibliography

Andrei, Mihai. “Doggerland – The Land That Connected Europe and the UK 8000 Years Ago.” ZME Science, 13 Nov. 2018, www.zmescience.com/science/geology/doggerland-europe-land. Accessed 19 Mar. 2019.

Campbell, Peter B. “The First Brexit: Submerged Landscapes of the North Sea and Channel.” Guardian, 26 Apr. 2017, www.theguardian.com/science/2017/apr/26/the-first-brexit-submerged-landscapes-of-the-north-sea-and-channel. Accessed 19 Mar. 2019.

De Abreu, Kristine. "Exploration Mysteries: Doggerland." ExplorersWeb, 13 Feb. 2024, explorersweb.com/exploration-mysteries-doggerland/. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.

“Doggerland – Europe’s Lost Land.” Heritage Daily, 7 July 2018, www.heritagedaily.com/2018/07/doggerland-europes-lost-land/117925. Accessed 19 Mar. 2019.

“Doggerland – The Europe That Was.” National Geographic, 2019, www.nationalgeographic.org/maps/doggerland. Accessed 19 Mar. 2019.

Fagan, Brian. “Never Heard of Doggerland? Blame Climate Change from Millennia Ago.” Smithsonian Magazine, June 2013, www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/never-heard-of-doggerland-blame-climate-change-from-millennia-ago-72154423. Accessed 19 Mar. 2019.

Marchini, Lucia. “Doggerland Rises: Exploring Lands and Livelihoods Lost Under the North Sea.” Current Archeology, 7 Apr. 2016, www.archaeology.co.uk/articles/features/doggerland-rises.htm. Accessed 19 Mar. 2019.

Metcalfe, Tom. “Thriving Plateau Region That Slipped Beneath North Sea 8,000 Years Ago Reveals Its Secrets.” LiveScience, 3 Dec. 2018, www.livescience.com/64214-drowned-landscape-north-sea-doggerland.html. Accessed 19 Mar. 2019.

Vernon, Katie. “The Mysterious Underwater Land Mass Known as the ‘British Atlantis.’” The Vintage News, 2 Nov. 2018, www.thevintagenews.com/2018/11/02/doggerland. Accessed 19 Mar. 2019.