Remains of lost British settlements found by archaeologists in the North Sea

Multiple artefacts were brought up from the sea floor (Picture: University of Bradford)

The bottom of the North Sea could hold the key to understanding the UK’sStone Age ancestors.

Archaeologists have begun dredging the sea floor to discover artefacts dating back more than 10,000 years ago – ranging from cutting tools to flint flakes.

The area being researched by archaeologists is Dogger, a stretch of land which completely disappeared after it flooded when sea levels rose seven thousand years ago.

It was long thought the floods erased the lives of the Stone Age Britons who once called Doggerland home – but that’s no longer the case.

Less than 20 miles off the coast of Norfolk, hundreds of artefacts could help us better understand our ancestors.

University of Bradford’s Professor Vince Gaffney leads the archaeology investigation in the North Sea and said: ‘Our investigations at the bottom of the North Sea have the potential to transform our understanding of Stone Age culture in and around what is now Britain and the near continent.’

Flint cutting tools were discovered on the sea floor (Picture: University of Bradford)

Doggerland once extended between England and mainland Europe (Picture: University of Bradford)

It’s hoped the archaeological dredging will lead to some new insights into how these ancient Britons lived, worked and died.

The University of Bradford is working with Belgium’s Flemish Marine Institute, in collaboration with the North Sea’s wind farm projects and Historic England’s Marine Planning Department.

Professor Gaffney added: ‘As we delve into the past, we are beginning to appreciate ever more clearly what future sea-level rise could do to humanity.

‘Our collaboration with the North Sea wind farms community is part of Britain’s efforts to reach net zero and to thereby combat global warming.’

Doggerland was eventually submerged by a series of small tsunamis, researchers found in 2020.

Professor Gaffney told the Guardian then: ‘If you were standing on the shoreline on that day, 8,200 years ago, there is no doubt it would have been a bad day for you.

‘It was a catastrophe. Many people, possibly thousands of people, must have died.’

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