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Doggerland: Atlantis-Like Country Discovered off Scottish Coast
A map of the United Kingdom with Doggerland marked as red. (University of St. Andrews)
A diver investigates large stones at Doggerland. (University of St Andrews)
A vast underwater area in the North Sea may once have been home to tens of thousands of Stone Age people before it disappeared in a tsunami, according to 15 years of research by U.K. scientists.
Named Doggerland, the region stretched from Northern Scotland to Denmark and down toward the Channel Islands. It slowly became submerged between 18,000 and 5,500 B.C.
“Doggerland was the real heartland of Europe until sea levels rose to give us the U.K. coastline of today,” said geophysicist Richard Bates at the University of St. Andrews in a statement.
“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 recreate what this lost land looked like.”
The scientists reconstructed a huge and complex landscape using geophysical modeling and material collected from the ocean floor, including fossilized material from the plants and animals that inhabited Doggerland.
“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,” Bates said.
Initially, Doggerland was hilly with waterways and a convoluted coastline, but as sea levels rose, an archipelago of low islands would have formed.
Other interesting findings include a mass mammoth grave, standing stones, and potential human burial sites.
More: http://bit.ly/PnEv9N
““Doggerland was the real heartland of Europe…” = Unsubstantiated BS. Yes, we know the sea level was lower, we don’t know if the area was the heartland of Europe.