The Ancient Tsunami that Destroyed Doggerland

As you may know, this ancient tsunami has been well known for quite some time and is caused by something named the Storegga Slide. Basically, an area of seabed the size of Scotland, around 30,000 square miles, suddenly shifted under the Norwegian Sea.

This enormous landslide created three successive, enormous waves that devastated the ancient land bridge that connected Britain and Europe, a huge ancient landmass known as Doggerland. This area is now submerged beneath the North Sea with the highest part today known as Dogger Bank.


We know that a huge array of animals as well as human lived on this now lost landmass because fishing trawlers have brought up bones and tools, such as ancient harpoons.


The waves that struck Doggerland didn’t sink the landmass, that was a gradual process that happened over many thousands of years as the ice sheets melted and the land flexed accordingly, which with regards to Doggerland, meant it sank beneath the waves.


But the tsunami would have certainly devastated any human settlements, as well as much of the biodiversity.


Evidence of the huge waves have been found in Scandinavia, the Faroe Islands, northeastern Britain and Greenland, but no direct evidence for the event had been found from the southern end of the North Sea, until now.


In this video I discuss the new evidence discovered off the coast of Lincolnshire in the UK, that shows the ancient tsunami that was triggered by the Storegga Slide did reach the southern North Sea. Watch the video to learn more!


All images are taken from Google Images for educational purposes only. Animation sequences are taken from the Doggerland Time Team Special.


Matt Sibson
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