Archaeologists Rejoice As The Lost “Atlantis” Of The Stone Age Is Finally Discovered After 8,500 Years

Summary:

• Denmark’s Stone Age settlement discovered underwater, preserved for over 8,000 years, reveals ancient civilization’s secrets.

• Excavated by underwater archaeologists, artifacts like stone tools and animal bones point to a successful prehistoric settlement.

• Rising sea levels from melting ice sheets caused the settlement to sink, offering insights into past and present climate change.

Imagine a whole civilisation was engulfed by the sea, and has been frozen in time for over eight thousand years. And there is just what archeologists have just found beneath the cold, dark waters of Denmark – and the world cannot discuss anything but it.

Denmark’s Hidden World

Coast of Denmark: The Stone Age settlement on the coast, discovered by divers, was covered by a sudden rise of the sea level some 8,500 years ago to provide it with an instant Atlantis of its own in Europe.

Who Found It

Eight metres beneath the sea, excavated by a team of underwater archaeologists led by Peter Moe Astrup, of the Moesgaard Museum in Aarhus, was a prehistoric settlement that had long since been covered by the Danish waters.

What They Found

In 430 square feet of excavation, stone tools, arrowheads, animal bones, a seal tooth, and a fragment of worked wood, the team found evidence that there was a successful human settlement on the ancient shore.

A Time Capsule

Moe Astrup called the location a time capsule in which the rising waters kept artifacts in an oxygen-free environment. The Stone Age inhabitants that remained were in good wood, hazelnuts, seeds and botanical remains.

Why It Sank

Rising sea levels, of approximately two metres per century, following the final Ice Age due to melting ice sheets, flooded areas near the coastline and displaced hunter-gatherer populations, permanently relocating to the interiors.

The Tree Rings Is One Of The Books That I Have Read

Dendrochronologist Jonas Ogdal Jensen studied tree stumps, submerged in the Stone Age, that were discovered in the Moesgaard Museum. The analysis of the tree rings was used to determine the periods of time when the tides of the rising sea covered the old Danish coast.

The Big EU Project

This discovery is one of a 15.5 million six-year EU project which involved scientists based at Aarhus University, the University of Bradford and the Lower Saxony Institute of Historical Coastal Research in Germany.

Doggerland Connection

This primordial continent, which once united Britain with the continent of Europe, is presently covered by the southern North Sea, and it is also swept away by the ancient oceanic rise that engulfed this colony.

What Comes Next

Archaeologists will conduct more diving missions along the coast of Germany and two sites in the North Sea to learn more about harpoons, fish hooks and fishing installations to obtain a better idea of the life of ancient people, who lived on the coast.

What Is Its Importance Nowadays?

This finding not only comments on how Stone Age communities adjusted to the increase in sea level during climate change, but also provides insights on how modern communities can also adjust to the increase in sea level.