Archaeologists find ancient evidence of “Lost World” beneath the North Sea

An enormous prehistoric panorama now hidden beneath the North Sea might have supported forests and wildlife 1000’s of years sooner than scientists beforehand believed.

New analysis means that Doggerland, a landmass that when linked Britain to mainland Europe, might have been a hospitable surroundings for vegetation, animals, and doubtlessly early human communities effectively earlier than forests unfold extensively throughout Britain and northern Europe.

– Advertisement –

The research, led by researchers at the University of Warwick and revealed in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), used sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) to reconstruct Doggerland’s surroundings in unprecedented element.

By analyzing genetic traces preserved in marine sediments, scientists had been capable of determine plant species that lived there from the finish of the final Ice Age till rising seas finally submerged the panorama.

The findings reveal that temperate woodland species akin to oak, elm, and hazel had been already current in southern Doggerland greater than 16,000 years in the past — a number of thousand years sooner than indicated by pollen information from mainland Britain. Researchers additionally detected DNA from lime (Tilia), a warmth-loving tree species, showing round 2,000 years sooner than beforehand recorded in Britain.

Perhaps most shocking was the discovery of genetic traces belonging to Pterocarya, a walnut-related tree thought to have vanished from north-western Europe roughly 400,000 years in the past. The presence of this species suggests it might have survived in the area far longer than scientists had assumed.

– Advertisement –

To uncover these insights, researchers analyzed 252 sediment samples taken from 41 marine cores alongside a prehistoric river system often known as the Southern River. The sediments, which accrued over 1000’s of years, preserved fragments of ancient DNA that allowed scientists to reconstruct the ecological historical past of Doggerland from roughly 16,000 years in the past till its remaining submergence beneath the North Sea.

Professor Robin Allaby at the School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick and lead writer of this research says: “By analyzing silkDNA from Southern Doggerland at a scale not seen before, we have reconstructed the environment of this lost land from the end of the last Ice Age until the North Sea arrived thousands. We unexpectedly found trees of years earlier than anyone expected — and evidence that the North Sea fully formed later than previously thought.

“From a human perspective, this is the best evidence that Doggerland’s wooded environment could have supported early Mesolithic communities prior to flooding and may help explain why relatively little early Mesolithic evidence survives on mainland Britain today.”

The research also challenges earlier assumptions about when Doggerland disappeared.
Evidence from the DNA record suggests parts of the landscape remained above water even after major flooding events, including the Storegga tsunami around 8,150 years ago. Some areas may have survived as dry land until as recently as 7,000 years ago.

The study supports growing evidence that small-scale “microrefuge” allowed temperate plant species to survive northern Europe’s Ice Age conditions, helping explain Reid’s Paradox — how trees recolonized the region so rapidly after the last Ice Age retreated.

The presence of woodland habitats so early in Doggerland’s history also raises new questions about the region’s importance for prehistoric humans. Forest ecosystems could have supported animals such as wild boar and other games, potentially providing rich resources for early Mesolithic communities long before the better-known Maglemosian culture emerged around 10,300 years ago.

Co-author, Professor Vincent Gaffney at University of Bradford says, “For many years, Doggerland was often described as a land bridge – only significant as a route for prehistoric settlement of the British Isles. Today, we understand that Doggerland was not only a heartland of early human settlement, but also that the presence of the land mass may have provided a refuge for plants and animals and acted as a fulcrum for how prehistoric communities settled and resettled northern Europe over millennia.”

As scientists continue to investigate the North Sea’s submerged landscapes, Doggerland is increasingly emerging not as a simple migration route, but as a thriving ecosystem that played a crucial role in the environmental and human history of Ice Age Europe.

Header Image Credit: University of Bradford Submerged Landscape & Research Center

Sources: University of Warwick – https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2508402123

– Advertisement –