Not Drowning but Waving! The Rediscovery of Doggerland | Prof. Vince Gaffney | Megalithomania 2023

Lands beneath the sea are the stuff of legends. However, global warming at the end of the last Ice Age led to the inundation of vast landscapes that had once been home to thousands of people. These lost lands also hold a unique and, until recently, a largely unexplored record of settlement and colonisation linked to climate change over millennia. Amongst the most significant of these areas is known as Doggerland. Occupying much of the North Sea basin between continental Europe and Britain, Doggerland would have been a heartland of human occupation and central to the process of re-settlement and colonisation of north western Europe during the Mesolithic and the Neolithic. The difficulties of undertaking archaeological research in such an extreme environment are formidable, but over the last decade there has been a revolution in our knowledge of these lands. Marine development, linked to data provided by marine development, including the large wind-farms now being constructed as part of the UK’s green energy programme, has provided access to massive remote sensing data sets, and these have provided a key to direct exploration of these previously inaccessible archaeological landscapes. The lecture provides an overview of recent research and considers why these landscapes are so important and what their futures may be.

Filmed at the Megalithomania Conference on 6th - 7th May 2023, Glastonbury, UK.

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[simongentry]

I often wonder why people who say Atlantis couldn’t just disappear, knowing that at the time at the end of the ice age and immediately after, seas rose by more than 400 feet… a lot of land ended up underwater.

[JesseP.Watson]

The context box is a classic... The once inhabitants of Doggerland are laughing in Greta's face with undeniable mirth.

[remkojerphanion]

Back when Doggerland was dry land, it's a nice to think that tribes that once lived in our part of NW Europe were able to freely travel back and forth in east-west direction. Initially they will have had no idea that their land was to be permanently divided by seawater, but obviously toward the end of the Doggerland period, they will have experienced ever-rising seawater. I wonder how they dealt with that? Did they blame anthropogenic global warming for the situation, and did they spend countless billions in cash toward "Green" policies to "stem the tide"?
Jokes aside, it's interesting to see that Doggerland, which now lies beneath the waves, is the precisely the same area where Germanic tribes in later times made their way to the English isles in boats. Seawater may have flooded Doggerland, but it didn't stop people from travelling. Humans are tough and resourceful!

[jayc]

Absolutely EPIC Upload @Megalithomania !

[bremnersghost]

For me the Silverpit is the most fascinating feature in all of Doggerland, Europe's only known Richat type structure, Hopefully advances in technology will enable it to be investigated better in the future.

[chirhoaten]

Great presentation, fantastic research, and very much appreciated.

[nickynockyknackynoo]

Excellent. Just excellent.
Thank you for a totally engaging presentation that answered questions in my mind while avoiding the slippery slopes of fringe by explaining the evidence.
Well worth my time watching, and clearly explained and presented.
I hope one day we might get a exhibition like the Netherlands put on by one of their premiere museams (I think in 2018) which collated articles from other museums in the Netherlands.
Thank you again. 👍👍👍👍👍

[SurlockGnomez]

Thanks for sharing this great talk. But damn, it was going so good up until saying we need to hit Net Zero. One of the pits you need to fall into as an academic in order to gain funding in this political landscape I guess.

[carolynpinkerton]

Thank-you so much! This is fascinating! And to have such a speaker who is so interested in his subject! I wish that I had been there to see the lecture!

[lindasue]

More cables. Just great. I realize that was reference in the discussion was unrelated but it really brought me down.

We need better harmony with this beautiful planet.

[terrancetexan]

There is NO CLIMATE EMERGENCY goto CLINTEL.

[stpfs]

Worth the long wait for this!
I've always had an interest, since Swallows and Amazons.
Possible crash landings of WWII aircraft.

[properjob]

Dull Man's Club brought me here - however this subject is not dull at all.

[davidchurch]

Was it because or despite him not being 'one of us' that he had the audience spellbound - in the hall and at home! (or maybe he is one after all, infiltrated academia and even made commercial organisations help the cause) Excellent, Bendigedig.

[D-OO-D]

Thank you for the visuals.
Geology should not be a political platform to support human made co2 climate change (windfarms, etc. ) nonsense. Missing the proper (temperature: sea-level) charts in this presentation. 🙏