3 Ancient lands that no longer exist

During the early stages of human history, the earth was a very different place, both in layout and climate. The frozen continent of Antarctica was once a land covered with trees and animals, and everything above Scotland was nothing more than an uninhabitable block of ice over a mile thick. It was around 200,000 years ago that people started to be anatomically considered as modern day humans, and during this time there was a huge expanse of land that no longer exists today that was home to thousands of people, spread across many civilizations that we know next to nothing about. Here are 3 of the most well known ancient lands inhabited by humans that are now deep below the sea.

1) Doggerland – Disappeared around 5,000 BCE

One of the better known lost lands, Doggerland formed the land bridge between mainland Europe and the British Isles, and is believed to be the main reason the territory was occupied so heavily early on. The main bulk of the land gradually disappeared as the ice from the last glacial period melted, which eventually forced Doggerland to become an island around 6,500 BCE.

(The ancient land known as Doggerland, shown outside the red country lines)

This concentrated its population to one main location which lasted up until around 5,000 BCE when the last part of the island flooded and ended the Stone Age people of Doggerland, who presumably either fled to mainland Europe or the British Isles. Life there would have been very simply, and the small amount of finds from the area confirm that. A handful of flint tools have been found there, along with a jaw bone from a hyena and a deer bone that has a flint arrowhead embedded into it. The people of Doggerland hadn’t even discovered pottery, so the chances of them building anything more significant than a stick hut and stone tools is highly unlikely.

2) Atlit Yam – Disappeared 6,300 BCE

This ancient village lays off the coast of Israel and was discovered by a marine archaeologist in 1984 while he was searching for shipwrecks. The village is spread across an area of 10 acres and contains a huge amount of artefacts such as tools, weapons, burial sites and religious structures, the most impressive of which is a stone circle containing 7 megaliths that weigh 600 kg each. The interesting this about this location is that it seems to only have been inhabited starting in 6,900 BCE and ending no later than 6,300 BCE.

(The stone circle at Atlit Yam, thought to have been a religious structure)

The people that lived here were in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B stage, which meant they were still very firmly in the Stone Age and shaping flint was about the most advanced thing they could do. The area is very flat and seems to have flooded quite quickly, causing the entire population to leave at the same time. Today, the village sits between 8 and 12 meters underwater.

3) Beringia – Disappeared 9,000 BCE

Like Doggerland but many times bigger, the landmass known as Beringia was an enormous land bridge that connected modern day Russia and Canada. Covering an estimated 1.5 million square kilometres, the land had the potential to support huge amounts of people, but no evidence remains to suggest this is the case. After people left the cradle of humanity, thought to be around the east African region of Ethiopia and Somalia, the earth was still very cold and everything above central England was out of the question.

This land bridge is thought to be the reason that people were able to make it from the far eastern Asian continent over to North America, forming a group of people known today as Native American Indians. The entire area was flooded by 9,000 BCE, closing off the connection between America and the rest of the world for thousands of years. Today, only the highest peaks of Beringia remain in the form of small islands, including king island, St Lawrence island and the Diomede islands.