The Lands Beneath the Sea

Context

Rising temperatures at the end of the last Ice Age caused the ice sheets to melt and sea levels to rise, submerging Doggerland beneath the North Sea. This simulation uses data from geophysical surveys and marine cores to allow people to see the landscape at different times. They are able to ‘fast forward’ from the last Ice Age to any selected time, and investigate the land and the people who lived on it.

Aim

The Unpath’d Waters simulation allows users to see the development of the landscape over long time periods and appreciate what it would have been like to live in Doggerland. Users can select a date between 20,000 and 5,000 years ago. They can also select a location within Doggerland from a regional map which shows sea level changes over the whole region. They can then see a local simulation of the area chosen, with climate, plants, animals and humans.

The simulation will take two forms: a version for public exhibitions, which is also available to download and use at home, and a more detailed version with more sophisticated processes and behaviours, solely for home use. The more detailed version will be available from November 2024.

How we create the landscape

The simulation is based on the output of large-scale regional sea level change models created as part of the BRITICE project. It combines this with climate data, landscape features mapped from seismic geophysical data and information from biology, environmental science and archaeology.

In order to produce a model of the inundation of Doggerland, the various data sources which exist must be located, combined and interpreted to form a coherent whole. This dataset must allow us to reference back to the original data, whether in raw data, interpreted data or metadata formats. Using these data sources, we generated a trial unified GIS dataset, that plots data onto a map or geographical locations, for the archaeology of the area.

The model also uses a huge range of different data sources to simulate the climate in different time periods. Users are able to alter the climate model to take into account new research. Users are also able to alter the parameters of the simulation in order to test the effects of these changes.

The terrain and climate forms the base for a living environment of animals and plants. We use data from any available cores taken from the bed of the North Sea to decide which animals and plants to include.

How we simulate people

Simulated people will be introduced to our environment, so that users can see how the lives of the inhabitants of Doggerland interacted with a living, changing environment. Users will hopefully learn more from this if they can alter the behaviours of these inhabitants and see the results of their changes.

Our direct knowledge of the lives of the inhabitants of Doggerland is very limited, but there is significant data available of similar populations in neighbouring regions or similar circumstances. We simulate several human behaviours, and users will be able to switch between different hypothetical patterns of living and technologies. All of these behaviours and patterns are linked to the data and research which has informed them.

Anyone who uses the simulation should be able to appreciate the nature of the base data sets, but also to see the process of how this data became archaeological interpretations. They can also come as close as it is possible to get to exploring Doggerland, seeking out what they are interested in and generating significance in an inaccessible landscape.

Outputs

The exhibition and home versions of the Unpath’d Waters simulation are now available. The exhibition version is largely a static model which shows changes in sea level and land surfaces over time, with suggested local models of the environment. The more detailed home version contains more user input, with movement and interaction of animals and humans. The mapped features of Doggerland are available via the Archaeology Data Service.

Further Information

The exhibition version and home version of the simulation for Microsoft Windows can be downloaded. 

The simulation is a product of the Submerged Landscapes Research Centre at the University of Bradford.