Ancient Doggerland: A Forested Heartland Beneath the North Sea
A Lost Landscape Revealed
Long before the North Sea submerged the area, a vast region called Doggerland connected Britain to mainland Europe. While this prehistoric land has often been imagined as a cold, barren plain during the last Ice Age, new research shows parts of Doggerland were surprisingly lush and hospitable.
A study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences provides direct evidence of temperate forests in southern Doggerland roughly 16,000 years ago. Using sedimentary ancient DNA recovered from marine cores beneath the North Sea, scientists reconstructed the ecology of this lost world. Findings indicate the presence of trees such as oak, elm, and hazel far earlier than previously believed.
“This is the best evidence that Doggerland’s wooded environment could have supported early Mesolithic communities prior to flooding,” said Professor Robin Allaby of the University of Warwick, lead author of the study.
Reconstructing Doggerland’s Ecology
Doggerland once spanned much of today’s southern North Sea, forming a land bridge between Britain and continental Europe. As the last Ice Age ended, melting glaciers caused rising sea levels that gradually submerged the area. Archaeologists had long suspected that forests developed there, but the timing was uncertain.
The research team analyzed ancient DNA preserved in marine sediments to trace the region’s environmental history. Samples came from 41 sediment cores collected along a prehistoric river system in southern Doggerland. In total, 252 sediment samples were examined, allowing researchers to track vegetation changes over thousands of years.
Surprising Forests in the Ice Age
The DNA revealed that temperate woodland species—including oak, elm, and hazel—were established in Doggerland about 16,000 years ago, several millennia earlier than pollen records from Britain had suggested.
The study also detected:
Tilia (lime trees): Indicating warmer conditions; appeared in Doggerland 2,000 years before mainland Britain.
Pterocarya (walnut relative): Thought to have disappeared from northwestern Europe 400,000 years ago, suggesting isolated populations survived longer than expected.
These findings support the idea of microrefugia—small environmental pockets where temperate plants endured harsh Ice Age conditions. Such refuges may help solve Reid’s Paradox, explaining how trees recolonized northern Europe so rapidly after glaciers retreated.
Doggerland: A Refuge for Early Humans
Temperate forests in Doggerland would have provided food and shelter for both animals and early humans. Woodland habitats could sustain wild boar and other game, making it a likely destination for Mesolithic hunter-gatherers.
“For many years, Doggerland was often described as a route for prehistoric settlement of the British Isles,” said Professor Vincent Gaffney of the University of Bradford. “Today we understand that it was likely a heartland of early human settlement.”
The research also suggests that parts of Doggerland remained above sea level longer than previously thought, surviving major flooding events such as the Storegga tsunami around 8,150 years ago before finally disappearing beneath the North Sea roughly 7,000 years ago.
A New Perspective on Prehistoric Europe
This study transforms our understanding of Doggerland. Far from being a barren land bridge, it was a thriving, forested landscape that could support human communities and wildlife. By uncovering its ecological richness, scientists are piecing together a more detailed picture of how early humans lived, traveled, and thrived in prehistoric northern Europe.
