The British Isles were once neither British nor isles

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During the last Ice Age, when global sea levels were significantly lower due to the presence of large ice sheets, Doggerland was a vast plain that stretched across the area that connected present-day Great Britain to mainland Europe. It was inhabited by various human populations and supported diverse ecosystems, including forests, rivers, and wetlands. The landscape would have been similar to other low-lying coastal regions of Europe.

The name “Doggerland” comes from the Dogger Bank, a shallow area in the southern North Sea that represents the highest point of the submerged landmass. The term was first coined by archaeologists in the early 20th century when studying the potential existence of a lost prehistoric landscape beneath the sea.

The map below, created by National Geographic’s team, shows the map of Europe when the British Isles were not islands.

At the end of the last ice age, Britain formed the northwest corner of an icy continent. Warming climate exposed a vast continental shelf for humans to inhabit. Further warming and rising seas gradually flooded low-lying lands.

The map below shows the hypothetical landscape with an extensive coast and estuaries Earlier Holocene.

Britain, as it looked in 5,500 BC

As the Ice Age came to an end and the ice sheets melted, global sea levels rose, gradually submerging Doggerland. The final submergence likely occurred around 8,000 to 6,500 years ago. A catastrophic release of water from a North American glacial lake and a tsunami from a submarine landslide off Norway inundated whatever remained of Doggerland.