'Britain's Atlantis' Found at Bottom of North Sea - A Huge Undersea Kingdom Swamped by A Tsunami 5,500 Years Ago - Mail Online

7/4/12 12:03 AM 'Britain's Atlantis' found at bottom of North sea - a huge undersea kingdom swamped by a tsunami 5,500 years
ago | Mail Online

Page 1 of 20 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2167731/Britains-Atndersea-kingdom-swamped-tsunami-5-500-years-ago.html#ixzz1zZ0LxHG3
'Britain's Atlantis' found at bottom of North sea -
a huge undersea world swallowed by the sea in
6500BC
Divers have found traces of ancient land swallowed by waves 8500 years ago
Doggerland once stretched from Scotland to Denmark
Rivers seen underwater by seismic scans
Britain was not an island - and area under North Sea was roamed by mammoths
and other giant animals
Described as the 'real heartland' of Europe
Had population of tens of thousands - but devastated by sea level rises
By Rob Waugh
PUBLISHED: 18:32 EST, 2 July 2012 | UPDATED: 05:49 EST, 3 July 2012
'Britain's Atlantis' - a hidden underwater world swallowed by the North Sea - has been discovered by divers
working with science teams from the University of St Andrews.
Doggerland, 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.
7/4/12 12:03 AM 'Britain's Atlantis' found at bottom of North sea - a huge undersea kingdom swamped by a tsunami 5,500 years ago | Mail Online
Divers from St Andrews University, find remains of Doggerland, the underwater country
dubbed 'Britain's Atlantis'
Dr Richard Bates of the earth sciences department at St Andrews University, searching
for Doggerland, the underwater country dubbed 'Britain's Atlantis'
A Greater Britain: How the North Sea grew and the land-mass shrunk
Drowned world: Scans show a mound discovered under the water near Orkney, which
has been explored by divers
St Andrews University's artists' impression of life in Doggerland
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, were able to give form to the landscape - and make
sense of the mammoths found out there, and the reindeer. Were able to understand the types of people who
were there.
'People seem to think rising sea levels are a new thing - but its 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.
World beneath the waves: Scientists examine a sediment core recovered from a mound
near Orkney
Seismic scans reveal a submerged river at Dogger Bank
A visualisation of how life in the now-submerged areas of Dogger Bank might have
looked
Page 10 of 20 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2167731/Britains-Atdersea-kingdom-swamped-tsunami-5-500-years-ago.html#ixzz1zZ0LxHG3
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
Life in 'Doggerland' - the ancient kingdom once stretched from Scotland to Denmark and
has been described as the 'real heart of Europe'
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 excavation of Trench 2, unveiling more finds about this lost land-mass
Fossilised bones from a mammoth also show how this landscape was once one of hills
and valleys, rather than sea
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.
For further information on the exhibit, visit: http://sse.royalsociety.org/2012/exhibits/drowned-landscapes/
Drowned Landscapes is on display at The Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition 2012 from July 3-8 at the
Royal Society in London.

MOST READ NEWS
Previous
1
2
3
Next
'Beatings', sniper nests and a punishment block called 'The...
How track and field athletes have been DIVING across the...
'I'm a eat you': Crazed naked man high on bath salts...
Detroit to be hit by flesh and brain-eating zombie...
Adorable pictures to melt even the hardest heart: Tiny...
Don't wipe out the masterpiece! Teacher makes 25-minute...
Australian woman MP faces onslaught of criticism after...
Scientists crack the code over what makes us cool...and it...
Boy, SEVEN, tried to kill himself twice after 11-year-old...
Former FBI employee 'saw angels guarding Flight 93 site...
Eugen-ious! Degree joy for princess as she earns 2:1 from...
Mother, 46, lured teen into sexual relationship after...
Comments (268)
Comments (268)
Newest
Oldest
Best rated
Worst rated
View all
Graham, St Albans, UK,; "Not for the last 15 years it hasn't been. FACTS from the Climate Research Unit of the University of East
Anglia The REAL truth is out." The "REAL" truth has been out about you for quite some time Graham. We've ALL read your posts
before. Google hottest years on record. 11 of the 12 warmest years on record have been in the past 12 years. Where DO you get
your information? The back of boxes of crisps? Google years with the least polar Ice cover it is almost linear at a receding amount
every single year for the past 15 years and getting worse exponentially. Google the same for greenlands ice melt. Google the same
for glaciers in the Andes or Himalayas. Google the same for latitude spread for growing seasons. MAybe it isn't man nade, but there
isn't one piece of evidence in existence that Global warming isn't accelerating. I have no idea where you get your information. But I
am quite sure that you have no idea how to interpret it, or it's just completely made up
- somewhere else, in America, 04/7/2012 03:32
Click to rate Rating 2
Report abuse
We know the earth is warming, - resident, somewhere in America >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Not for the last 15
years it hasn't been. FACTS from the Climate Research Unit of the University of East Anglia backed by UK Met Office
measurements. The very people who claim global warming is a fact and that we're at a critical 'tipping point'. The REAL truth is out.
- Graham, St Albans, UK, 04/7/2012 02:55
Report abuse
It must have been Global Warming. : )
- Graham, St Albans, UK, 04/7/2012 02:46
Report abuse
Professor plum, the region was named in the late 1980s by B.Coles, after Dogger Bank. The bank was named by dutch fishermen
after the dog-fish that flourish there. No links with dogs or with Egypt I'm afraid!
- archaeologist, uk, 04/7/2012 02:09
Report abuse
People doubting the tsunami: I am an academic and this is my research area. The tsunami was the Storegga Slide, look it up. It left
a deposit along the East coast of Britain and dates to around 6500 bc. This deposit can be seen now. at the time, the Northwest
European plain was partially inundated from ice melt. The Storegga Slide (which could have been more powerful than last year's
Japanese tsunami) caused the final inundation. Next time you are at the seaside, look out to sea. Once your ancestors lived there,
and though the ice was very extensive 20,000 years ago it was only so for 2-4. Otherwise the last ice age lasted 100,000 years, with
a pattern if warm/cold... doggerland was a fertile steppe/tundra rich in species through most of it.
- archaeologist, uk, 04/7/2012 01:11
Report abuse
omg I wonder if their civilisation created a sea level tax to save them all. if they did it looks like they were snookered!
- Johnny Trash, Rubbish, 04/7/2012 00:55
Report abuse
swan, USA; "Gosh, Maybe there WAS a great flood. Even though mountains of evidence point to one, these folks will never admit it"
No Swan dearry. Read the article. This account of ocean raising happened over tens of thousands of years. The very definition of a
flood is a sudden cataclysmic event. This hardly counts for something like that. The number of years ago that this happened and the
number of years it took to happen, 18,000 BC to 5,500 BC, are both in conflict with the whole crazy "Creationist theory" of a 5,000
year old earth. If your going to believe in crazy, mind-bending, completely unsupported theories, at least try to keep your crazy,
mind-bending, completely unsupported theories a little consistent.
- resident, somewhere in America, 04/7/2012 00:16
Report abuse
Gosh, Maybe there WAS a great flood. Even though mountains of evidence point to one, these folks will never admit it.
- swan, USA, 03/7/2012 23:47
Click to rate Rating (0)
Report abuse
@ Leella from Lancaster, I was simply pointing out that this supported undeniable evidence of a flood not the bibles accuracy of its
information, besides the ark would no longer be around any more than the cross Jesus was on after all wood rots over time, doesn't
it? And I'm pretty darn sure several thousand years would just about rot it all.
- Me, Uk, 03/7/2012 23:47
Report abuse
People that use this to deny "global Warming" are just to thick to talk to, and very one dimensional. We know that chemicals that
man puts in the atmosphere can cause very bad changes, because we have seen the ozone hole, and sinse we have outlawed
Chlorolfouro carbons the ozone hole has receded, that is undeniable, We also know that man has pumped enormous amounts of
CO2 in the atmosphere sinse the start of the industrial revolution. Saying it means nothing is rather rediculous. We know the earth is
warming, and we certainly have not helped that issue. Even if the earth is warming through natural causes or cycles, we should not
exacerbate it. The consequences, whether caused naturally or not, are enormous. We need to find solutions, not bicker like idiots.
But it so hard talking to a bunch of high school graduates that can't add a column of numbers who then think they are scientific
geniuses. Stop with your polarizing politics on the issue and think with common sense.
- resident, somewhere in America, 03/7/2012 23:35
Report abuse
The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.
Today's headlines
Most Read
What a peacock sees when it looks at a potential mate - and what your dog actually sees when you throw a ball
Fly me to the moon! Nasa offers detailed HD tour of our nearest neighbour including the dark side
Is the Amelia Earhart mystery about to be solved - 75 years after she vanished over the Pacific?
Sea levels 'will continue rising' regardless of greenhouse gas treaties, warn scientists
World's tiniest fly is the size of a grain of salt - and decapitates ants, then lives inside their head
'Britain's Atlantis' found at bottom of North sea - a huge undersea kingdom swallowed by the sea in 6500BC
Our galaxy is still 'reeling' from a recent impact where another star system tore straight through it
Still struggling on with XP? Microsoft will let you upgrade any version of Windows to new '8' operating system for $40
America requested that Twitter removed 679 Tweets last year (Japan asked for 98, UK and Canada asked for 11, and
everyone else less than 10)
The secret to swimming faster? Do exactly what you were always told not to and spread your fingers
Nearly a third of teenagers have 'sexted' nude photos of themselves - and 57% have been harassed to send pictures
The party that didn't go off with a Big Bang: Stephen Hawking held a party for time-travellers - but no-one turned up...
Mysterious bacteria found in soil near Easter Island statues could offer cure for Alzheimers
Reclaimed from the ocean, the island that is being re-born in the Atlantic Ocean as a nature reserve by the U.S. military
Windy on the East: Map shows the path of EVERY tornado to hit the U.S. in the last 60 years
Just staring into space? Perhaps not - daydreaming helps children concentrate, and makes them perform better in tests
God particle is 'found': Scientists at Cern expected to announce on Wednesday Higgs boson particle has been discovered
Roll over, Beethoven: London orchestra play piece written by a computer (but listening to THIS, human composers may not
be out of jobs quite yet...)
Pilotless fighter will fly over UK from 2013 - and robot plane could lead to passenger aircraft with no one at the controls
Dinosaur junior: Best-preserved skeleton ever found in Europe is just a foot long - and the creature had a furry tail
MORE HEADLINES
What a peacock sees when it looks at a potential mate - and what your dog actually sees when you throw a ball
'Britain's Atlantis' found at bottom of North sea - a huge undersea kingdom swallowed by the sea in 6500BC
The secret to swimming faster? Do exactly what you were always told not to and spread your fingers
The party that didn't go off with a Big Bang: Stephen Hawking held a party for time-travellers - but no-one turned up...
Our galaxy is still 'reeling' from a recent impact where another star system tore straight through it
World's tiniest fly is the size of a grain of salt - and decapitates ants, then lives inside their head
Nearly a third of teenagers have 'sexted' nude photos of themselves - and 57% have been harassed to send pictures
God particle is 'found': Scientists at Cern expected to announce on Wednesday Higgs boson particle has been discovered
Mysterious bacteria found in soil near Easter Island statues could offer cure for Alzheimers
Still struggling on with XP? Microsoft will let you upgrade any version of Windows to new '8' operating system for $40
New blow for Samsung as judge upholds ruling banning its iPad rival from sale in U.S.
Me too! Amazon 'purchases start-up' to join Google and Apple in the 3D mapping wars
Fly me to the moon! Nasa offers detailed HD tour of our nearest neighbour including the dark side
Is the Amelia Earhart mystery about to be solved - 75 years after she vanished over the Pacific?
'Touchscreen e-readers will never catch on': The words Microsoft founder Bill Gates has lived to regret
Reclaimed from the ocean, the island that is being re-born in the Atlantic Ocean as a nature reserve by the U.S. military
Happy fourth of July! Hubble Space Telescope captures spectacular cosmic fireworks display
Fire in the sky: Burning meteor trail lights up Australian sky for 20 minutes after rock plunges into the sea
Just staring into space? Perhaps not - daydreaming helps children concentrate, and makes them perform better in tests
Who was she? Mystery of the bejewelled Anglo-Saxon woman found buried beside sacrificial cow in unique discovery
MOST READ IN DETAIL

GADGET REVIEWS
Nike's brand new FuelBand
'If you have a body, you are an athlete'; it's the principle upon which Nike was founded. This product more than most encapsulates
that.

Scosche myTrek Wireless Pulse Monitor
Monitors your pulse and sends real-time data via wireless to its app on your iPhone and iPod Touch

Braun Oral-B Triumph 5000 Electric Toothbrush
The toothbrush with a wireless SmartGuide that tells you how well you've cleaned your teeth.

'Play' Multi-Message Video Pad
It's mooted as the 'ultimate video memo'. And some say it will sound the death knell for post-it notes. Above all, it's fun to use.

Angry Birds iPod & iPhone Speaker Dock
For fans of the 350-million selling game, this is possibly the most exciting speaker system to ever be invented.
Published by Associated Newspapers Ltd
Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group
Associated Newspapers Ltd

'Britain's Atlantis' Found at Bottom of North Sea - A Huge Undersea Kingdom Swamped by A Tsunami 5,500 Years Ago - Mail Online

Cargado por

Información del documento

Título original

Derechos de autor

Formatos disponibles

Compartir este documento

Compartir o incrustar documentos

Opciones para compartir

¿Le pareció útil este documento?

¿Este contenido es inapropiado?

Copyright:

Formatos disponibles

'Britain's Atlantis' Found at Bottom of North Sea - A Huge Undersea Kingdom Swamped by A Tsunami 5,500 Years Ago - Mail Online

Cargado por

Copyright:

Formatos disponibles

7/4/12 12:03 AM 'Britain's Atlantis' found at bottom of North sea - a huge undersea kingdom swamped by a tsunami 5,500 years

ago | Mail Online

También podría gustarte