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Doggerland was the part of the European landmass between Great Britain, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands that gradually became submerged under the North Sea in the time since the last glacial period. The drowning of this vast populated area was caused by rising sea levels, at a rate comparable to that predicted for the next 100 years as a result of global warming. Some elevated areas of Doggerland can still be observed as islands and shoals, most notably the Orkney and Shetland Islands and the Dogger Bank. A related phenomenon is the occasional discovery of "Noah's woods" along the British coast: peat deposits complete with stumps of woodland trees.

When the glaciers finally receded at the end of the last ice age, the British Isles were still connected to the mainland. The River Thames and the River Rhine both contributed to the huge Channel River, which would eventually become the English Channel. The River Elbe flowed west of Jutland through the Elbe Urstromtal – a huge glacial valley whose northern part is now submerged under the German Bight and filled with sediment. The Elbe estuary probably opened into the Norwegian Trench between Doggerland and Scandinavia. With slowly rising sea levels, Doggerland's northern coastline moved south until around the 6th millennium BCE only a number of islands remained and Great Britain was separated from the continent. At the start of the 4th millennium, when the sea-levels became constant, the last big islands in the southern North Sea had disappeared, and the modern topography had been developed.

Humans in Europe survived the Last Glacial Maximum in refuges in the southern part of the continent and recolonised it afterwards, beginning in the Bølling/Allerød period. They reached Doggerland as mesolithic hunter-gatherers coming from inland Europe. Part of our knowledge about Doggerland comes from accidental finds by commercial trawlers, e.g. prehistoric tools or bones of extinct (mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, Irish elk, aurochs, steppe wisent) or extant (bear, wolf, reindeer, red deer, horse, beaver, walrus) animal species. More recently, Doggerland has become an area of systematic research by archaeologists and geologists.

Last glacial period
The last glacial period, the most recent glacial period within the current ice age, began about 110,000 years ago and ended between 10,000 and 15,000 years BP. It is known under various regional synonyms, the most relevant for the North Sea region being Devensian and Weichsel. This period saw the arrival of the first modern humans in Europe (c. 40,000 years BP ) and the disappearance of the last Neanderthals shortly afterwards (c. 30,000 years BP).

The time when the last glaciation had its maximum extent c. 16000 BCE is known as the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) or MIS 2. There is no scientific consensus on the exact extent of the ice sheets in northern Europe at that time. It has been suggested that the entire area from Ireland to Scandinavia and beyond was covered with ice, only the southern North Sea basin being ice-free. However, at the time of the LGM the sea-level was 120 m lower than today, and in addition the British and Scandinavian ice sheets would have raised the North Sea basin by pressing part of the surrounding landmass down. Therefore a more recent opinion is that the southern edge of the ice was further to the north, leaving southern England ice-free, and that in place of the North Sea there was a large corridor of ice-free land that stretched as far north as the Shetland Islands. While the present seabed of the North Sea is relatively flat, this corridor need not have been a low-lying plain. At this time the northern coast of Doggerland would have been marked by hills in the position of the Orkney and Shetland islands. In the north-east it was bounded by the Norwegian Trench, which was connected to the Atlantic. Opposite the Norwegian coast there may have been hills in the position of the Viking and Bergen banks.

In any case the southern North Sea basin was part of the land mass, connecting the (interconnected) British Isles to the remainder of the continent. The western coast of Europe stretched from France via Ireland to Scotland. The area between the ice-covered Alps and the northern ice sheets was tundra with permafrost. Any human occupation at the time would have been very sparse, and no evidence for it was found. The human population of Europe was mostly concentrated in two refuges, one in the area of the Basque country and one in the Balkan area.

End of the last glacial period
The next significant event after the LGM was the Bølling–Allerød Period, known in Britain as the Windermere interstadial. It began with a sharp rise in global temperatures that led quickly to a warm climate. Global sea level rose, but only slowly, since the vast North American icesheets did not melt yet. During this warm period humans spread on the continent again. During this interstadial the northern coast of Doggerland must have begun to recede; there may have been a Shetland island marking the northern end of a bay north of the Dogger Hills, and a Viking-Bergen island between the bay and the Norwegian Trench. This was probably the time of maximal land suited to human population. It took some time for vegetation to develop and for the ground to be covered with soil. A landscape similar to that known from Jutland and north-eastern Britain at the time will have developed, consisting of woodland (birch, willow, juniper, pine, some poplar), grassy parkland (trees of genus prunus and sorbus), and wetland. The mammalian fauna of Doggerland probably included horse, mammoth and red deer, with some variation in time and space. Animal bones that were trawled from the seabed and which are consistent with the contemporary fauna of adjacent regions include those of bear, wolf, hyaena, Irish elk, aurochs, bison, wholly rhinoceros, beaver, walrus.

For unknown reasons, possibly caused by the melting of the North American ice and a resulting change in thermohaline circulation, the Bølling–Allerød interstadial was followed by another cold period known as the Younger Dryas. At this time the landscape of Doggerland probably consisted mostly of tundra. As in Britain, Belgium and southern Scandinavia, there will have been reindeer.

Holocene
The beginning of the holocene is dated around 10,000 years BP, possibly a bit earlier. (Radiocarbon dating around this time is problematic because a radiocarbon plateau makes a period of several centuries indistinguishable.)

From 7400 BCE, Doggerland had a southern coast.

Around 7000 BCE
From the end of the Younger Dryas, tree cover (probably birch, willow, alder, hazel, juniper, pine) spread quickly, although initially it may not have formed a uniform dense forest. ("Birch woodland, with pine to the south-east.") Typical mammals at this time were "horse, aurochs, red and roe deer, elk, wild pig, otter, and beaver". There must have been much wetland area due to melting ice sheets and rising sea levels; these probably had plenty of waterfowl. The wetlands are particularly important for us because they preserved the archaeological evidence well. The estuaries of the large rivers moved inwards, making place to the sea; this was "favourable for human settlement".

Around 5000 BCE
Around 6000 BCE there will have been "a mixture of hazel, oak, elm, and alder". ("Hazel woodland, with oak and alder, or oak and elm.") This may have attracted cattle.

[spans both periods] When the glaciers receded for the last time, the River Elbe flowed northwards through the Urstromtal, parts of which are now on the ground of the German bight and filled with sediment, and probably into to the Norwegian Trench (or possibly into the Witch Ground Basin ). Although the Weald–Artois anticline had been interrupted earlier, due to the low water levels Great Britain was again connected to the continent. In the location of the English Channel there was the huge Channel River, whose tributaries included the River Thames and the River Rhine. In the position of the Dogger Bank, Bryony Coles postulated the Dogger Hills. South of them there would have been a lake, which can still be observed as the Outer Silver Pit.

As the ice thawed worldwide, sea levels rose gradually. This caused the Channel River estuary to move inwards from its original position (probably near Land's End). At the same time Doggerland's northern coast moved southwards, probably forming a bight between the Northern Isles (including the Shetlands and Orkneys), Scotland, the Dogger Hills, and possibly a Viking–Bergen island. The Dogger Hills would be be turned into a peninsula, connected to the mainland on its east side, and then, as the mouth of the River Elbe moved further up through the Urstromtal, into an island. Eventually Dogger Island would be drowned. The last obstructions in the English Channel would disappear, turning the North Sea into a marginal, rather than mediterranean, sea. Once the sea level was constant, the process would have been essentially over.

Up to the last glacial maximum
At the beginning of the quaternary (Early Pleistocene), North-western European rivers already drained into a basin that roughly corresponded to the present North Sea. The Weald–Artois anticline (remains of which still form characteristic white cliffs on both sides of the English Channel, such as the white cliffs of Dover) connected south-eastern England to north-eastern France. During glaciations, the water was also blocked by ice in the northern North Sea basin, causing it to turn the southern basin into a huge lake. It is generally believed that at one time, probably during the Anglian glaciation (Middle Pleistocene, MIS 12), the ice-dammed lake breached the Weald–Artois anticline in a catastrophic event.

The Anglian was followed by several more glacial periods.

After the last glacial maximum
When the glaciers receded for the last time, the River Elbe flowed northwards through the Urstromtal, parts of which are now on the ground of the German bight and filled with sediment, and probably into to the Norwegian Trench (or possibly into the Witch Ground Basin ). Although the Weald–Artois anticline had been interrupted earlier, due to the low water levels Great Britain was again connected to the continent. In the location of the English Channel there was the huge Channel River, whose tributaries included the River Thames and the River Rhine. In the position of the Dogger Bank, Bryony Coles postulated the Dogger Hills. South of them there would have been a lake, which can still be observed as the Outer Silver Pit.

As the ice thawed worldwide, sea levels rose gradually. This caused the Channel River estuary to move inwards from its original position (probably near Land's End). At the same time Doggerland's northern coast moved southwards, probably forming a bight between the Northern Isles (including the Shetlands and Orkneys), Scotland, the Dogger Hills, and possibly a Viking–Bergen island. The Dogger Hills would be be turned into a peninsula, connected to the mainland on its east side, and then, as the mouth of the River Elbe moved further up through the Urstromtal, into an island. Eventually Dogger Island would be drowned. The last obstructions in the English Channel would disappear, turning the North Sea into a marginal, rather than mediterranean, sea. Once the sea level was constant, the process would have been essentially over.

Topography
MIS3, "often referred to as a failed interglacial", was "a period of extreme climatic instability, with dramatic alternations between milder and colder conditions". Land-ice was probably limited to local ice-caps. Sea level -80m. Grassland with local patches of marsh and bare sandy facies. No trees. Subarctic temperatures. Mammalian fauna dominated by mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, horse, bison, reindeer – curious mixture of ostensibly warm-adapted and cold-adapted species. Strong winds. Heavy autumn rains, then 3–6 months snow cover.

MIS2=LGM. Sea level -120m.

MIS1=Holocene.

Habitat
Clive Gamble suggested a "regional model of Europe for the investigation of long-term survival strategies by mobile populations". The North Sea area is mostly in the North West region of this model, but borders on the North Central region.

The line between oceanic and continental areas moves east in high sea level interglacials (OIS 5e, 9, 11) and west in low sea level interglacials (OIS 13, 7) and sub-strages (5c, 5a). This affects the length of winter, in which there are no resources. (No evidence of food storage by Neanderthals.)

According to Reid, the following animal species were found:
 * Ursus (bear)
 * Canis lupus (wolf)
 * Crocuta spelaea (hyaena)
 * Megaloceros giganteus (Irish elk)
 * Rangifer tarandus (reindeer)
 * Cervus elaphus (red deer)
 * Bos primigenius (aurochs)
 * Bison priscus (steppe bison)
 * Equus caballus (horse)
 * Coelodonta antiquitatis (woolly rhinoceros)
 * Mammuthus primigenius (mammoth)
 * Castor fiber (beaver)
 * Trichechus rosmarus (walrus)

Prehistoric human occupation
There is no evidence for the presence of hominids in Northern Europe before the Middle Pleistocene, but from about half a million years ago (MIS 13), earlier forms such as homo heidelbergensis were present all over Europe, where they evolved into Neanderthals. Since then there were numerous dramatical changes in climate, sea-level and the extent of ice sheets, including atypical periods such as the interglacial MIS 7 with low sea levels or the interstadial MIS 5e with high sea levels that turned even Scandinavia into an island. It is known that Neanderthals were present in Doggerland or adjacent regions at times when it had a warm climate and was populated with .... At other times ice sheets or permafrost made the region unsuitable for human occupation. Neanderthals are known to have hunted large mammals such as reindeer, bovids and rhinoceros. Current conceptions about them include that they used language and might have practised division of labour between the sexes.

"The failure of the many investigations looking for Lower Pleistocene lithic assemblages and human fossils strongly suggests the absence of hominids from, especially, northern Europe prior to the Middle Pleistocene." Earliest human settlement in Northern Europe probably since Middle Pleistocene, about half a million years ago in MIS 13. Since then there was continuous settlement in Europe (occasionally only few and isolated, not necessarily in the north), developing from Mauer/Boxgrove into classic Neanderthals. Middle/Upper Pleistocene hominids hunted large mammals (reindeer, bovids, rhinoceros). In the north they probably "operated over large areas". There is also possible evidence of division of labour between the sexes. Probably used language.

From about 500,000 years BP, "after many millennia of sparse population [by hominids]", Homo heidelbergensis and later Neanderthals were present all over Europe.

"Until the middle of the Lower Pleistocene, Europe seems to have remained essentially outside the expansion range of hominids." "{Toward the end of this period,] a large plain runs from the northern shore of the Black Sea to the Atlantic. […] [I]t seems that, until the middle of the Middle Pleistocene, the Northern Plain was only sporadically penetrated. […] During the peaks of [glacial periods], the Northern Plain was mostly covered by glaciers and permafrost, and was not suitable for extensive human occupation." "As demonstrated for OIS 2, the extreme conditions of previous cold stages could have had a major impact on the occupation of areas located on the northwestern plain. […] One of the main advances of the last two decades has been the demonstration of the persistence of Neanderthals in Europe after 40 ka B.P., and their coexistence with the first modern humans in the same area."

"Europe witnessed the emergence of the Neanderthals from the middle of the Middle Pleistocene. […] Very likely […] Europe represents the area of origin of this group of extinct hominids."

Modern humans
"Until OIS 3, no modern or pre-modern human remains are known in Europe."

At the time of the Last Glacial Maximum, the greater part of the British Isles and all of Scandinavia were covered under ice. Doggerland and the adjacent ice-free regions were polar desert. Therefore Doggerland, like much of north-west Europe, must have been essentially uninhabited.

Neanderthals
OIS 8: Only known in outline. Increase in arctic mammal species (lemming, reindeer). Mammoth steppe dominates flora. Mammoth/rhino complex dominates fauna.

OIS 7: Interglacial, but low sea level. All nine regions in the model occupied. North East region settled for the first time.

OIS 6: Southern/Mediterranean Europe: extensive cold steppes. Ice-free corridor between Alps and Scandinavia: Mixture of tundra and steppe elements; grasses, sagebrush, chenopods, sedges (no modern analogue). British Isles connected to continent, according to a quoted map.

OIS 5e: High sea levels: British Isles and even Scandinavia are islands. Forest almost everywhere. High-frequency oscillations in ice volume. (This shows: changes up to 10K possible in 10-20 years.) The only period which has hippopotamus amphibius in England. No hominids in England. ("England inhabited by hippos rather than hominids.")

OIS 5d: Short, but much ice.

OIS 5c: Interstadial, conditions similar to now.

OIS 5b: Short, but much ice.

OIS 5a: Interstadial, conditions similar to now.

OIS 4 (Pleniglacial): Only Scandinavia and Baltic Sea under ice. Low sea levels. Tundra and cold steppe mosaic.

In Ioannina, there were 430,000 years of tree pollen without interruption, so Mediterranean refuges for plants.

Research

 * Reid
 * When trawlers first visited the Dogger Bank its surface seems to have been strewn with large bones of land animals and loose masses of peat, known to the fishermen as "moorlog," and there were also many erratic blocks in the neighbourhood. As all this refuse did much damage to the trawls, and bruised the fish, the erratics and bones were thrown into deeper water, and the large cages of moorlog were broken in pieces. A few of the erratics and some of the bones were however brought to Yarmouth as curiosities. Now the whole surface of the Dogger Bank has been gone over again and again by the trawlers, and very few of the fossil bones are found; unfortunately no record seems to have been kept as to the exact place where these bones were trawled.


 * Coles

Potential references

 * Neanderthals on Trial (film)
 * Late Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic sites with contemporary coastlines in the English Channel and North Sea (map)
 * Some tusks and teeth found in the North Sea
 * (discusses urstromtal)
 * (continuation of urstromtal)
 * 
 * Identification of submarine hard-bottom substrates in the German North Sea and Baltic Sea EEZ with high-resolution acoustic seafloor imaging
 * Neanderthals on Trial (film)
 * Late Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic sites with contemporary coastlines in the English Channel and North Sea (map)
 * Some tusks and teeth found in the North Sea
 * (discusses urstromtal)
 * (continuation of urstromtal)
 * 
 * Identification of submarine hard-bottom substrates in the German North Sea and Baltic Sea EEZ with high-resolution acoustic seafloor imaging
 * Neanderthals on Trial (film)
 * Late Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic sites with contemporary coastlines in the English Channel and North Sea (map)
 * Some tusks and teeth found in the North Sea
 * (discusses urstromtal)
 * (continuation of urstromtal)
 * 
 * Identification of submarine hard-bottom substrates in the German North Sea and Baltic Sea EEZ with high-resolution acoustic seafloor imaging

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16091-were-neanderthals-stoned-to-death-by-modern-humans.html http://books.google.com/books?id=bmZR8nMyS8sC http://books.google.com/books?id=UEckqQU41KcC http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/natur/0,1518,572906,00.html http://www.britarch.ac.uk/sites/www.britarch.ac.uk/files/node-files/Doggerland_Climate_Change.pdf