Doggerland-Pleistocene Safari

Imagine a North Sea which is home to Bison, Horse, Megaloceros, Deer, Antelope, Elephants, Rhino, and Lions. Well you've just imagined Doggerland, a European Prehistoric Savannah that encompassed what is now the North sea between the UK, Holland, Norway, and Denmark. So, what kind of world was Doggerland and what was life like their in the Pleistocene 1.3 Million-10,000 Years Ago and it's untimely demise in 8,000 BC. Doggerland would have been a beautiful spectacle. Grasses and pasture would have stretched for as far as the eye could see, creating an ocean of grass. Grazing upon the grasses would have been herds of Reindeer, Rhino, Elephants/Mammoths, Horse, and Bison. that would have migrated up from Europe every summer to exploit this vast resource of food. Preying on these herbivores would be packs of Wolves and Hunting Hyenas along with Lions, Saber tooth cats, and Humans. Mammoths seem to be Doggerland's most famous resident. Dutch and British Trawlers often haul up Mammoth tusks and Bones in their nets from the seabed. Such fossils often find there way onto the commercial fossil market. Mammoths in Doggerland would have been migratory visitors as temperatures in the winter due to the close ice sheets would have been below freezing. This journey has been told in the BBC series Walking with Beasts in the final episode of the series 'Mammoth Journey'. Other prolific animals include the Bison and Horse. These creatures would have been literally everywhere on Doggerland their fossils are the most frequently dredged up from the muddy bottom. They would have been a delicacy to Cro Magnons living on Doggerland. However, these are not the same species of Horse and Bison left today. Instead they would have been older breeds and variants. The Bison belonged to the species Bison priscus or steppe wisent. They were stronger and larger than their American cousins. Their horns, vertebrae, teeth and bones can be found on many beaches in and around the North sea and English channel. Above: Bison Vertebrae from my collection. The Horses would have been different as well. They would have resembled Siberian wild horses with sticking up short manes and stocky bodies. Another famous resident is the Irish Elk or Megaloceros. This behemoth of a deer stood 6ft 6'' at the shoulder and had antlers that stretched 12ft from tip to tip. Megaloceros would have been a formidable opponent to any Human or Animal hunter alike. It's antlers could certainly pack a punch. Megaloceros would have engaged in mating displays and fights using it's antler in exactly the same way as modern deer. But why is this land full of enormous herds of herbivores and rich in resources no longer with us? One word. Tsunami. During the Mesolithic around 8,000 years ago Doggerland was very different to it's Pleistocene heyday. It was forested much like the rest of Europe and was home to Deer, Bear, Wolves, and the bad tempered beef that is the Aurochs. People were beginning to set up permanent homes in the forests looking to exploit the benefits of forest life. But nature had a different idea. Sea level rise caused by the melting ice was already flooding the low lying coast of Doggerland, diminishing the land. Then suddenly 8,000/7,000 years ago an earthquake in the Norwegian sea released a Tsunami right on Doggerland's front door. The Tsunami ravaged Doggerland. Sending much of it to the dark abyss. Some of Doggerland did remain exposed. But as sea levels rose more and more the last remnants of Doggerland a world once teeming with life succumbed to the waves.