Doggerland was a large area of land in Northern Europe , now submerged beneath the southern North Sea. This region was repeatedly exposed at various times during the Pleistocene epoch due to the lowering of sea levels during glacial periods. However, the term "Doggerland" is generally specifically used for this region during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene.
During the early Holocene following the glacial retreat at the end of the Last Glacial Period , the exposed land area of Doggerland stretched across the region between what is now the east coast of Great Britain, the Netherlands , north-west Germany , and the Danish peninsula of Jutland. Between 10, and 7, years ago, Doggerland was inundated by rising sea levels, disintegrating initially into a series of low-lying islands before submerging completely.
Doggerland was named after the Dogger Bank which in turn was named after 17th-century Dutch fishing boats called doggers , [ 4 ] which formed a highland region that became submerged later than the rest of Doggerland.
The archaeological potential of the area was first identified in the early 20th century. Interest intensified in when a fishing trawler operating east of the Wash dragged up a barbed antler point that was subsequently dated to a time when the area was tundra. Vessels have since dragged up remains of mammoths , lions and other animals, and a few prehistoric tools and weapons. As of [update] , international teams are continuing a two-year investigation into the submerged landscape of Doggerland using new and traditional archaeo-geophysical techniques, computer simulation , and molecular biology.
Evidence gathered allows study of past environments, ecological change, and human transition from hunter-gatherer to farming communities. During the Anglian glaciation , about , years ago, an ice sheet filled much of the North Sea , with a large proglacial lake in the southern part fed by the Rhine , the Scheldt and the Thames.
