WHEN BRITAIN WASN’T AN ISLAND
Doggerland allowed the return of humans from mainland Europe
Around 60,000 years ago, ice from the previous ice age retreated largely to the poles, sea levels dropped and Britain once again became a peninsula. It was joined to northern Europe by grassy plains where the English Channel and the southern part of the North Sea are found today. Scientists have named this ‘Doggerland’. It was fertile land where large numbers of prey animals grazed, and it made for good hunting grounds. Now that the ice sheets and sea had gone, it was also an easy crossing from what is modern-day Normandy to Kent, which is why Neanderthals returned to Britain during this time, followed by the first Homo sapiens to settle in Britain.
Life must have been relatively good for humans for thousands of years during this time. But when the last ice age hit 20,000 years ago, most of Britain’s human population migrated south, away from the plummeting temperatures and advancing glaciers. Scientists think that a massive tidal wave was triggered during the new interglacial period around 8,000 years ago, which washed over Doggerland. Along with rising sea levels, this finally separated Britain from the continent. Arrowheads, stone axes and other prehistoric human artefacts are still dredged up by fishermen over the Doggerland sandbanks today.