Well maybe not, but you have to wonder if stories like this one contributed to one of the most enduring myths on the planet.

[h=1]Hidden Doggerland underworld uncovered in North Sea[/h]

A huge area of land which was swallowed up into the North Sea thousands of years ago has been recreated and put on display by scientists.

Doggerland was an area between Northern Scotland, Denmark and theChannel Islands.

It was believed to have been home to tens of thousands of people before it disappeared underwater.

Now its history has been pieced together by artefacts recovered from the seabed and displayed in London.

The 15-year-project has involved St Andrews, Dundee and Aberdeen universities.

The fossilised remains of a mammoth uncovered from the area

The results are on display at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition in London until 8 July.

The story behind Doggerland, a land that was slowly submerged by water between 18,000 BC and 5,500 BC, has been organised by Dr Richard Bates at St Andrews University.

Dr Bates, a geophysicist, said "Doggerland was the real heartland of Europe until sea levels rose to give us the UK coastline of today

"We have speculated for years on the lost land's existence from bones dredged by fishermen all over the North Sea, but it's only since working with oil companies in the last few years that we have been able to re-create what this lost land looked like.

"When the data was first being processed, I thought it unlikely to give us any useful information, however as more area was covered it revealed a vast and complex landscape.

"We have now been able to model its flora and fauna, build up a picture of the ancient people that lived there and begin to understand some of the dramatic events that subsequently changed the land, including the sea rising and a devastating tsunami."

Dr Richard Bates at work building up a picture of the ancient landmass

The scientists have made an interactive video where visitors can view how the land might have looked.

Ancient tree stumps, flint used by humans and the fossilised remains of a mammoth helped form a picture of how the landscape may have looked.

Researchers also used geophysical modelling of data from oil and gas companies.

Findings suggest a picture of a land with hills and valleys, large swamps and lakes with major rivers dissecting a convoluted coastline.

As the sea rose the hills would have become an isolated archipelago of low islands.

By examining the fossil record (such as pollen grains, microfauna and macrofauna) the researchers could tell what kind of vegetation grew in Doggerland and what animals roamed there.

Using this information, they were able to build up a model of the "carrying capacity" of the land and work out roughly how many humans could have lived there.

The research team is currently investigating more evidence of human behaviour, including possible human burial sites, intriguing standing stones and a mass mammoth grave.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-18687504

Too many words and not enough cool pics.

Too many words and not enough cool pics.

Thank you for your well thought out contribution...:twisted:

I would believe that the middle of North sea would have been under ice most of that period, 18000 - 5000 BC...

And the sinking (in my opinion) would be far too slow to contribute to Platos Atlantis, as humans would not have a written down history, and probably didn't care much about the world 50 years before their own life spand...

But anyway still interesting that they do discover new sites of historic pieces to our puzzle...

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No Jos - I was not saying this WAS Atlantis. I do not believe there was an actual Atlantis per se. I was suggesting, as others have done, that many different tales of lost civilisations or areas contributed to the myth. It was not under ice - from about 20,000 BC the ice was receding, and, as the ice went away, people moved in. This was a vastly populated area in the period mentioned in article. And, in similar fashion, many areas throughout Europe would have been submerged in that same period. I think these areas being lost all added a piece to the Atlantis puzzle as well as other 'myths' such as Noah's Ark.

Or Atlantis is still there, ruled by our illuminati lizard masters... ; )

Plato's Atlantis may just have been a dramatic construct, taken from the various folk tales of 'lost lands'. And remember; they also mention a devastating tsunami.

Yeah Plato might even just tell a great story, and be confused by the mayhem it caused...

Illuminati mnnjjjjaaaaaa nope... it's pre christianity that I am sure, and Illuminati needs Jesus...

I do believe in a lost "world" and I do believe that the name Atlantis is a reference to the Atlantic ocean, I do believe that Hercules Pillar are Gibraltar...

I think to destroy a civilization, no matter how advanced, would take short time, if water level rises, and You have like 2000 years to get used to the idea, nobody is going to be bothered, look at the current global warming and melting of the south pole and Greenland's icecap, nobody seem to be overly concerned, as it is not right now, and we can still make it to higher grounds, even if we walk backwards...

Tsunami and earthquake in the Atlantic ocean, sound a bit more appealing to me and I would think the mid atlantic ridge is a great spot to be looking for clues, not so long time ago (at least in my adulthood) Island had an island popping up, and going down again... Why not in the active zone north of Canary Islands...

I think that area is excavated some, but still it's a big ocean, and deep...

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