First evidence that North Sea ‘Lost World’ had habitable forests during the last ice age
The lost trees of Doggerland
University of Warwick
image:
Doggerland landscape 18,000, 10,000 and 8,000 years ago. Credit: University of Bradford Submerged Landscape Research Centre & Nigel Dodds
view moreCredit: University of Bradford Submerged Landscape Research Centre & Nigel Dodds
Forests were growing on the now-submerged landmass of Doggerland thousands of years earlier than previously believed, according to a major new sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) study led by the University of Warwick.
The findings suggest that Doggerland may have provided a surprisingly hospitable refuge for plants, animals, and potentially humans, thousands of years before forests became widespread across Britain and northern Europe.
Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the research reveals that temperate trees such as oak, elm, and hazel were present more than 16,000 years ago — and even detected DNA from a tree genus thought to have vanished from the region 400,000 years ago. The findings also show that parts of Doggerland survived major flooding events, including the Storegga tsunami around 8,150 years ago, and parts of the landscape remained above water as late as 7,000 years ago.
Professor Robin Allaby at University of Warwick and lead author of this study says: “By analysing sedaDNA from Southern Doggerland at a scale not seen before, we have reconstructed the environment of this lost land from the end of the last Ice Age until the North Sea arrived. We unexpectedly found trees thousands of years earlier than anyone expected — and evidence that the North Sea fully formed later than previously thought.
“From a human perspective, this is the best evidence that Doggerland’s wooded environment could have supported early Mesolithic communities prior to flooding and may help explain why relatively little early Mesolithic evidence survives on mainland Britain today.”
The lost trees of Doggerland
Doggerland once connected Britain to mainland Europe before rising seas submerged it, creating today’s North Sea. Although the landscape was forested before flooding, scientists have long debated when trees first became established and how suitable the region was for prehistoric communities.
Using sedimentary ancient DNA from 252 samples taken from 41 marine cores along the prehistoric Southern River (chosen for its well-preserved sediments and potential to reveal past habitats) researchers reconstructed Doggerland’s ecological history from around 16,000 years ago until its final submergence.
Temperate woodland species, including oak, elm, and hazel, were found to be present thousands of years earlier than indicated by British pollen records. Lime (Tilia), a warmth-loving tree, also appears around 2,000 years earlier than previously recorded in mainland Britain, suggesting localities in Doggerland may have acted as a northern refuge during the last Ice Age.
In a further surprise, the team found DNA from Pterocarya — a walnut relative thought to have disappeared from north-western Europe 400,000 years ago — showing this tree survived in the region far longer than anyone expected.
Rethinking Ice Age Europe
The study supports growing evidence that small-scale “microrefugia” allowed temperate plant species to survive northern Europe’s Ice Age conditions, helping explain Reid’s Paradox — how trees recolonised the region so rapidly after the last Ice Age retreated.
The presence of woodland habitats in southern Doggerland 16,000 years ago suggests the area may have offered rich ecological resources for humans, including forest animals such as boars, long before the emergence of early peoples such as the well-documented Maglemosian culture around 10,300 years ago.
Co-author, Professor Vincent Gaffney at University of Bradford says, “For many years, Doggerland was often described as a land bridge – only significant as a route for prehistoric settlement of the British Isles. Today, we understand that Doggerland was not only a heartland of early human settlement, but also that the presence of the land mass may have provided a refuge for plants and animals and acted as a fulcrum for how prehistoric communities settled and resettled northern Europe over millennia.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
For more information please contact:
Matt Higgs, PhD | Media & Communications Officer (Warwick Press Office)
Email: Matt.Higgs@warwick.ac.uk | Phone: +44(0)7880 175403
About this research
The paper ‘Early colonization before inundation consistent with northern glacial refugia in Southern Doggerland revealed by sedimentary ancient DNA’ is published in PNAS. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2508402123
This research was funded by the European Research Council (ERC), funding through the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (project number 670518 LOST FRONTIERS). Lost Frontiers studied the inundated landscapes of the southern North Sea using archaeo-geophysics, molecular biology and computer simulation to develop novel approaches for the study of past environments, ecological change and the transition between hunter gathering societies and farming within the inundated landscapes of Doggerland and northwest Europe more widely (https://lostfrontiers.teamapp.com/).
About the University of Warwick
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Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Method of Research
Experimental study
Subject of Research
Not applicable
Article Title
Early colonization before inundation consistent with northern glacial refugia in Southern Doggerland revealed by sedimentary ancient DNA Early colonization before inundation consistent with northern glacial refugia in Southern Doggerland revealed by sedimentary ancient DNAEarly colonization before inundation consistent with northern glacial refugia in Southern Doggerland revealed by sedimentary ancient DNAEarly colonization before inundation consistent with northern glacial refugia in Southern Do
Article Publication Date
10-Mar-2026
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