Drowned Land 02

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Inspiration

Doggerland Throughout Time

Between the Dutch coast and Great Britain lies a lost world: Doggerland. What we now know as the North Sea was mostly dry land over the past million years. This fertile landscape was home to impressive rivers, mammoths, woolly rhinos, and Neanderthals. Later, the ancestors of modern humans, hunter-gatherers, also lived in this region.

Doggerland, just off our coast, is one of the most important archaeological and paleontological sites in the world. At the time, you could walk from the Netherlands to England through a delta where the ancient Rhine, Meuse, Seine, and Thames rivers converged into a mighty waterway.

The size of Doggerland shifted over time. During warmer periods, parts of the land were submerged, and in the coldest ice ages, an ice lake covered the area. But most of the time, the land was dry, covered in herbaceous plains where herds of mammoths, reindeer, and horses roamed. Predators like wolves, saber-toothed cats, and hyenas thrived here, alongside human hunters and gatherers.

The most fertile part of Doggerland was the river valley. It was greener and warmer than the surrounding plains. In winter, the river froze, but in spring, the melting ice caused floods, enriching the soil along its banks. This created a thriving ecosystem for plants and animals. In contrast, the land further away from the river was colder and barer.

Neanderthals lived in Doggerland for extended periods but left twice during extreme cold spells. After the last ice age, they did not return, but around 45,000 years ago, the first modern humans briefly explored the area. However, it quickly became too cold for permanent settlement.

Around 11,000 years ago, during the Holocene, the climate warmed significantly, and Doggerland transformed once more. At that time, the sea level was 50 to 60 meters lower than it is today, and modern humans settled in the area. With its abundant food sources, forests, and wildlife, Doggerland was an ideal place to live.

Gradually, the rising sea level, driven by climate change, began to reshape the landscape. Initially, the water rose rapidly, about 5 cm per year, later slowing to 1 cm per year. Beaches, creeks, and salt marshes formed, creating a landscape similar to the modern Wadden Sea. The inhabitants adapted, shifting from hunting to fishing, while farther inland, freshwater marshes, rivers, and lakes provided rich hunting grounds and edible plants.

Doggerland’s decline began about 9,000 years ago when a glacial lake in Canada burst, triggering a massive tsunami along the Norwegian coast. This catastrophe flooded much of the remaining land. Over the next 2,000 years, the rising sea level continued to claim Doggerland, until dunes and sandbanks formed the early predecessors of today’s coastal barriers.

The fate of Doggerland serves as a reminder of how dynamic coastlines are. Just as Doggerland disappeared, the future of our own coasts remains uncertain in the face of ongoing climate change.

Written by Elise Eekhout

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