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Doggerland was a land bridge between mainland Europe and the UK that existed during the last ice age, about 11,000 years ago. It was a rich habitat and home to many animals, including mammoths and saber-toothed tigers. Scientists have studied the area using underwater vehicles and found tools, human remains, and animal subfossils. The region is crucial for understanding the Mesolithic period in Northern Europe. Doggerland was eventually submerged as sea levels rose, and Britain became an island about 8,000 years ago.
Doggerland is a “lost land” that existed in the present North Sea, between England, the Netherlands and Denmark. Doggerland existed towards the end of the last ice age, about 11,000 years ago, when the glacial ice in northern Europe had melted, but sea levels were still low enough not to flood the area as they do today. Sea levels were about 120 m (394 ft) below present levels. Other areas of the world that have been made dry by these sea levels include the seas around Indonesia and the Bering Strait, which was crossed by hunter-gatherers in the Americas.
Doggerland was a rich habitat in its heydey, a haven for man and other animals. Being a low-lying area, it had abundant swamps and drinking water, and was frequented by many animals. It formed a land bridge from mainland Europe to England and the rest of the UK. Southern Britain was intermittently occupied by humans during the Mesolithic, but the most populated area appears to have been Doggerland. By mapping the geological makeup of the North Sea floor, scientists have discovered submerged features such as hills, valleys and riverbeds. The bed of the largest submerged river, similar in size to the present Rhine, was named the Shotton River by Birmingham geologist Richard Shotton.
The Doggerland region is considered crucial for understanding the Mesolithic period (Middle Stone Age) in Northern Europe. The region takes its name from the Dogger Bank, a 20 m (65 ft) high sandbank submerged in the North Sea, a moraine (debris accumulation) created by glacial action. Scientists have studied Doggerland using AUVs (autonomous underwater vehicles) and underwater, finding various tools including axes, primitive boats, carved horns and human remains, including bones. These bones were studied to analyze the diet of the humans who lived there.
Doggerland was occupied by mammoths, saber-toothed tigers, deer and even lions. The subfossil bodies of these animals are sometimes discovered by trawling vessels. The area is thought to have been relatively empty prior to 13,000 years ago when a cold snap would have turned the area into a frigid tundra, but since then the climate has started to warm up and the area has become more welcoming. About 10,000 years ago, the ice age ended and the water level started to rise. The rise would have been slow – about a meter or two a century – but when it was done, Doggerland was under water and Britain became an island, which it did about 8,000 years ago.
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