Erosion on the floor of the English Channel is revealing the remains of a busy Stone Age settlement, from a time when Europe and Britain were still linked by land, a team of archaeologists says.

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The site, just off the Isle of Wight, dates back 8,000 years, not long before melting glaciers filled in the Channel and likely drove the settlement's last occupants north to higher ground.


"This is the only site of its kind in the United Kingdom," said Garry Momber, director of the Hampshire and Wight Trust for Maritime Archaeology, which led the recent excavations. "It is important because this is the period when modern people were blossoming, just coming out of the end of the Ice Age, living more like we do today in the valleys and lowlands."


End of Ice Age caused channel flood


Lobsters mucking around the seabed at the site about 10 years ago revealed a cache of Mesolithic flints, prompting further excavations that uncovered two hearths (ancient ovens) dangling precariously from the edge of an underwater cliff.


Burnt wood fragments gouged with cut marks and a layer of wood chippings were found lying under 35 feet of water during the latest dig. Divers brought the material to the surface still embedded in slabs of the sea floor that were carried up in specially-designed boxes, which were then pieced back together and examined and dated in the lab.


"We now have unequivocal evidence of human activity at the site," Momber told LiveScience. "There were people here actively making stuff and being quite industrious."


At 8,000-years-old, the settlement is the only underwater Mesolithic site in Britain, though it is probably part of a much larger area of occupation yet to be uncovered, Momber said.


As the climate began to warm up near the end of the Ice Age about 10,000 years ago, people were moving into Northern Europe and settling down in the many river valleys left behind by melting glaciers, Momber explained. Many of the valleys, such as the ones now beneath the English Channel, were eventually inundated completely when temperatures returned to normal.


"A good chunk of the material left behind from this cultural period is eventually going to be found underwater," Momber said.


Underwater sites better preserved


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Funny, been reading a university level report about this today. Seems to be a very interesting site. Now I am waiting for the first to scream "Atlantis found!"

There have been so many new and exciting finds recently, i,m so curious as to what will be found next!

"ATLANTIS FOUND"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! could not resist.

But interesting we can probably find many more interesting sites underwater once that will rewrite text books we just need better undersea technology.

I'm thrilled with all the new finds, they help us to understand more about our past... to bad theres no Atlantean super metals, energy weapons or flying machines found (JK)...

There is a whole lot of stuff under the English Channel too - its called 'Doggerland' and with the melting of the ice-caps at the end of the mesolithic period slowly became flooded making the UK an Island...

I've seen some of the dive pictures where they have preserved wooden benches from the period - its truly incredible!

I, along with a few others, had stated before on another thread that there was such a huge area that we haven't been able to dig up to see what other civilizations there were in our past and that was the seabed. Now, here is proof...I bet that there will be a lot more eyes looking under the oceans for historic sites.

Yes Britain was connected to the main continent before the Ice Age and that was how peoples and animals migrated. There was also land where the North Sea is now.

Doesn't it make you wonder what else is under there? I find it quite exciting! OK, maybe I'm just weird, LOL

There are several cities and villages we know of that sunk into the North sea in the middle ages. There is still a lot to find. And a lot of interesting things to find.

If you are Glorybebe then so am I! I get excited over little bits of flint and pottery

Thank you! LOL, it's good to know I'm not the only one! Just Think of the secrets we can uncover and the bits of history we can learn.