Europe's Lost World

It frequently feels that there is nothing new to explore on the earth - the most distant places are visited by TV crews and even tourists. However, the past can also be a foreign country and recently archaeologists have begun to explore a vast, unknown landscape hidden beneath the North Sea. Inhabited by early man, this land disappeared beneath the sea when sea levels rose more than 8000 years ago. This enigmatic landscape, known as Doggerland after the famous banks in the North Sea, has remained hidden until now. Today, we can map unknown rivers, hills, lakes and valleys using 3D seismic data originally collected for oil exploration. Some 23,000 km2 of this 'lost world' (an area equivalent to that of Wales) have now been revealed. This book tells the exciting story of how this lost country was rediscovered by archaeology and what the results of new work are telling us about what happened to man during the last great phase of global warming, when a massive area of Europe was lost as a consequence of climate change. Although a study of the past, this book demonstrates how archaeology can provide vital information for the future.